Stronger Together
by megamatt09
Summary: AU. The Disciples of Zod were not the only ones who arrived with the second meteor shower which is a good thing for Clark. Some elements of Marvel, Supergirl, and Arrow featured. Clark/Multi. Some parts not for children, hence the rating.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: No Longer Alone**

* * *

A flash of light brought Clark Kent to his senses. The three stones merged together and created one really powerful crystal. And this really powerful crystal created one magnificent Fortress. He looked around and took the first tentative steps inside of the Fortress.

Clark took a look around. Several more miniature crystals jutted out from the wall. Golden symbols lined the walls. He could almost feel new knowledge pouring into his mind.

"Welcome, Kal-El!" the loud voice of Jor-El boomed throughout the Fortress. "You are here, you are ready to face your destiny."

Clark cocked his head to one side. There was this word again, destiny. Jor-El used it liberally and only gave Clark the vaguest hints of what it meant. Then again, Clark's relationship with his Kryptonian father had been a strained one. The artificial construct appeared to be rather unmoved to any and all plight Clark must have felt.

"You have passed the latest trial, and now, the only logical course of action is to allow your training to begin," Jor-El said a few seconds later. Clark frowned when looking in the general direction of the voice. "And given the problems caused by your lack of action in obtaining the stones of power, to create the Crystal of Knowledge, you have triggered the meteor shower."

"Wait a minute, I…"

"Clark!"

Clark's ears perked up at a familiar voice. It had been a half frustrated whisper, sounding hoarse, and weak. Yet, it was strong enough. Clark only had his attention on Jor-El for long enough to see the figure who appeared in the Fortress.

Chloe Sullivan took a couple of steps into the Fortress. She tried to manage a weak smile, but she was not dressed for the Artic. The blue tinge to her skin was not becoming of someone like her. Her eyes flashed over and her body continued to shiver.

"Chloe!" Clark yelled. He took a step towards her. "Chloe….what are you….how did you….?"

Those questions faded out of Clark's mind. Chloe tried to give Clark a reassuring smile. Her smile only reassured him so much when Chloe's next step caused her to collapse onto the cold Arctic. She started to shiver one more time.

"You knew she was here, didn't you?" Clark demanded of Jor-El. His voice grew a bit harsher.

"Yes, Kal-El, I sensed she followed you here, but given she was no immediate threat, I decided it was not prudent to alert you, at least for the moment," Jor-El said. "You allow yourself to be distracted easily. Something which is a failing of your human upbringing. You must understand…"

"She could have frozen to death!" Clark yelled. He balled his fists up to one side. He thought about smashing his hand through the Fortress of Solitude but decided it would not do him any good. He had never been more angered by anything ever in his life. "Can't you do something to warm her up?"

"Yes."

Jor-El's blasé tone caused Clark's temper to reach a fever pitch. His lack of action caused Clark's temper to increased even more.

"Then why don't you do something?" Clark asked. He took a second to hitch in his breath. "Why don't you do something to warm her up?"

A bright orange light started to flash into the Fortress of Solitude. It hit Chloe for a moment and caused her to rise up from her knees. The light remained in the Fortress.

' _Guess I didn't feel anything because the cold didn't bother me.'_

Clark turned his attention towards his best friend. She looked at him, shaking off the feeling of near hypothermia and now was back to her normally bubbly self.

"Chloe?" Clark asked.

"Mmm."

"There's…there's….."

"Clark, relax," Chloe said, cutting off his words. She raised her fingers and pressed them up against his lips to stop him. The two of them shared a smile with each other. "I know your secret….the only thing I'm pissed off about is the fact I didn't put two and two together sooner. Some budding reporter I turned out to be, huh?"

Clark responded with a smile at Chloe.

"And this is amazing!" Chloe exclaimed. She took a good work around "All this…it's….just wow!"

Clark almost could have broken out of laughter. Chloe looked like a sugar-starved kid in a candy store right about now.

"It has the knowledge of the twenty-eight galaxies, well the known ones anyway," Clark said. He looked in Chloe's eyes with a half teasing expression. "So, yes, I would have to say that's pretty amazing."

Chloe shook her head. She was pretty sure Clark was engaging in a little light-hearted teasing with her. She leaned closer towards him, the smile on her face gaining in greater prominence.

"I just can't believe this…this is…"

"You should not be here," the voice of Jor-El boomed.

Clark could have thrown his head back in one of the most prominent sighs ever. Leave it to his biological father to ruin any potential moment he might have had. He saw the look on Chloe's face who frowned deeper than ever before and knew there was going to be trouble.

"And you are?" Chloe asked.

"My name is Jor-El, I am the father of Kal-El," Jor-El said.

Chloe had been confused for only a few seconds before her sharp mind managed to put two and two together.

"Right, Clark's real name is Kal-El, and you're his father, of course, you are," Chloe said a few seconds later. "But, I don't think…."

"Jor-El, allow me to return Chloe to Smallville," Clark said.

A long pause followed and Chloe folded her arms. She wondered if Jor-El had these controlling freak tendencies when he was alive. Of course, it was hard to judge someone from their AI.

' _For all I know, he could be the Windows ME of AI,'_ Chloe thought to herself.

"Very well, but remember, you are to return to the Fortress to begin your training before sundown," Jor-El said. "Or there will be dire consequences."

Chloe didn't wait for Clark to tell her to leave. She was perfectly capable of stepping outside. Chloe walked outside and she had been submerged into her own thoughts.

The moment the stones had been merged, she saw a flash of something. She touched one of them, trying to keep it away from Lex. Chloe experienced some weird flashes, a planet being destroyed, blown up, and a rocket flying off of it. There were some weird flashes like she was a spectator.

"Clark, there's something weird about those stones," Chloe said. Clark raised an eyebrow and offered her the chance to continue. So she did, taking a deep breath. "When I touched one of them...I saw a flash of a planet blowing up."

Clark hung his head somberly. While he never knew the planet in question, he experienced the sense of loss behind it.

"Krypton," Clark muttered underneath his breath. Chloe craned her neck. "The planet I was from before all of this happened before….and you know."

"I've known for a long time," Chloe said. "But don't worry, I'm not going to start spouting off to anyone in town about the great secret I know. Because, if I'm honest, how many people are going to even believe me?"

' _Better not worry him too much how close to death I was,'_ Chloe thought to herself. _'Or the fact I can understand alien writings which I couldn't a day ago.'_

Something else clicked in Chloe's mind and she needed to remind him of something.

"Oh, and before I forget, I left Lex Luthor unconscious in the Kawatchee Cave," Chloe said. Clark gave one Spock-like raised eyebrow towards her. "Don't look at me, he was after one of those stones….you know someday his curiosity about you is going to get the better of him."

Clark answered with a sigh. He knew all too well about that particular quality of Lex.

* * *

Clark returned back to Smallville. He had brought Chloe up to speed about as much as possible before they landed back in town. Chloe tried to take things in stride about as much as she could, although there were a couple of questions which entered her mind.

"So, the second Meteor Shower?" Chloe asked. "Do you think there's going to be a similar fallout like the first one?"

Clark looked back at Chloe and the grimace on his face made Chloe think she might have opened a couple of obvious wounds. She fully appreciated how many times Clark had been there for her, along with Lana, and several others when the meteor freaks attacked. Chloe thought Clark may have felt a sense of duty given the meteors came down when he was brought here.

' _Psycho-analyzing your best friend, not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, is it'_ Chloe asked.

She could see Clark looking off in the distance. Chloe grabbed Clark on the shoulder gently and made him turn around towards her.

"Sorry, but you looked like you were a million miles away," Chloe said. "You know, back on Krypton….yeah that might have been more than a million miles away, but you know…"

Her voice trailed off suddenly and the most sheepish of sheepish grins popped on Chloe's face.

"It's just…my parents were here, and Lana and Lois and everyone else, I'm just worried what might have happened to them," Clark said.

Chloe looked up and could see they had been gone for a long time. And to think just this morning, Graduation was the only thing on their minds. And the rest of their lives, and now the rest of their lives changed.

"Um, you might not want to go down there," Chloe said grabbing Clark's arm. "Looks like Kryptonite Central from here, doesn't it?"

Clark nodded, but he could hear something off to the side. A pair of whooshes and then the screams of people panicking, very obvious and very painful panicking.

He noticed two figures who were flying and they were looking for something. One of them was a broad shouldered dark skinned gentleman with a rather determined look on his face. The other was an attractive brunette woman with a toned figure who looked even more determined than her male companion. Both of them looked ready to get down to business and put a hurting on someone.

"Clark?" Chloe asked. "Who are these…."

"They're Kryptonian," Clark said a few seconds later. He took only the merest moment to regain his bearings. "Go….get to Lois, Lana, and my parents…I'll deal with them."

Chloe didn't even protest. She only had one thing to say, especially given they were terrorizing people.

"Go kick their asses."

Clark fully intended to try, although these particular individuals looked to be pretty formidable. He made his way over towards them and landed in front of them.

Both of the individuals turned towards Clark. The man's face finally showed emotion, with a smile, although not the smile anyone wanted to see if they wanted to have happy times.

"Finally," he said. "You can only be one person. You can only be Kal-El, the son of Jor-El."

Clark matched his matter of fact tone with his response. "So, you know who I am. You are from Krypton, aren't you?"

"Yes," the man said. "We managed to flee before the planet could meet its final destruction. But while the planet has died, the spirit will live on. There will be a bold new Krypton."

Clark could tell already these two were going to be some trouble. He looked towards them and braced himself for a battle.

"My name is Nam-Ek, and she is Aethyr," the man said. "And we are here to bring back the true leader of Krypton, and we will do so through any means necessary."

Clark could tell straight away these two were not of the friendly sort.

"Join us," Aethyr said in a creepy monotone. "Or perish."

Nam-Ek offered his hand to Clark. Clark extended his hand to grab the hand of the invader for a brief second, it looked like he was going to join them.

Clark used a swift leverage move to hurl Nam-Ek over and cause him to land down onto the ground. The Kryptonian Survivor hit the ground with a grimace.

"You'll pay for that!"

The woman charged him and nailed him with a swift kick in mid-air before Clark had a chance to blink. He fell back into the ground, bleeding from the mouth.

"We offered you friendship," Nam-Ek said. "But, considering you prefer to be in the league with these humans, then decimation is the only option."

Clark tried to nail him with a punch. Nam-Ek moved out of the way and used Clark's superior speed against him. Nam-Ek grabbed Clark around the arms and hooked him in a full nelson. Clark managed to break free of the hold by jumping into the air. He landed down onto the ground.

Aethyr rushed over and Clark just narrowly avoided a kick to the face. He avoided a couple more and grabbed the woman by the hair. He flipped her to the ground. The woman landed on her feet.

Clark channeled his heat vision in an attempt to deter her from a further attack. She used her hand to block it and slammed it back into his face. His eyeballs began to sting from the backfire of the attack when she brought her feet down onto him.

"On the ground, just like a human loving worm such as yourself belongs."

Nam-Ek grabbed Clark by the scruff of the neck and hurled him down to the ground. He moved forward and Clark rolled back a second.

Clark made his way over and could feel the sting of the Kryptonite washing over him. The radiation caused him to hunch over.

The two Kryptonian soldiers stepped forward and suddenly, they experienced the same problem Clark did with the Kryptonite hunching them over. Clark responded with a smile, staggering a bit, but not as bad as they did. Constant exposure over the past few years caused Clark not to be affected as much by the Kryptonite as those two.

"Very clever, son of Jor-El, but….we have an advantage you lack," Nam-Ek said. He activated a shield on his outfit. "Do you really think an advanced race would not have radiation shielding?"

Aethyr did the very same thing. Clark swung his fist forward, but she blocked it and kept nailing him before throwing him halfway across. Clark flew into the pavement with a thud, cracking against the concrete.

Clark rolled to his feet and saw Nam-Ek coming. He recovered from the latest beating, realizing now he dealt with trained soldiers who were toying with him and could kill him at any time.

* * *

A bright light brought a figure in greater prominence. This particular woman's golden blonde hair flipped against her face. Her white regal robes clung to her supple and toned flesh. The top of it veered down to show a tiny bit of cleavage and the bottoms of it came open a bit to show her supple and well-toned thighs. Given the circumstances which she had been in, the traveler thought she could have been a lot worse off. On her robes, a blue "S" symbol flashed onto them.

A few scattered memories came to the girl's mind when she regained her bearings. She reached towards her ring finger to touch it, feeling it. The girl frowned and abandoned the pursuit of feeling around her ring finger.

A flash of green caused her to take a couple of staggering steps. The girl's breath continued in a very ragged manner. Annoyed, the blonde visitor pushed a button on the band and caused a flash of light to appear around her. The shield blocked the harmful radiation from making her sick.

' _The perks of being part of part of an advanced race,'_ she thought with a smile creeping out from the corners of her lips. The girl surveyed the damage around her and it had not been pretty. _'I just hoped I'm not too late...Mother warned me of the Meteors. And if they're here, Kal-El made it to Earth.'_

The visitor craned her neck from one side to the other, before her focus fell upon someone walking up the road. She put herself on high alert, not wanting to be seen by anyone, especially the military of this world. Another thing her mother warned her about on the way here.

Unless the military employed shell-shocked teenage females, no immediate danger existed now. The visitor's eyes fell upon the dark haired female. Attractive, even with her dishelmed appearance, the woman stumbled all the way up the road. Her pant leg ripped with some scrapes and cuts, and her face looked rather worn.

The visitor's eyes fell upon a very familiar looking black ship. She walked towards the shell-shocked woman and gripped her hand gently, but a bit firm as well.

"Did anyone come from that ship?" the visitor asked. The woman looked at her with a frown, and the visitor had to repeat her question in a more concise manner. "Did anyone come from the ship?"

The woman's head responded with a firm nod.

"A man….and a woman….they could both fly," the dark haired woman said. She slumped forward for a moment, forced to grab onto a tree to keep herself upright. "They were looking for something…..maybe someone….it all happened so fast…..they didn't…."

The visitor only had one word for this particular woman.

"Run."

The visitor departed after a few seconds. A very distressed and still very dazed Lana Lang staggered a bit, wondering if she could run at this moment. She still had to spend a lot of time trying to process the situation around her.

"Lana!"

Lana looked over and breathed a sigh of relief. She saw Chloe running up the road. Her friend walked over towards her and grabbed Lana so she could be propped up.

"Thank Rao, I found you," Chloe muttered.

Lana blinked and had been caught off guard by what Chloe said. Then again, she might have been hearing things because everything happened so fast.

"Thank Rao?" Lana asked.

"Thank…..God, I meant," Chloe said a couple of seconds later. "It's been a long day….and I need to get you out of here because…."

"Flying man and woman, they came out of the ship, I know, I saw them, don't know if they saw me, though," Lana said. She allowed herself a moment to catch her bearings and sigh. "I'm not sure if they even cared enough to see me."

Lana allowed Chloe to lead her up the road, hopefully as far away from the ship as humanly possible.

"Why does all the weird stuff always happen to us?" Lana asked before she could help herself.

"I don't know," Chloe said. "Just lucky I guess."

Lana broke out into a smile. "Yeah, lucky's really the word to use for this."

The two of them made their way up the road. Chloe tried not to look back to see where Clark had ended up.

* * *

Clark swung his fist in an arching punch towards his adversary. Nam-Ek blocked the fist and he brought him down onto the ground again. The large soldier grabbed his arms around Clark's neck and wrapped him into a head vice, threatening to crush his head or snap his neck. He could have done so easily, and he didn't even need Kryptonian powers to do so.

"You do have raw potential," Nam-Ek said. "But your abilities lack much….but we can fix that."

"The General will be pleased with the vessel we have selected for his grand return."

Clark's head started to swim.

"The General…what are you….."

"Jor-El has left his spawn quite ignorant," Nam-Ek said. "I have to say there will be no waste when your mind is locked away and General Zod uses your body to bring about a new Krypton. No one can stop it."

Clark broke Nam-Ek's grip, causing him to fly backward into his companion. Aethyr and Nam-Ek hurled down to the ground.

"Enough charades, the game ends….."

A blur came from the East and nailed Nam-Ek with an uppercut punch to the jaw mid-sentence. He flew back a few inches and knocked him down to the ground.

Clark surveyed his eyes skyward. His mouth opened up. It was not a bird, it was not a plane, it was a flying girl.

Aethyr's eyes bugged out the second she came across the new party to the game. She reached into her uniform and pulled out a knife. The girl dodged the thrown knife before it spiked through her.

"You'll wish you never survived Krypton, traitor!" the Kryptonian survivor said. "Given the role she played in the defeat our leader, the daughter of A….."

Aethyr's sentence had been cut short by Clark rising from the ground and nailing her from the side. The soldier dropped to the ground and did a duck and role. She tried to reclaim her knife. Clark knocked it from her hand.

Nam-Ek made his attempt to get back into the battle. The visitor rushed towards him and pulled a purple ring from his belt, ripping it from his being. The dark-skinned soldier's eyes almost burst out in surprise and he looked towards the blonde.

"Stop, you don't know what you're doing…"

"No, "she said. "I know exactly what I'm doing."

She configured the Phantom Zone singularity and caused a flash of light. She reached over and grabbed the young man who had been bravely, if foolishly, fighting the two Kryptonian rebels. The two of them flew off to one side, away from the pull of the portal.

They watched the two Kryptonian rebels being sucked through the portal all the way to parts unknown. The flash of light resulted in a messy ending for both of them.

Clark turned his attention towards the mysterious blonde who had caught the purple ring in her hand. She looked at it with a frown.

"Thank you….umm," Clark said. "Just thank you, whoever you are."

"It was necessary," she responded with a smile. "They could have put you and the other people here in grave danger. It was lucky I arrived when I did, or things might have ended up a lot worse."

To her statement, Clark had little doubt at all she was telling the truth. The woman reached into the edge of her robe and retracted a purple crystal.

Clark watched the frown deepen on her face. He reached over and grabbed her shoulder to try and steer her to face him.

"What's wrong?" Clark asked her.

"Something is wrong, this crystal isn't properly calibrated," she said. "Mother assured me it would lead me directly to Kal-El."

Clark only responded with a smile and the attractive blonde frowned.

' _Could it be?'_

"Yes, I was born Kal-El, it's a pleasure to meet you….so I take it you're another survivor from Krypton."

If it wasn't unbecoming of someone of her stature, she would have done a dance.

"Yes," she responded. "My name is Kara Zor-El, I'm your cousin from Krypton."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on August 15** **th** **, 2016.**

* * *

 _And here we go, a new story. It's been a while since I've had a Clark story with multiple girls, but here it is. And things are going to only get interesting from here. Maybe slightly confusing until you get the full story. Maybe a little bit of both. Until next Monday.  
_


	2. Chapter 2

_Ever since the beginning of 2016, I've been doing polls to see what the general consensus is for the best chapter of the Week. This is the thirty-second week, and my chapter of the week is up at my blog. So go and take part of democracy and vote here. Link is on my profile.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Two: Glitch in the AI Matrix**

Taking in the events of the last couple of days were enough to make anyone's head a little bit sore. Clark

thought he managed to take them in about as well as one could expect given the circumstances, at least to the best of his abilities. From Graduation to his world being changed, finding some Krypton survivors, a couple of them wanting to kill him and one trying to save him, everything just went through Clark's mind rather quickly.

To be honest, he had been through a whole lot during his life. And even after these events, Clark still spent some time taking it all in.

Clark looked at Kara for a couple of seconds. She claimed to be his cousin, and Clark was inclined to believe it. Cousin or not, though, she was extremely attractive, and Clark found himself looking at her time and time again, almost as if his eyes had been drawn to her by some kind of magnetic force.

Most of the other Kryptonians he met tried to either kill or manipulate him.

' _Focus,'_ Clark said. _'No matter how hot she is, you can't get in bed with your cousin.'_

Clark shook his head; a small voice which sounded like what got brought out by Red Kryptonite when he ran into the stuff asked why couldn't he? Is it because society told him he couldn't be with Kara? Society was the type of thing which would frown on him being an alien, to begin with. So Clark wasn't so inclined on following society's whims.

' _If you can't take control of your own life, then how can you expect to stand up to anyone who is going to put your friends in danger?'_

He had something more important to deal with. His parents had been unaccounted for.

Clark stepped back for a second. He had to be careful. A new wave of Kryptonite fell from the sky. Every time he got close to a rock, he instinctively shuddered. Something Kara picked up on straight away and frowned about and she moved over to the side to survey him in the most curious of ways.

"You keep flinching every time you see a green rock."

Kara spoke in the most matter of fact voice. She reached over and grabbed Clark by the hand. Her extremely soft fingers wrapped around his rugged ones.

"There, this should help you," Kara said.

"You know the rocks make me extremely sick," Clark said.

Kara paused and nodded in understanding.

"Yes, I'm aware, but with the proper radiation shielding, they shouldn't have been a problem," Kara said. She eyed Clark and looked him over, her bright blue eyes burning into his. "I don't understand, this is one of the things Lara should have done with you when she started your training."

Clark had been taken off guard because of this statement. Kara noticed him and frowned.

"She did start your training, didn't she?"

Confusion hit one Clark Kent fast and hard, but he didn't have any time to register any confusion. They had reached the Kent Farmhouse and they had seen it toppled over. Clark's heart started to race and a feeling of mortal dread passed through his body.

"Mom, Dad!" Clark yelled at the top of his lungs. "Pa, are you….."

He saw a pair of boots sticking out from underneath the collapsed Farmhouse, and Clark's heart sank a small amount. He had been so busy dealing with other things, he neglected his parents.

"Clark, we're over here."

The voice of Martha Kent directed Clark over in her general direction. Her face looked bruised, cut up, but for the most part, she was in good spirits, or at least she was in better spirits than someone in her position should have been. Then again, both of his parents were always strong.

It was how they had to deal with the challenges of raising a son like Clark.

"Yeah….we barely managed to get out," Jonathan said. "The second time we just barely avoided being hit….guess we got luck on our side when it comes to meteor showers."

Jonathan limped around, leg looking a bit crooked when he did. His breath looked a bit ragged when he tried to walk forward.

"We better find a place for you to sit down," Clark said. "With your heart, it's really not….."

"Clark, I'm fine."

Martha looked towards her husband with a frown. Jonathan sighed, knowing this argument was not one he was going to win.

"He's right, you know."

Jonathan shook his head. He didn't really need two people mother-henning him today, he was fine. A bit beaten up, a bit bruised, a bit battered, but you know what, he was fine.

"We're good….not sure about Teague…he was in the house, and he threatened us, wanted us to hand over the stones," Jonathan said. "And that's when the Meteor Shower hit."

The young man looked towards the house. His parents surviving was lucky enough.

"There shouldn't be any way he should have survived that."

Clark came up with two possibilities. First, Jason Teague was killed and there weren't that many remains. Second, he did survive, and the meteor shower gifted him with abilities, which given his suspect mental state towards the end, it didn't really fill Clark with many thoughts of happiness and joy.

' _Wouldn't hurt to have a look around, to see what's going on.'_

Clark did have a look around to see if he could find anything. A bit of sleuthing lead to him finding the burned out, charred body of one Jason Teague lying underneath the rubble. It was a grisly end to be certain. Jason ended up getting hit with the same mania of his mother.

' _Well, that's the end of him.'_

The young Kryptonian turned towards his parents. They were looking at Kara curiously. Martha finally was the one to speak up.

"Clark who is….."

"She's Kara, my cousin…she arrived to help me deal with a problem with the meteor shower," Clark said.

A moment passed while the two Kents looked from Clark to Kara. Clark understood in an instant why his parents were acting like they did.

"Last year, another girl who called herself Kara showed up at my doorstep claiming to be from Krypton," Clark explained to Kara. "And….well she was an Earth Girl had been given powers and brainwashed by Jor-El to do his bidding…to trick me into…beginning my training to get the stones, and create the Crystal, create the Fortress."

Kara took this in stride as much as she could. She only responded with a swift nod externally. Internally, she fumed about as much as the next person about Jor-El using her name to manipulate her cousin. There was no question in her mind. He used the other method to configure his AI, the one which her mother warned him not to use. It had made him only bound to a certain logic, which was the same logic which the council doomed Krypton.

Almost alarming how Jor-El ended up being the same thing which he crusaded tirelessly against.

"It's sunset," Clark said. "I need to get back to the Fortress, now."

Clark tried to speed off, but he only made it about ten yards before collapsing on the ground like a puppet cutting his strings. Kara rushed over and bent down, his parents not too far behind.

"Kal, what happened?" Kara asked.

Kara extended a hand and assisted Clark in getting to his feet.

"I didn't return to the Fortress…..Jor-El said there would be consequences," Clark said.

"He removed your powers," Kara said.

Her voice sounded soft but rather deadly. Clark could see something flashing through her eyes, very intense, and very angry.

"There he goes again, playing God," Jonathan said. He stood up straight. "Why don't you take me to him, and we can sort this all out….."

"No, that wouldn't be a good idea," Kara said wiping the sweat from her brow.

She didn't understand how this could have gone so wrong. She was supposed to come out of the ship when Kal-El was fourteen years old. Yet, she didn't make it out until he was an adult by Earth standards. And Lara was supposed to begin his training before them. Jor-El would offer education on certain aspects of his heritage, but Lara was supposed to be the guiding light.

It was for the best to balance out some of Jor-El's worse tendencies. Kara had no question about it, something had gone completely wrong.

' _Time to figure out what,'_ she thought.

Kara had a feeling some puzzle piece missed from the entire mess as well. Her memories weren't exactly solid after coming out of her vessel.

* * *

Lana still couldn't believe what she saw. Years in Smallville should have prepared her for the very worst. And she seemed to be in the center of it more often than not, from the meteor shower onwards. There were times where Lana almost entered the possibility she had been infected by the same meteors which had killed her parents. Which drew these strange people to her, but she shook her head, trying not to go down this particular road.

Regardless, the dark haired girl shook her head.

' _And here I was preparing for the rest of my life, and my life almost ended in an instant,'_ Lana thought. _'And Clark…..what happened to him…..I swear the oddness follows him around just as much….even more than I do….it's really strange. And he opens up about as well as a safe which has been welded shut.'_

Bad analogy or not, Lana didn't know what to make of this. The two of them were sitting at the table, with Chloe bringing Lana a cup of coffee. She set it down on the table.

"Thanks."

"Figured you could use something to pick up your mood."

Lana shifted off with a smile. She took the cup of coffee with a calm smile on her face.

"I wouldn't say no to something a bit stronger if you had it," Lana said. Regardless, though, she took the cup of coffee and drank it. Mind numbing caffeine resulted in everything falling into an even perspective. Lana continued to drink it, taking in every single last drop up of the coffee.

Chloe raised an eyebrow when considering Lana. She was glad Lana was fine. She worried about Clark.

' _It's good you've been there for him for so long.'_

Those weird thoughts continued. She had been receiving them ever since touching the stone. Chloe wondered if it was just the stress of the day getting to her, or something else entirely. Maybe the stress of living for Smallville for years finally caused her to crack.

' _One meteor mutant too many,'_ Chloe thought. _'I need a vacation….maybe on a tropical island out in the middle of nowhere.'_

Chloe realized perhaps a second too late how Lana stared across the table at her and frowned.

"Chloe?" Lana asked. She raised her fingers and started to snap them. They just barely brought Chloe out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, Lana?"

"You looked like you were off in a distinct galaxy."

Given some of the flashes Chloe saw after touching the stone, and things which were still coming into her mind, Lana really did hit the nail on the head, in a roundabout way, at least what Chloe figured. She tapped a finger underneath her chin.

"Just thinking about everything which has gone on, well since I've been here," Chloe said. "Do you ever wonder what would have been…if Clark hadn't been around?"

Lana took a moment to consider what Chloe said before deciding she really didn't want to.

"Life would be...I don't know," Lana said. "I don't know what to think about it…what brought that up anyway?"

The thought sounded so awful, Lana didn't understand why Chloe of all people would bring up this particular point. It sounded, well she knew what it sounded like, it didn't sound very good, not at all.

"Just thinking, you know," Chloe said. She leaned closer towards Lana, her smile growing sharper.

' _You were there just as much for him, as he was for you, and you should be commended for it, and you will get rewarded.'_

The voice which sounded unlike anything Chloe had ever heard chimed off again. She was afraid to respond to it to be perfectly honest, because responding to the voices in your head was confirmation of insanity, at least in Chloe's book. She would get over it, maybe, she would recover from it, eventually.

Funnily enough, her voices never did sound that conceited.

"To be fair, I do that a lot too," Lana said.

Lana tried not to get hung up on what might have been. It was a bad thing. Maybe life would have been a lot easier if her parents had been around.

The phone rang and Chloe picked it up.

"Hey….yeah, Lois…..don't worry, Lana and I are safe….yes, I'm sure Clark's fine as well….the Kents...I don't know…but I'm sure they're okay….oh don't let him get under your skin...talk to you later…yeah, I'm up at the Talon, stop by."

A long pause followed when Chloe hung up the phone. She felt like her ear had been running a marathon. Lana snickered from the other end of the table until Chloe turned towards her.

"What's so funny?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I think you can appreciate how people feel like when you're amped up," Lana said.

Chloe could have scowled, but she figured Lana was right. She could get a bit hyperactive and excited sometimes.

* * *

The moment Kara stepped into the Fortress of Solitude, she almost scoffed. Yes, this is exactly what she expected it to be. It was devoid of any life or warmth whatsoever. Fitting given Jor-El put it on one of the coldest and most desolate places on Earth.

' _Practical, but not exactly inviting,'_ Kara thought.

She reminded herself, the Jor-El she knew alive was a brilliant scientist, but he could have some odd quirks. And apparently, one was building an AI who expected compliance and when he didn't get his way, he acted like a small child who had his favorite toy being taken away.

"Jor-El!" Kara yelled at the top of her lungs. "I know you're here…..I need to speak to you...Kal-El needs to speak to you….don't you ignore me!"

A longer pause made Kara wonder if she was going to have to start tearing into the Fortress.

"I had given Kal-El a directive to return to this Fortress by the end of the day," Jor-El said. "And you shouldn't have been here….and you shouldn't get involved with him."

"Oh, I'm glad you remember me," Kara said. Her cheeks had gotten red and fists curled up to the side. It took every bit of self-control he could must not to smash the Fortress into pieces. "Then again, you thought enough of me to use my name and likely imprinted a part of my personality on one of your puppets, to lure Clark here."

She waited for whatever excuse Jor-El had to justify his behavior this time.

"It was necessary to ensure compliance."

Kara counted to ten in her head while holding her breath.

"Compliance, funny word, makes you sound like a certain General we all know too well, doesn't it?" Kara asked.

Clark knew this was about to take a turn for the ugly, really quick. He decided to step in before things took a turn for the worst.

"Is it true my mother was supposed to undertake my training when I turned fourteen?"

A long pause followed in the area. Kara moved over to the control panel. If Jor-El wanted to play this game, she could play it as well.

"Yes."

The word had been so matter of fact, so much of an afterthought, that it caused Clark's head to spin. He had an obvious follow-up question to it.

"Then why didn't she?"

"Lara's system could not be accessed, and it was unwise to stall with your training, so I took the necessary actions," Jor-El said. "But, I must warn you about Kara."

Kara almost stopped what she was doing to listen. Oh boy, here he went, Kara figured out which direction he was going.

"Given the bloodline on her mother's side of the family, you cannot trust her," Jor-El said. "I'm only acting in your best interests, to ensure you achieve your destiny. But she isn't…she isn't even telling you the full truth of who she is."

Those comments rang in Clark's ears, but at the same time, he couldn't believe them. They were very unbelievable as a matter of fact.

"Pretty interesting coming from someone who had to manipulate me every step of the way over the past couple of years," Clark said. "Did you really think I would ever take anything you said at face value after what you pulled in the cave last year?"

Jor-El's AI didn't miss a beat.

"Yet, I had proven given your inability to procure the stones caused chaos, and could have led to the decimation of countless lives. The consequences of your inaction will doom this planet, Kal-El."

Kara could see this argument going back and forth for a very long time. She finished bypassing Jor-El's security protocols and accessed the system. She scanned for any trace, any hint of Lara inside the system so she could put her up.

"You lying piece of…."

"Kara?" Clark asked.

"There's no hint of Lara in this system at all," Kara said. Her hands found their way towards her hips and she stared at Jor-El's main matrix crystal, the closest thing she could do staring him in the eyes. "Did you delete your wife from the system, you poor excuse…"

"I have no idea what happened," Jor-El said. "But, I can assure you, I did not go as far to delete my wife's artificial construct from the system."

"Well, time to fix….."

"I must discourage you from what you're doing…."

Kara already started to remove crystals. She learned how to rewire these things at a very young age, and Jor-El's attitude, and what he already did to Kal put her in a foul mood.

Clark watched Kara, mouth hanging slightly open. He had never seen someone so pissed before and she ripped out one of the larger crystals before crushing it in her hand.

"What did…um…what did you do?" Clark asked.

"I removed the personality matrix from Jor-El," Kara said.

The words "personality" and "Jor-El" just didn't mix in Clark's mind.

"He didn't seem to have much of a personality, to begin with," Clark said a second later. Kara looked back at him for a long moment, but she was smiling.

"Yes, he didn't," Kara agreed. "He used his own form of AI construction, which has a few flaws….and wasn't exactly the best way of going about things. He thought his emotion would be a burden….like the Council did…the same….pigheaded notion which led to Krypton's demise. If he had been upfront with you, you wouldn't be so behind in your development."

Clark raised an eyebrow for a moment. There was a multitude of protests coming through his mind. Kara's hand once again found its way intertwined in his. Clark wasn't going to lie, it gave him strength enough.

"All of the programs are there, all of the information, except for Lara," Kara said. "And don't worry, there has to be a way of restoring her, and I'll find her….but we are five years behind on your training…..but at least your powers have been restored."

Clark could feel it even without Kara's confirmation of his powers being restored. It did feel rather good to be back on track if he was perfectly honest.

Something hit him, though. He knew believing Jor-El at face value would have been pretty foolish at this particular point. Yet something hit Clark hard, and he couldn't just shake it off.

"Jor-El mentioned something about your bloodline…"

"My aunt," Kara said without missing a beat. "She was sent to the Phantom Zone after an assassination plot and attempted hostile takeover on the Council had gone wrong. She had seen the same things like your father did. She believed Krypton was dying….she just decided to go about it in a different, and less…passive way."

Clark swallowed for a second. He could tell Kara was upset and he opened his mouth to apologize bringing it up. Kara stopped him by holding up a hand.

"No," Kara said. She leaned closer until she and Clark were face to face. "You have to know everything…and there're some parts of it I don't know….but I do know one thing. The Council was so vindictive they made my mother sentence her own twin sister to the Phantom Zone….she needed help….something at the battle of Kandor changed her….made her a bit more….trigger happy."

And shortly after, Kandor vanished. It showed that everything ended up for nothing.

Clark wrapped his arm around Kara, the gesture of which she appreciated. Her hair flipped over from her face.

"I suppose it doesn't matter now," Kara said. "Her sentencing was for life, though….and despite the fact we have a portal to the Phantom Zone, I don't want to risk it…no matter how many happy memories I have of her."

"Phantom Zone?" Clark asked.

"Yes, a place for some of the worst criminals in the universe," Kara said. "I forgot how much…you don't know, and how much I will teach you….and it won't just all be boring history, I swear."

Clark wondered exactly where Kara was going with this particular line of thought. He suspected in time, he would find out.

* * *

Lex Luthor found himself in a state which he always hated being in. He had a few questions, zero answers, and someone with an unbelievable appetite for knowledge hated this more than anyone else. He made his way to the LuthorCorp facility. He was currently on a phone. The news he received, well he couldn't decide whether it was good or bad.

"My father's still speaking in tongues?" Lex asked. "Yes, that could be a problem…make sure he's locked up….until he's coherent….yes, the best care necessary. We wouldn't want him to be a danger to himself and others."

Lex turned around the corner. He saw a crew of people busy at work. The good thing about LuthorCorp was it's self-sufficient. It had been set up that way from Lionel Luthor and continued to run in this particular manner when Lex held the reigns.

"Mr. Luthor, you're not going to believe this…it's amazing!"

Lex considered his own insatiable curiosity piqued by a fair amount.

"And we just managed to secure it before the military could get there, and do so," the aide said. "You're going to have to see it believe it, sir."

"Well, don't just tell me," Lex said. He answered with a smile. "Show me."

Lex turned the corner, being lead down the hallway by his aide. He came face to face with a remarkable looking black ship. It looked to be made of a material which Lex didn't really recognize. It was extraordinary no matter how you sliced it. The billionaire placed a hand on the edge of the ship and frowned. Cool to the touch.

He half expected something to happen, and it was disappointing when nothing did. Something about the ship just drew Lex towards it.

"Interesting," Lex murmured underneath his breath. "Well, things are about ready to get very interesting...I want all research teams to prepare to study this ship. Around the clock work, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," his aide said.

"I'll meet with them personally, telling them what I want to get done."

The ship could have been the breakthrough he needed.

The doors shut behind them and the lights flicked off. The ship lingered in the distance.

Black liquid dripped off of the ship. The liquid formed into a man which caused a pulse of energy to temporarily short out the cameras before it could get a good look at the man.

The man slipped out the door and out through the back entrance as if it was no big deal at all.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on August 22nd** **, 2016.**


	3. Chapter 3

_Week Thirty-Three Chapter of the Week Poll Is Up at the Blog, primed for voting.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Three: The Education of Kal**

Clark thought he had a fair bit to learn given what Kara mentioned. And he was willing to learn if someone people were willing to give him direct answers. Jor-El always spoke in the most cryptic way, as if he always expected the people he dealt with to be just as intelligent as he was. And given what Kara claimed, when Jor-El lived, actually lived, and not had been a bastardized artificial intelligence copy, he was the most intelligent individuals on his planet, and perhaps the entire universe.

Regardless, as Clark found out over time, intelligence led to some rather unfortunate blind spots on the part of Jor-El. He was beginning to realize that now more than ever before. He and Kara walked out into the gentle spring breeze.

Kara changed into something a bit more suitable for Earth travel. She dressed in a black tank top which fit her nicely and a pair of jeans which fit her lower body. Clark, having walked behind her, had his eyes drift to a certain part of her body more often than he should, to the point where he wondered whether or not he had a Red Kryptonite infection.

To her credit, Kara took this in stride, because they had something to find. The ship which Kara exited from needed to be found. It had to have been around here somewhere. Leaving it out in the open could lead to disaster.

The good news was Kara knew where to look.

"So, I'll give your father all of the credit in the world, even if his AI is something to be desired," Kara said. She allowed the breeze to hit her in the face and blow her hair about. "Jor-El's a pretty brilliant scientist. I think it's safe to say he's one of the most brilliant in the universe."

Clark heard all about Jor-El's brilliance. Well, at least his research would not go to waste in the Fortress.

"So you told me," Clark said.

Kara smiled, understanding why more than anyone else why Clark acted like this.

"I'm not going to say he didn't make his mistakes, but he tried to do everything in his power to save Krypton," Kara said. "The Council listened to the wrong people and it led to our end. And we might not be having this conversation if the Council actually wised up and listened to your father."

Clark stopped short of a small fragment of Green Kryptonite. Despite the fact Kara rigged him up some temporary shielding; he was still a bit gun shy around Kryptonite. It triggered certain thoughts in his mind which lead to him being more than a bit nervous.

The shielding selectively blocked out the Kryptonite radiation while also causing him to absorb the normal yellow solar radiation. It allowed him to absorb more of the yellow solar radiation.

"Is the shielding working?" Kara asked.

"Yes, it is," Clark said.

Kara could tell Clark still flinched out of habit.

"Good," Kara said. "The point is, things happen for a reason, though. And we wouldn't be where we are now without these things happening."

Clark nodded in response.

"Well, I guess it's for the best," Clark said a half of a second later. He continued to look forward. "How about my mother?"

Kara smiled, almost thoughtfully about the question about Lara.

"She was a doctor, and one of the best," Kara said. "She had a pretty good idea how to heal, and….well, she knew all of the ways to make a belligerent patient regret their attitude if they took one with her."

Clark looked at Kara for another moment.

"There are ways to cause the most amount of pain, but not cause any kind of lasting injury, or at least any kind of fatal injury," Kara said. "Lara knew them all, and…..they could be interesting, even though she only mentioned a few of them to me."

Clark allowed it all to sink in. There were a couple more people which caused Clark to have some questions to ask the visitor.

"So, you told me all about my parents," Clark said.

Kara laughed. If he thought that was the tip of the story, boy was there much more to discuss.

"Oh, I can assure you there's so much more to tell," Kara said. She flashed one of those smiles at him. "Well, about your mother more than anything, but….there's still a lot more to tell."

Clark just brushed off her words about as much as possible. He reached towards her and gripped onto her hand, smiling.

"Right, but how about your parents?" Clark asked.

A long pause followed when Kara tried to get her thoughts together. A moment passed when Clark wondered if he said a very personal question. He almost opened his mouth to apologize for how forward he was. Kara stopped him pretty much in his tracks.

"My father and your father….they never really got along too much," Kara said. "And my mother, well she was brilliant. She didn't get the recognition she deserved because your father was so much more of an infamous figure, though….and he spent more time rattling the Council's cage…..he was a lot like you in some ways, always questioning authority."

Clark almost scoffed in response. It was kind of difficult to believe Jor-El had a rebellious streak in his body.

"Look, we're here!"

Kara hunched over some rocks, bending over in front of Clark. Clark tried not to enjoy the view too much; in fact, he shook his head to clear it. Some magnetic force brought his eyes to the same spot.

' _I don't know what's wrong with you,'_ Clark said. _'It's almost like ever since….it's just likely nothing….she's really hot, even though she's your cousin, and you….just focus, Clark.'_

"That's your ship, isn't it?" Clark asked.

Kara responded with a nod. She could feel relieved beyond all belief no one had come across her ship, or worse of all had started to play with it. She was just glad the temporary shielding would hold because those green rocks were everyone.

"We're going to have to take the ship and move it somewhere," Kara said. Clark looked towards her. "Because it's just laying here in the middle of nowhere."

"The meteor shower just jarred it loose, didn't it?" Clark asked.

Kara only responded with a half-committed nod. A few thoughts went through her mind when she tried to figure this out, where she was going, and where she needed to head. There was not a doubt in her mind some drastic action was really needed.

"My ship will need to be moved," she murmured underneath her breath. "I don't know how I landed so far off course...I was supposed to be right behind you…..guess it was an unforeseen variable of the meteor storm."

Kara closed her eyes and started to mutter complex equations underneath her breath. Clark allowed this to go on for several moments before clearing his throat.

"We're going to have to get this out of here soon before someone notices we're here," Clark said. "It's a fair bit bigger than mine, but I guess that's obvious."

Kara smiled. It was very obvious why.

"Where is your ship anyway?" Kara asked.

"My parents hid my ship in the storm cellar, and didn't show it to me until I was fourteen," Clark said. He looked back at Kara. "Something tells me your ship isn't going to fit."

Clark considered something for another moment and looked towards her.

"I may have a spot where your ship could go," Clark said a couple of moments later. "The cave….which is connected to the Fortress…..there's a spot where no one but a Kryptonian could enter…..it would be the perfect spot to stash it."

"It's a good enough spot for now," Kara said. "Damn, I'm going to have to repair this."

"What?"

Kara hoped it would be an easy fix. She really didn't have the crystals to reconfigure it. Not even the Fortress did.

"The AI construct of my mother….it was built into the ship," Kara said a second later. She wiped a brow of sweat from her face, which was surprising given how she shouldn't be sweating. "And unlike your father's, it works as intended. Or would, if it wasn't broken"

Kara picked out some crystals, yanking them out of the edge of the ship. She thought they might be a bit useful for her cousin's training. And she also managed to get the main matrix crystal for her mother.

She smiled when watching Clark hoist the ship over his head. Not exactly the most subtle way to move something, but she supposed it worked well enough in a pinch.

"Try hard not to drop it," Kara said.

* * *

Kara and Clark moved the ship away, so no one would mess with it and put themselves or others in danger. Now, Clark was leading Kara over to the Talon. The other Kryptonian, now she was dressed for the occasion, was ready to meet with Clark's friends. And given when Clark mentioned his friends in passing, Kara was rather interested in meeting them.

"So, do you remember the cover story?" Clark asked.

"You're telling me none of them know about….who you are?" Kara asked.

Clark thought that was a pretty good question.

"Well, Chloe does, and it took her four years to figure it out," Clark said. "I think Lana….there are times where I think she might suspect something, but she hasn't been able to put the pieces together. And as for Lois, who knows what she knows. I think though if she did figure out I was not of this world, she would have been blunt enough to say something. Lois is about a subtle as getting run over by a train when she wants to speak her mind."

Kara hid a smile. Sometimes people just needed to get out what she thought.

"Yes, I remember the cover story," Kara said. "But, I just find something shocking."

Clark raised an eyebrow towards Kara. He wondered what she could have found shocking. A second passed before Kara revealed it to him.

"You weren't being open and honest with your friends about whom you were," Kara said. "You know, if they were truly your friends, they wouldn't shun you just because you're….not exactly human."

Kara learned her own lessons about being shunned the hard way, and true friendship. The moment people found out she was a natural birth and not an engineered one for a certain purpose, people shunned her. She recalled those moments where she was at her darkest.

Only a few looked past the expectations of what a Kryptonian should be. It was difficult.

"It can be difficult to find true friends, so I understand your hesitation," Kara said, tone softening after recalling her own experiences.

"It's not….well my father, Jonathan Kent, not Jor-El, he wanted me to live as much of a….conventional life as possible," Clark said. "You've met him; he's a pretty practical man."

Kara only responded with a nod. She didn't say anything negative out of respect for her cousin, but she didn't know if this was for the best. She knew the Kents had their hearts in the right place, but it wasn't how she would have encouraged Kal-El's upbringing had she had a say in it. And Lara would have encouraged him to choose his own path, and appreciate both sides of himself.

His human upbringing left him pretty grounded. Almost too grounded if Kara had, to be honest. He didn't give any indication he mastered the ability to fly. Then again, maybe he could, once those self-doubts stopped weighing him down.

They swung the doors open to a place called the Talon. It was very early in the morning, and there were only three people there. A dark haired girl with an olive complexion stood in the back. Kara recognized her as the girl she found when going up the street when looking for Kal-El, and before they fought the Disciplines of Zod.

' _Lana,'_ Kara reminded herself. Her eyes followed around the room. She noticed the perky blonde who flashed a smile the second she laid eyes on Clark. _'And there's Chloe…and that must be Lois.'_

The brunette dressed in a white top and a pair of blue jeans which fit her quite nicely. She noticed Chloe's smile and turned her direction towards him. She bent over, with Kara catching a full view of her assets.

"Smallville, I swear, whenever there's trouble, you don't seem to be around," Lois said. She blinked when looking at him. "How are you doing?"

Clark caught a hint of a smile on her face. It was only the most subtle thing.

"Oh, you know me, I can't say down," Clark said. "How about you, Lois? Are you actually staying out of trouble for once in your life?"

Lois responded with a half snort.

"Well, I haven't tried very hard," Lois said. She looked towards the blonde. "Did you get lost?"

"Actually, this is my cousin, Kara," Clark said. "She's new in town."

Lana's intrigue perked up, along with the other two girls. For a second, Kara thought Lana put two and two together. Technically, they met before, even though Lana was a bit shell-shocked at the time.

"Oh, she's….is she….biological?" Lana asked. "You know, from your birth family….not that your real…"

"Yes, I'm Clark's blood relation," Kara said.

Lois slapped palms down on the table and gave Kara a look like she wanted to interrogate her underneath a lamp like an old time detective movie.

"And where have you been his entire life?" Lois asked. "You waited until he was eighteen to come and look him up….how old are you anyway?"

' _Good question,'_ Kara thought. _'Better go with the age I was supposed to be when I arrived at Earth…because technically I didn't age.'_

"I'm eighteen," Kara said. "And my parents….died when I was very young…..like his did…in the same accident which killed them."

Chloe knew Clark was going to tell her the full story earlier. Lois and Lane looked to be buying the story, and Kara's tears when remembering her parents, and Clark's parents, were very convincing.

"That's terrible, I'm sorry for your loss," Chloe said to her. "So, I'm sure you were taken in by nice people?"

"I spent the last eighteen years trapped in an orphanage," Kara said. "It was not bad; it was completely understaffed…"

"It wasn't one of those Dickens wet dream orphanages, was it?" Lois asked. "You know something out of Oliver Twist."

Kara wished she knew what Lois was talking about.

"Wow Lois, I didn't know you were so cultured," Chloe said.

Lois folded her arms and looked towards Chloe.

"No, it wasn't bad, it wasn't…it wasn't home," Kara said. "Now, I've found my cousin, I'm home."

Clark almost could have smiled. He sat down right between Chloe and Lois, where Kara sat the seat next to Lana, in front of him.

"Are you all okay?" Clark asked.

"Oh, I got back fine, found Lana….she saw the ship which came down," Chloe said.

"About where did it come down?" Kara asked. She had been so busy worrying about dealing with Jor-El and her ship; she didn't notice the ship coming down.

"Oh, a field….it was field your cousin knows very well," Chloe said. "It's right near his house, you spent a fair amount of time playing in it, didn't you, Clark?"

Clark answered with a very light shrug. He really had no idea how to respond to that to be perfectly honest.

"So, when did the three of you meet Clark?" Kara asked.

"Well, I pretty much knew Clark for as long as I can remember," Lana said a second later. She hitched in her breath for a second. "After my parents died, I moved in with my aunt….Clark and I were neighbors for a long time."

"I came into town in the eighth grade, and….well, Clark seemed to be one of the few people I connected with, I was new in town," Chloe said. "We've been pretty close ever since."

"Yes, we have," Clark said, responding with one of his warm smiles.

"How close?" Lois asked.

"Well, I kissed him the first time I saw him," Chloe said.

"You didn't?" Lois asked. She never heard this story.

"Figured, we were both thinking about it, so we could get it over with," Chloe said.

"And you haven't done anything else since have you?" Lois asked. "Because, I don't want to have to…"

"Lois relax, it's time, Clark and I are just very good friends," Chloe said.

Kara caught onto the look and knew Chloe wouldn't be opposed to more. It was just she wasn't going to be the one to make the move to jeopardize her friendship.

"How about you?" Kara asked.

"Well, I came to Smallville after this little bundle of trouble went missing," Lois said, pointing towards her cousin, who responded by sticking her tongue out. "Your cousin was delirious….and naked in the corn field…I'm not sure what happened…..someone must have drugged him, or something. That's why you should always keep an eye on your drinks because you never know."

The General always barked about never keeping her eye off of a drink, or never accepting a drink from others. It was a good lesson.

"I don't…remember that," Clark said.

"Well, it sticks out in my mind quite vividly," Lois said, brushing off it. "You tended to make quite a the…first impression."

"Why, did you like what you saw?" Clark asked.

Lois stared him down with daggers burning through her eyes.

"Please, don't flatter yourself."

' _Yes, a little bit,'_ Lois thought. _'But, I didn't have a chance to really look so…..'_

Clark leaned back, pleased his cousin was getting along with his friends so well, but she also seemed to be interrogating them a little bit which was very interesting. He did have his own hunches why she was doing this.

* * *

Chloe and Clark went for a walk, with Kara deciding to go off to check on a couple of things. They made sure they were out of earshot.

"So, she's your cousin from Krypton?" Chloe said after Clark told her the real truth. "I'm going to have to say, she seems a lot more into you than a cousin but…maybe it's just things are different on other planets, and I guess in a rural area, such things are more common."

Clark wondered what Chloe was driving at. She gave him a smile.

"What I want to know is why you had been transported to the Fortress, and Lex hadn't?" Clark asked. "I don't think I'll ever know…..because Kara disconnected Jor-El."

"She did?" Chloe asked.

She didn't like Clark's biological father if she was perfectly honest. He seemed like a bit of a jerk, to be honest, or at least his artificial intelligence seemed like a bit of a jerk.

"Yeah, she did," Clark said. "Or rather, she removed his personality matrix and control of the Fortress. She does have my best interests in mind, and you can't really argue with that."

"No, I guess you can't," Chloe said, a smile crossing her face when looking back at Clark. "Sorry, there's just a lot on my mind after what's happened."

' _Not going to tell him about the voice in my head.'_

Chloe did her best to ignore said voice from overwhelming her.

Clark and Chloe turned around the corner where Lana said the ship had landed. The ground was empty, nothing other than a large crater. Granted, they couldn't really get close, because some military people were in the area.

"Not there," Clark said. "Let's go, too many people around."

"Right," Chloe said. "Maybe it….vanished, or something….maybe it phoned home."

"It's from Krypton; all it would get is a busy signal."

Chloe had a bad feeling about the ship. Just a bad feeling she couldn't place. Then again, her questionable sanity made her question her bad feelings.

"Hopefully, it's in the hands of someone…who won't be a problem," Chloe said, hoping beyond all hope. "And I'm really happy for you, you've found family….well blood family, I'm not trying to discount your parents or anything….."

Clark responded with a smile and Chloe wondered if this feeling of having legs made of jelly would pass shortly.

"I get what you're saying."

His parents were his parents, but Kara could give him answers on where he came from, straight answers, and not answers which were wrapped in some kind cryptic challenges.

* * *

"As you could guess, there are some differences between the people of Krypton and the people of Earth."

Kara's matter of fact statement resulted in Clark barely avoiding cracking a smile. He leaned closer toward his cousin, the smile never once fading from his face.

"You mean other than the fact we get extraordinary super powers underneath the yellow sun," Clark said. "And most normal people are normal…..would humans get super powers underneath Krypton's red sun?"

Kara cupped a hand underneath her chin and smiled.

"An interesting idea, it's possible," Kara said. "But, given our biology is different, I'm not sure if your average human could withstand the type of abilities we have."

Clark thought about his father's heart condition, developed after Jor-El gave him powers after Clark ran wild on the red Krypton.

"Our culture is different," Kara said. "For instance, relations between first cousins are not exactly encouraged here on Earth, if I'm not mistaken?"

Clark didn't quite know where this one was going. Kara crossed her arms, waiting for an answer. They moved underneath Kara's attention, drawing clearer attention towards her perfect, round, breasts. The fact Clark had been raised in a rather traditional Earth manner made this particular taboo thought much more delightful.

' _This is so wrong,'_ Clark thought. _'Why does the thought make it feel so right?'_

"Yes, it happens, but….people who do it….tend to be the subject of a lot of ridicule," Clark said, tearing his eyes away from Kara's breasts.

Kara smiled, quite knowingly.

"The biological implications Earth holds from these unions aren't present on Krypton for we had several more generations to evolve," Kara said. "Therefore, marriages between first cousins can be arranged…..if the match is perfect….and if there's a connection between the two of them."

Kara took a moment to gauge Clark's reaction. He wasn't exactly repulsed by the idea, which was good. It was going to take some way to convince him what needed to be done. Given she was four years behind schedule; Kara's work really was cut out of her.

Naturally, he would have to progress at his own speed, but Kara had a feeling there were some Alpha tendencies borrowed underneath that "aw shucks" farm boy look (Lois's words, not hers).

"Krypton wasn't without its flaws," Kara said. "We ignored them, until the end. We're among the very last of Krypton."

Clark responded with a nod. It was a heavy burden to bare.

"Some others are in the Phantom Zone, having been lost to the chaotic elements within the Zone," Kara said. "And some may have shown more foresight than the Council, and found alternate ways off of the planet. I don't know of any, though."

He got where she was coming from.

"Makes a whole lot of sense," Clark responded to her.

"We're the only two, at least to my knowledge, who are here on Earth," Kara said. "And thus, being the only two members of the House of El, and the final two survivors of Krypton, we have certain duties to fulfill."

Clark only raised an eyebrow. Sure she wasn't thinking what he thought she was thinking?

"We'll progress at your speed," Kara said. "Even though, I'm not going to lie….we're going into uncharted waters."

"How so?" Clark asked.

"You grew up on Earth," Kara explained. "Therefore your powers grew accordingly, and they really didn't start coming into greater prominence until you hit puberty."

He was a well of untapped potential. Kara just needed to figure out a way to get the water out, and they would be off to the races.

"I'd like to run a scan of you, both mentally and physically," Kara said. "We really should have done this when you were fourteen, but….the best-laid plans."

Clark responded with a nod. Kara reached over and touched her hand on Clark's shoulder.

"With your permission, I can do this," Kara said. "It won't be painful; all you'll feel is a slight warm feeling."

"If you think this will help me?"

Kara squeezed his shoulder and leaned closer towards him. Her hot breath went in his ear before speaking.

"It will…trust me….."

Clark felt something warm on the side of his cheek, and he turned to Kara, who pulled away from him, in the blink of an eye.

"And then, your training can begin."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on August 28** **th** **, 2016.**


	4. Chapter 4

Take part in the Week Thirty-Four Chapter of the Week Poll on the Blog.

 **Chapter Four: Balance**

* * *

Kara cupped her hand underneath her chin. If anything else, she enjoyed a puzzle which needed to be solved, and what was going on with Kal-El, Clark, was rather puzzling, to say the least. The fact she had a four-year gap which some damage had already been done frustrated her. Whatever Jor-El did, his attempts to prepare Kal-El for the young man's destiny really did him no favors.

The most amusing thing, at least in Kara's mind, was the training Jor-El did, was perfectly acceptable, but it was only perfectly acceptable if Clark had been born through traditional Kryptonian manners, and had been genetically engineered to be a soldier. Even though their greatest soldiers had not been engineered for that particular purpose, funnily enough.

' _Yeah, that's just how it works,'_ Kara thought.

Kara found herself in the cold and desolate Fortress while her cousin rested from the scans. It took a lot out of it, and it took a lot out of her. She had been mentally taxed, trying to figure out what to do, where to go, and how to get certain things done. The Kryptonian survivor surrounded herself with a load of crystals from her ship, and a few from the Fortress.

Everything considered, Kara had her work cut out for her.

' _I'm going to have to start from the top,'_ Kara thought. She made a couple of mental notes. _'He's not going to like this. Rao be damned, I'm not going to like this either. Damn you, Jor-El, why did you have to make your Artificial Intelligence so…..'_

Words failed Kara. She had to rig a couple of crystals together. Thankfully, she learned how to do such a thing a long time ago.

One thing she never could do was locate Lara's artificial construct which had been buried deep in the Fortress. Frustration rose in Kara's mind. It had to be somewhere, and yet, despite all odds, Lara was absolutely nowhere at all. Kara's frustration reached a new fever pitch.

' _At least I know Jor-El didn't delete her, otherwise there would be a backup program,'_ Kara thought. _'And she could be salvageable, given some time….time which I don't have to be perfectly honest with you.'_

Clark joined her, entering the central room of the Fortress. Kara got up from her work to face him the second he approached her. She tried to get him to sit down, but he remained standing, about as frustrating as you would expect.

' _Like his mother in that respect,'_ Kara thought. She mentally trailed off. _'Well, better make sure he's doing okay.'_

Kara drew from her thoughts and turned completely towards Clark.

"How are you feeling?" Kara asked him.

She half expected some retort about how he was found, and Kara knew without a shadow of a doubt how someone who had gone through the scanning process Clark had gone through would be less than fine.

"Like my head got stomped in," Clark said. He rubbed the side of it. "Those mental scans, I don't know what to tell you….."

Kara raised a hand and smiled, stopping Clark. She could tell his mind was abuzz.

"I'm going to be perfectly blunt with you," Kara said. "You've suffered some minor neurological damage when your ship crashed on Earth."

"You mean there's something wrong with me, isn't there?" Clark asked. He let out one of those sighs.

Kara motioned for him to sit down, and so he did right in front of her. She reached in and put a hand on the top of his, trying to offer some comfort in a situation where there was scarcely any to be given.

"Yes, there's….a few things wrong with you," Kara said. "None of them your fault….and none of them really anyone's fault, I'm not going to even blame Jor-El for this one."

It could have been worse, but Kara also liked to think things could have been better.

Clark raised an eyebrow and almost could have snorted in response. Kara's eyes fixated him on and he knew it was time to keep his mouth firmly shut, and let her continue to speak.

"We were going into uncharted waters when you had been brought from Krypton," Kara said. "People had traveled to Earth before, but they were through portals….which had been destroyed prior to Krypton's explosion."

Clark took a moment to look at Kara and all he could do was nod. It made more than perfect sense a sufficiently advanced society would have sufficient amount of technology which would be beyond what the people of Earth were capable of.

For some reason, his mind became cleaerer of thought.

"So, they were destroyed," Clark said. "And they sent me in that little escape pod….."

"It's a wonder it made its destination," Kara said. "Have to give Jor-El credit, if he wasn't crafty enough to make it work, you would have ended somewhere else."

Clark only could nod. He would have to give Jor-El about that much credit.

"Brilliant man, but a bad sense of judgment," Kara said. "But, that's over now, and we have to focus on your training….when you think you're ready for it."

Clark thought about it. There was a small part of him who thought he had been training pretty much his entire life, and everything he fought would prepare him. Kara looked at him with a knowing smile, almost as if she caught on to his thoughts.

"In a way, you have," Kara agreed. "What I want to do is unlock more parts of your Kryptonian instincts, which will hopefully not compromise your human values…and it will undo some of the damage which has been caused."

Kara took a moment. She really wished Krypton had not been so blinded with their pursuits of science and logic. It had been an all-consuming endeavor.

"If you're ready, we can do this now," Kara said. She paused. "Only if you're ready."

Clark really didn't have any choice other than being ready.

"Do what needs to be done," Clark said. "If you think this will help…"

"It won't just help you, it's going to help many others," Kara said. "I'm not going to lie to you, Kal. Your human upbringing and your Kryptonian instincts will be a challenge, but I think…we can balance them, given time. You just have to have faith, and trust this will work."

"You haven't steered me wrong just yet," Clark said. "So, with this be about as bad as the memory scan?"

Kara gave a half shrug. She honestly thought Clark asked a pretty good question.

"It might hurt a bit more," Kara said. "You're going to need this, though, and…..I want to offer you one more piece of advice before we decide to do this."

Clark raised an eyebrow, wondering what she had in mind.

"Stop, fighting your biological impulses," she said sternly. "It's unhealthy for you. If something was bound to happen, it's going to happen, and never fight it, ever."

Clark wondered what she was talking about. He opened his mouth, and Kara shot forward, catching his lips in an intense kiss. He almost pushed away, but Kara held his face in place. He returned the kiss, their tongues maneuvering together.

Kara made sure to hold Clark's face into place. He was reluctant at first, but the more Kara held onto him, the more the kiss increased.

"I just want what's best for my baby cousin," Kara said, pulling away. "And I want to help him….so, are you ready to begin?"

Clark almost chuckled at Kara acting like kissing him and practically shoving her tongue down his throat was the most natural thing in the world. On the one hand, she was his cousin, but on the other hand, she was beautiful, and obviously wasn't going to take no for an answer. And it didn't seem to matter, given the not so subtle hints she had dropped.

' _Well, things are going to be interesting,'_ Clark thought.

* * *

Chloe had a lot on her mind lately, and not just because of the voices in her head. She decided it would be best to share this fact with Clark, as she was handling a Kryptonian artifact before the voices stopped. And she figured it would not be best to ignore her.

She walked her way to the recently rebuilt Kent Farmhouse. Chloe knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Only a few seconds paused before Martha opened the door and invited Chloe in.

"Come on," Martha said. "Chloe, it's good to see you…come in, have a cup of coffee."

Chloe smiled, she didn't really mind if she did, to be honest. She walked over towards the table and parked herself down in front of it, taking the cup of coffee and the slice of pie Martha offered her.

"How are you doing, Mrs. Kent?" Chloe asked.

"Well the last couple of weeks have been rough," Martha said. "And too many people are still recovering from the latest meteor shower."

Chloe wondered how many people even thought about a second meteor shower. Martha saw the look in Chloe's face.

"It's a good thing there were meteor shower drills, even though a lot of people saw them a waste of tax dollars," Martha said. "I don't think anyone expected a second meteor shower, after the first one."

"I guess lightning can strike twice," Chloe said. "Or at least meteor showers…"

Chloe trailed off. Martha responded with a tap on her hand.

"I've learned living in Smallville for as long as I have anything is possible," Martha said. She took a moment to drink her coffee and just reflect on life and the challenges it had brought her and her family as of late. "You just have to roll with the punches, see where it brings you."

"I understand," Chloe said. She looked around as if hoping for Clark just to rush in here, faster than a speeding bullet. "So, where's Clark?"

"He's off with Kara," Martha said, almost looking off to the side.

Chloe took a moment to close her eyes. She knew she shouldn't be feeling a twinge of jealousy that Kara and Clark had spent so much time together. Then again, something had been pushing her more and had brought up feelings Chloe swore until she was blue in the face she had buried.

' _No, let's not go down that road of drama again,'_ Chloe thought.

"So, he is," Chloe said, remaining a bit calm. "What do you think of Kara?"

Martha surveyed Chloe thoughtfully over the cup of tea.

"Well, at first I had my misgivings," Martha admitted. "We haven't had good luck with Kryptonian survivors other than Clark."

Chloe tried not to snort because it was quite unladylike. Martha's commentary regarding the survivors of Krypton had been more than spot on, though.

"Still, she's been a help, and I think she's good for Clark," Martha said. "I just hope he…."

"He's not going to forget you if that's what you're thinking," Chloe said. "I'm not going to allow him to, and I'm sure I can enlist Lois's help to double team him."

Martha smiled, almost despite herself. She would have felt sorry for her son if he had been put in that position. Chloe and Lois could be very forceful on their own, but together, well Clark might not have a hope.

"I know he won't, it's just….he's getting to that age where he's growing up, and growing beyond us," Martha said. "I knew it would happen, we all knew what happened. He couldn't be that adorable little child we found crashed in the middle of a cornfield."

"Everything changes," Chloe said.

' _And yet, everything remains the same.'_

The two women drank their coffee at the table. Chloe wrestled with another question she had to ask and to be honest, it was a bit of a personal one. She didn't want to ask it, but at the same time, she really did have to ask it.

"So, how's Mr. Kent holding up?" Chloe asked.

"He's been keeping busy," Martha said. "There's always a lot to do and…..well, I'm not sure if he…..well I'm not sure if he trusts Kara, given what happened the last time a girl named Kara showed up at our doorstep."

Clark may have mentioned that was a Jor-El plot. Chloe had a couple of misgivings which had been pushed into her mind.

' _You can trust her.'_

The voices in her head that was a problem Chloe was going to have to address. She thought, perhaps like a fool, they would go away.

"Thanks for the coffee, and the pie, Mrs. Kent," Chloe said, rising up to her feet and offering a smile. "Tell, Clark if he wants to talk to me, he knows where to find me."

"Oh, I'll tell you stopped by," Chloe said.

Chloe rose up to her feet and almost went out of the door. She ran headlong to one Lana Lang who stepped back.

"Hey, Lana, what's up?" Chloe asked.

"Just…looking for Clark," Lana said, half distracted. "Guess, he's not here, and that's the reason why you're…..here…."

Lana trailed off and Chloe gave the other girl a smile.

"Pretty much," Chloe said.

"I…want to see what happens between Clark and me," Lana said. She shuffled her feet for a moment. "I'm just….terrified something's going to happen…..it always does…which drives us further apart."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked.

Lana almost rolled her eyes in response. She kept her expression a bit neutral after the initial eye roll.

"Come on, Chloe, you know our lives are about as filled with drama as your average teenage sitcom," Lana said.

"Really?" Chloe dryly stated. "I hadn't really noticed."

Lana almost smiled at the blasé way Chloe fired off this response.

"Just….I don't know," Lana said. "Clark has a bad habit of not opening up, and I'm afraid…that's going to ruin things again."

Lana might have been Chloe's friend, but there were sometimes where she didn't do the logical thing, and it caused problems.

"Maybe, Clark isn't the only one who needs to open up," Chloe said. "I'll talk to you later, Lana, I have to get going."

Lana had been left standing behind Chloe, a bit confused, and a bit more bewildered than normal. She wondered what her status with Clark was, and she really wondered why Chloe had been so blunt with her.

' _Maybe I do have some issues to work out,'_ Lana thought. _'I mean, I did spend the last year possessed…..oh well, I'll figure it out, soon enough.'_

Young Lana Lang had been left with a lot to think about, and she doubted the thoughts would fade any time soon.

* * *

The black ship which landed offered Lex another mystery. As if there had not been enough in Smallville, but regardless, Lex's confidence was as such he would be able to piece together all of the mysteries surrounding the ship.

Lex decided to give his men very detailed orders to ensure everything would come off without a hitch.

"Make sure no one who isn't authorized walks down this hallway," Lex said. He gave this particular directive to a rather brutish looking security guard. "Don't shoot to kill, but, do make sure they live long enough to tell me why."

Lex had been one step ahead of the military, and several government agencies who would cut off their right arm to get the rights to the ship. But, they couldn't have the rights to the ship. They were the property of one man, the one, and only Lex Luthor.

The doors to the main lab in the facility had been opened. Several scientists moved around and studied the ship from every single angle. Some angles offered more insight.

"Have you been able to find a way inside, yet?" Lex asked.

"No, sir," one of the scientists said. "There's no hatches, no knobs, not even a button. There isn't even a crack which we can pry the ship open with…."

"Maybe if we can use explosives…"

Lex held up one hand to cut that particular train of thought off at the pass.

"No," Lex said. He spoke in such a firm voice the scientists looked at him. "I refuse to allow such a magnificent ship get damaged. Do you understand me?"

The scientists all answered with their nods. Lex pretty much had them right where he wanted them, and since he controlled the project.

Lex reached behind his ear and scratched it, deep in thought. No way inside of this ship, and thus no way to pierce the wonders of the universe.

' _There has to be a way to breach the ship's opening,'_ Lex thought.

He had spent a fair amount of time trying to breach through the wonders of the universe to no avail. Then again, he had not figured out the enigma which was Clark Kent, despite numerous years of research and attempts to give him the opportunity.

' _What are you hiding, Clark?'_ Lex thought.

Lex's thoughts about Clark had brought his thoughts to another individual who had been right near the ship, according to the people from LuthorCorp who had been on site. Already, a plan formed in Lex's devious mind.

' _Lana had been at ground zero when the ship dropped down,'_ Lex thought. He scratched underneath his chin. _'Well, there's something to do, to talk to her…to see what she knows, or what she might have seen.'_

Lex needed to be delicate with this one. If he startled Lana so much, she might mention something to Chloe, who would obviously bring up something to Clark. And Clark was the last person Lex wanted to be involved in this particular situation for the moment.

Delicate was the nature of this operation, and Lex had very little margin for error. One slip up and a lot of work would be dismissed.

* * *

Kara dropped down from the sky with Clark in her arms. Clark looked a bit annoyed with the process, with Kara having him in her arms, carrying her baby cousin, well like a baby.

The flight thing was getting to be a stumbling block for Clark. Kara had what she thought was an interesting way to train him. If she gave him the proper incentive to fly, he would fly, but she also wanted him to do everything at his own pace. Even though she was four years behind, rushing Clark would put them an even further step back.

"This is humiliating," Clark mumbled to himself. Kara smiled and placed a hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"Well, consider it an incentive," Kara said. "You've grounded yourself, which is not a bad thing, but not a good thing in the case of flying."

Kara and Clark made their way to the Kent Farmhouse where Jonathan and Martha were in the process of having a discussion about something. It was almost tempting to listen in a bit closely, but both of them reigned themselves in, not using their super hearing.

Rather, Clark leaned forward and knocked on the door. He didn't have to wait too long before his mother's warm voice told him to come in.

Jonathan looked up and he had a smile on his face when seeing Clark and Kara. Both of them nodded in response.

"Clark, it's good to see you, I thought you had decided to leave town," Jonathan said. Martha looked at her husband. "Which is your right as an adult, but still...I would have hoped you wouldn't have left without saying goodbye."

"Hello, Kara, it's nice to see you," Martha said.

"It's nice to see you as well, Mrs. Kent, you too as well, Mr. Kent," Kara said. "We've just been discussing options with Clark's training."

There was a sense between both of them something was going on. Clark tried to appease this situation as best as he could.

"What's the damage?" Jonathan asked.

"None right now, because Kara fixed it," Clark said. He put his hands on the top of his head. "Jor-El….made some questionable decisions."

"Yes, we agree on that," Jonathan said. "So, are you leaving?"

"Actually, I can't," Clark said. "There's a lot of mess to clean up with the meteor fallout. If this is anything like the first meteor shower, there's going to be people infected. And not all of those people would be good upstanding people."

Jonathan thought he could count the meteor mutants who were decent people one hand.

"It's my responsibility to clean up the mess I caused," Clark said.

"Just remember, son, there are some things which are beyond even your control," Jonathan said. He hated as much as Clark did when things had gotten out of control, but he just rolled with the punches. "You can't save everyone."

Clark knew his father didn't discourage what needed to be done, as much as make him realize there were some things out of control.

"No, but I can't stop trying," Clark told his father. Jonathan blinked and responded with a swift nod.

Kara turned towards the Kents and looked at them with the most honest look possible.

"Thank you for taking in my cousin," Kara said. "It means a lot to me someone was there for him when I couldn't be."

"Most decent people would have been," Martha said. "And we do have the sense he found us, and wouldn't be taking no for an answer."

Kara thought Martha's assessment was not far from the truth.

"Chloe and Lana were both by here earlier," Martha said. "They both wanted to talk to you."

Clark smiled and nodded.

"Thanks for telling me," Clark said.

"And someone dropped this off on the porch," Jonathan said.

An envelope set on the table in front of them. Clark did not open the envelope right away, rather he scanned the inside of it to see if it had been booby-trapped with Kryptonite. The lack of lead lining around the envelope made it clear something was going on.

Clark opened up the envelope and dropped the pictures down on the table. Kara's mouth opened when she recognized the ship, or rather the symbols on them.

"These symbols, they are the mark of the BrainInactive Construct, Brainiac," Kara said. The Kents all looked at her and she figured some explanation was in order. "They were passed off of one of my mother's creations, Indigo."

"There's going to be trouble," Jonathan muttered.

"Putting it mildly," Kara said, running her hands through her hair and sighing. Her fingertips brushed against her scalp. "He brought about the end of Krypton, the cleansing of it for his master, and now he's made it to Earth, he could finish the job he started."

"You mean he's after Clark?" Martha asked.

"He won't get me," Clark said.

"The Disciples of Zod are just a harbinger what he has planned," Kara said. "Where's the ship located?"

Clark noticed the envelope had a LuthorCorp letterhead on it. Why would someone be sending him confidential information from LuthorCorp? Who inside LuthorCorp would be an ally to him at this time?

Who would risk the wrath of either Luthor to warn him? Actually, Lex might not have known the danger he was in. The young man's curiosity proved to be a problem.

So many questions, not enough answers, and a whole lot of problems.

Kara was deep in thought. There were a couple of problems. If Brainiac already left the ship, they were working with a rather useless vessel.

"He must have left by now ,which leaves the ship empty," Kara said.

"Do you think he could have left clues behind?" Clark asked.

Clark wondered if he was really going to break into a LuthorCorp facility. He had to for answers.

The door opened and Lois Lane walked in to prevent any further conversation from happening.

"Hey, Smallville," Lois said. She decided to step in and invite herself to dinner. "Kara, good to see you see you again, you too Mr. and Mrs. Kent."

Kara smiled at the brazen manner of this particular woman. It amused her to no degree. Lara wanted her son to have several wives, a collective of them.

Convincing him would be a challenge, but it would save a whole lot of heartache in the end. And it would be beneficial for him to have a support network with what is to come.

And given Brainiac was here, more challenges than ever before would be to come.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 4** **th** **, 2016.**


	5. Chapter 5

Week Thirty-Five Chapter of the Week Voting Is up at the blog. Go and Vote now.

 **Chapter Five: Genesis Protocol Part One**

* * *

Clark had a pretty good idea something rotten was going down in the state of LuthorCorp. Always, it seemed like there was a Luthor who was behind pretty much everything. It was something which was about as common as the sun coming up in the morning. Every time Clark turned around and noticed some kind of problem with LuthorCorp.

Half of the time, though, the intent might not have been malicious, and the other half of the time it was very malicious. Clark got straight to work, doing his research about as much as he potentially could. He had some ideas and knew one thing above all else. He had no choice, he needed to get inside of that facility right now.

Chloe stood next to him, frowning deeply at the explanation. She would have liked to think she was surprised.

"So, are you trying to say Lex has gotten his hands on the alien ship which crashed down underneath Lana's nose?" Chloe asked them both. Clark answered with one of the swiftest nods possible. To say Chloe looked disturbed about the possibilities would be putting things very mildly indeed. She took a second to consider what they said. "You know how his curiosity is."

"Yes," Clark said.

Chloe reached over and took a large drink from the cup of coffee in front of her face. She soaked in all of the thoughts which entered her mind. All of them were dreadful, and underlined a lot of the danger involved.

A shudder spread through Chloe's body and both of the Kryptonians turned their attention back towards her.

"You're thinking what we're thinking, aren't you?" Clark asked.

"What happens if he opens the ship?" Chloe asked. "That's what worries me, a lot."

All three of them looked on. Kara took a moment to try and take the situation in.

' _It can't happen,'_ she thought.

"Opening the ship is the worst of our problems, trust me," Kara said. Chloe and Clark turned towards her, both of them offering questioning looks. "The person who occupied the ship, he's dangerous. The ship could have been rigged."

Kara took in a deep breath, and added, almost as an afterthought to her other words.

"And no one is going to open that ship unless he wants it to," Kara said. "And if he wants the ship opened, things are going to go from pretty bad, to really worse. It's not going to be pretty, not at all."

"So, I noticed," Clark muttered, more to himself than to Kara. He turned his attention towards Chloe. "So, I've done some research on the symbols."

Chloe almost looked up in surprise at Clark's revelation.

"You've done some research?" Chloe asked. "Who are you, and what have you done with the real Clark Kent?"

"Hey," Clark said, in a half hurt voice. He could see the wide grin spreading over Chloe's face, as she teased him. "I'm perfectly capable of doing my own research, you know."

Chloe almost felt bad because of the look on Clark's face. She didn't want to imply he was incapable, it was just, him doing research felt so weird to her. Almost like Chloe took a side long trip and landed on some kind of Bizarre mirror universe.

"Just kidding, I swear," Chloe said. Clark smiled at her. "Actually, the moment to mentioned a couple of things, I've been doing some research as well…just on a hunch I had."

Clark knew about Chloe's hunches and her instincts. To say they were pretty much on the mark, at least most of the time would have been spot on if he was perfectly honest.

' _I have a very bad feeling about this,'_ Clark thought.

Regardless, Clark shook off the bad feelings and turned back towards Chloe.

"So, you've been doing some research?" Clark asked. "What have you found?"

Chloe took a moment to put her thoughts together and decided to share what she found to the two Kryptonian survivors.

"Well, there's been…..a small slab with similar symbols which was found about three years ago," Chloe said. Kara and Clark both looked at her. Chloe reached into her folder and looked out a printout. "There have been scientists who have been trying, pretty much in vain, to uncover what was on that particular slab."

Clark decided to go for broke with his latest theory.

"The scientists who found the symbol?" Clark asked. Chloe's full attention was on him. "His name wouldn't happen to have been Milton Fine, would it?"

Chloe frowned. So he did do his research, she was a bit impressed. She shouldn't be, though, given how Clark could be fully capable of performing certain tasks when he really wanted to. It was just sometimes he needed the proper motivation to get things done.

"Funnily enough, his name would be Milton Fine," Chloe said. She flipped through her notes. "He leads a team of people, and….well he's a bit of an enigma."

"What makes him so strange?" Kara asked.

"He disappeared about eighteen months ago, which was about eighteen months after the discovery of this," Clark remarked. Chloe answered with a brief nod, confirming Clark's thoughts.

"Yes, he did….well up until about three weeks ago, when he reappeared underneath mysterious circumstances," Chloe said. "He claims he was away from a trip for his health."

Three weeks ago, around the time the meteor shower happened, Clark made a mental note. Actually could have been within a few days of said meteor shower happening. Maybe, Clark was doing his best to put two and two together, and was coming up with five, but there was something really rotten going on here, he could not place.

"Did he give any excuses?" Clark asked.

Chloe wasted little time answering. "It says he was away for health reasons."

"So, he claims he was away on a trip for his health, does he?" Clark asked.

"Well, it does make sense," Chloe said. "And he's wasting no time, he's been criticizing the Luthors for their business practices, and the fact they're keeping secrets….a bit of an irony, wouldn't you say?"

Clark thought that would be rich, if their theory was correct.

"Yeah, I'd say," Clark said. "Still, tracking him down would be a good start, wouldn't it?"

Chloe was about ready to agree with him about tracking Fine down. Something else hit her, though, some kind of strong feeling which she couldn't shake off. She didn't know, she had a very bad idea about all of this. And that very bad feeling was getting worse the longer she tried to hold it into her.

"Something wrong?" Clark asked her.

"No," Chloe said. "It's just…..be careful….just something about his mysterious disappearance and reappearance unsettles me a lot. I don't know…just is pretty rotten."

Clark thought there was something else on Chloe's mind. The look on her face showed Clark some kind of internal conflict going on in her head.

"You know you can tell me if there's something bothering you?" Clark asked.

Chloe took a moment to shake off these cobwebs.

"Thanks, Clark, it's just been a busy….last couple of months," Chloe said. "A lot to take in, and then there's college right around the corner. You know, just have to keep busy to keep from going insane."

Kara could tell there was something else though just by looking from her eyes. She reached a hand underneath the table and touched it to Clark's, offering him a brief warning, not to intervene in this particular situation.

"So, is there anything else, you found?" Kara asked.

"Well," Chloe said. She reached underneath the table and pulled it out to set it down. "There is this one thing….this writing…..I tried to blow it up as much as I can."

She dropped the piece of paper upon the table and in front of Clark and Kara. Clark's lips curled into a very obvious frown, and he understood in an instant what he was dealing with.

"It's…..Kryptonian," Clark said. "For Genesis."

To say Kara had been disturbed would be understating a few things greatly. Her heart started racing. She turned around and wrapped a hand around Clark's wrist.

"Clark, we need to go back to the Fortress, to check on something."

The two almost bolted, leaving a very confused Chloe sitting there. The term Genesis did unsettle her, though, just a small little bit.

' _It can't be what I think it is,'_ she thought.

* * *

The two of them returned to the Fortress. Clark wondered what the hell Kara was thinking about the moment they touched down. He followed behind him, nerves going through the roof. He had always seen her rather reserved, at least for the most part. The only other thing she lost it before now was when she was dealing with Jor-El. Clark didn't understand what was going on here, the only thing he did, was he didn't like it.

Everything happened so fast, Clark didn't have a chance to logically ask any questions. He could hear Kara's heart beating pretty fast when the two of them flew all the way to the Arctic.

"Kara?" Clark asked. She only barely acknowledged him, almost slipping into some kind of trance or something. "Kara? KARA!"

Kara almost spun around. Clark caught her around the shoulders and looked her straight in the eye. Kara began to breathe in and breathe out heavily.

"What?" Kara asked him, a bit shortly.

Clark stepped back and waved his hand. She looked at him, calming down.

"Sorry," Kara murmured.

Clark accepted her apology because they needed to get to the bottom of this and not waste time being upset with each other.

"You've gone all weird back there," Clark said. "You said we needed to get back to the Fortress, and here we are. Do you think you could explain what's going on here?"

Kara took a moment to step inside the Fortress, and she walked forward. She sank down onto one of the blocks of ice furniture and took in a deep breath. She motioned for Clark to sit down right across from her in a moment.

"Sorry, it's just….sins from Krypton's past coming back to haunt us," Kara said. "I know how dangerous Brainiac is but….if he's been here for a long time, then he's had more time to prepare than we think he had. And more time to prepare than we had"

The revelation struck Clark with all of the subtle force of another meteor shower.

"You think he's arrived on Earth before the meteor shower?" Clark asked.

Kara responded with a stiff nod. She knew what the menace which destroyed Krypton was capable of. The fact the Council took her mother's work and turned it around such made Kara a bit agitated. She had no idea what happened to Indigo, the prototype for Brainiac. But she knew she enjoyed the prototype better than the original.

"I know he has, and that means really bad news for both of us, and especially for Earth," Kara said. "And yes, before you ask, I know what Genesis means."

Clark was about ready to ask her what it meant. Kara raised a hand and prevented him from talking. She breathed in as fast as she could, taking in as many breaths per second as she can.

"Okay, now, I'm calm," Kara said. "The Genesis Protocol was the last ditch plan of my mother's to save Krypton. She wanted to find another planet, transport all of the Kryptonians into the Phantom Zone, sending one person ahead, and having them open a portal which would bring them all to the new planet. And yes, Earth was one of the planets they thought about."

Clark knew of a couple of logical flaws with this statement.

"Isn't it dangerous to do that?" Clark asked. "Didn't you say there were prisoners in the Phantom Zone?"

Kara answered with a nod and attempted to figure out how to use the Fortress to stop Brainiac.

' _It might be a lot easier if Lara was here,'_ Kara thought. _'Reinstalling Jor-El's personality matrix is too risky.'_

"Yes, yes, I did," Kara said. "It might have been dangerous, but it was some desperate times. It didn't really matter anyway, because even though she gave the plan, and even though her findings matched up with Jor-El's the Council disregarded it because Brainiac didn't think anything was wrong."

Clark took a moment to process all of this information. He looked in Kara's bright blue eyes, so intense right now.

"He had no idea the planet was dying?" Clark asked.

"Oh, he had an idea, but….by that point, he had been corrupted, and made his own plans to evacuate the planet," Kara said. "If he learned of Jor-El's plans to send you to Earth, well, he may be here to finish what he started."

Clark understood now what she meant. It was very hard to come to terms with all of this.

"It didn't matter anyway, no matter what, because I'm not sure if the plan would have worked," Kara said. "They believed Brainiac over some of the most prominent scientists in Krypton's time."

Clark sensed the frustration in Kara's mind. Hell, he would have been frustrated if he had to deal with a group of people who thought they knew everything, and refused to listen to reason.

"We're going to need to get the ship away from Lex," Clark said. Kara blinked at the firmness of his words. "Don't you agree it holds vital clues to what Brainiac is doing?"

Kara nodded, she most certainly didn't disagree.

"There's just a problem," Kara said. "I'm not sure if you saw the ship, but it's several times bigger than yours. It's even bigger than mine...so where are we going to put it?"

Clark considered what Kara said. Yes, that was a problem. One they would have to solve sooner rather than later.

"Let's worry about getting the ship away from Lex first," Clark said.

"Not to mention the fact the ship must have all sorts of defensive protocols to prevent theft," Kara said, brushing off Clark's words like they were nothing.

Clark wondered if Kara heard a word he said. He figured not, wishful thinking aside.

"There could be some very interesting resources on the ship, though," Kara said. "Brainiac could have traveled the universe in the years since the demise of Krypton."

"Could there be information that Jor-El didn't even uncover in there?" Clark asked. "That might not be in the Fortress database?"

Kara responded with a nod and a smile. She thought there was a pretty good chance there would be, even beyond what had been corrected.

"So, I guess your plan is the best plan we have," Kara said.

"Right," Clark said.

"So, what do we do?" Kara asked. "How do we get inside of the LuthorCorp Facility? Did our friend even tell us what facility it's been in? Can we even trust they're not pulling our legs?"

Clark thought these questions were completely valid, and he had no idea what to do. It was worth the risk, especially with the alternative being leaving this particular information in the hands of a Luthor who was desperate to gain it at all costs.

"It's not going to be easy," Clark said. "If Lex finds out, he'll have the ship moved. And that's if he doesn't find out it hasn't been compromised all ready."

* * *

Lana Lang thought her curiosity was pretty strong, almost to the point where it got her in a whole lot of trouble. No one had stronger curiosity though then the man who invited her to meet with him. The one and only Lex Luthor, who had last put her on a helicopter to get out of town when the meteors started falling.

This was a done after Lana, who had been possessed by one of her ancestors, had killed a woman. Granted the woman in question was more of a scheming, manipulative bitch than anything, but still.

She didn't remember it, only waking up with the blood on her hands. Hell, most of the last year had been a blur. The more Lana learned, the less she understood.

Regardless, Lex insisted she had arrived, and she figured she owed him a thank you for trying to help her. She didn't know what he was going on about, saying he found something she might find interesting.

Two of Lex's security guards escorted Lana up the hallway, and around the corner. The moment the two of them escorted her on in the office, they went their separate ways. One stopped and turned towards Lana.

"Mr. Luthor will be here to meet you in a second," the security guard responded.

Lana only answered with a nod, and the guards moved. She could see Lex's desk, neat and orderly. There was nothing of interest on the desk, not she would dare rifle through the personal belongings of a man of the stature of Lex Luthor.

"Good afternoon, Lana," Lex said. He stepped into the office. "How are you holding up?"

Lana answered his curiosity question with a slight smile and reclined back on the chair he had offered her in his office.

"I'm doing fine," Lana said. Lex nodded and responded with a swift smile directed towards her. "It's been a rough last couple of weeks, but…..I'm ready to move on."

Lex answered with a smile. The searching look in Lex's eyes made Lana wonder about what he was up to.

' _Being possessed has made you paranoid,'_ Lana thought.

"Yes, I'm glad you recovered from what happened," Lex said. He did admire Lana for her resiliency, even if it would have left more than a few very obvious cracks in her psyche. "And you were right there when the ship came down, weren't you?"

"Yes," Lana said.

Lex slipped into the conversation he intended to have this entire time.

"The ship, it's a fascinating marvel, wouldn't you agree?" Lex asked a second later. He could see Lana who looked in straight in the eye. "It's remarkable when you really think about it. The secrets it must hold."

"I'm more worried about what came out of the ship, then the ship itself," Lana said.

Lex surveyed Lana over the other side of the desk and responded with a nod. It would be borderline difficult to open it up.

"And the two invaders just vanished as quickly as they appeared," Lex said. "Curious to see how something like that happens?"

"Yes, pretty weird," Lana said. "Even for Smallville."

"Yes," Lex said without skipping a beat. "Indeed."

He decided to switch gears.

"So, how is Clark doing?" Lex asked her.

Lana raised an eyebrow. It almost seemed like Lex now decided to go fishing for information. She didn't really know what to make of what he was saying.

"Oh, he's doing pretty well, as far as I know," Lana said.

"It's nice to see he's found biological family," Lex said. "The timing is convenient, but hey, I'm sure Clark's happy he's finally getting some answers to where he came from."

Lex casually dropping information like this to Lana made her wonder about his intentions. As far as she knew, and Lana could be mistaken, Lex and Clark didn't really talk that much these days.

"How did you know about that?" Lana asked. She responded, in a half joking, half serious manner. "You aren't stalking Clark, are you?"

"No, nothing of the sort," Lex said. "I just like keeping tabs on my friends, given there are so few….I like to look out for their best interests. I'd like to know more about his cousin though…what her intentions truly are. I'd watch out for her, Lana."

Lana frowned, wondering where Lex was going out. She thought Kara was fine, even if it was a bit odd she just popped up out of nowhere. Still, her intentions seemed pure, even though Lana wondered what made her not find Clark right away.

"You came across the ship," Lex said. "If you'd like, I would be happy to let you get a chance to take a look at it. See what the inner workings are like. Maybe together, we can penetrate the secrets of the universe, together."

Lana was rather curious about the point, she wasn't going to lie. Lex smiled, having reeled her in a little bit.

"Oh, and you shouldn't tell Clark about this," Lex said. "Not that we couldn't trust him, it's his new companion which is too much of a wild card."

Lana shifted, she was a bit uncomfortable about keeping secrets given how they blew up in her face in the past.

"Just think," Lex said. "This can really help all of mankind, they could open the door open for curing diseases, and just making the world a much better place."

Lex's phone rang on his desk.

"Do you think you can….."

"No problem," Lana said, scrambling outside of the office so Lex could have his private phone conversation in peac.

Something about this entire mess put Lana on the edge. She couldn't quite put her finger on what it was about this mess which made her so edgy, though.

"Yes?" Lex asked.

"Mr. Luthor, you're a very hard man to get ahold of," the slick voice of one Dr. Milton Fine said over the phone.

Lex's tone shifted a few degrees colder when talking to the man on the other end of the phone.

"Yes, well, you've been very busy as of late, trying to discredit the Luthor name," Lex said. "What can I do for you?"

"You know I have a reputation to uphold, and there would be a lot of people questioning why I decided to work with you," Fine said. "You know all about appearances, and how they have to be kept up."

"Yes, I'm aware," Lex said, his voice flat and calm as it could potentially get.

Fine let things sink in for a couple of moments before responding and talking to Lex more.

"Keep a closer eye on the ship, and also on your father," Fine said. "You realize, Lionel could cause difficulties for both of us."

Lex could have laughed. Fine didn't really familiarize himself with current events.

"You do realize my father is just talking nonsense these days when he isn't drooling," Lex said. "I have…..taken the liberty of putting him away. He would have done the same for me, for my own good. He's a very sick man, ever since he touched that stone."

"Keep monitoring him," Fine warned Lex.

Lana stood outside of the office, trying not to listen in, but finding herself curious about the snatches of conversation which floated past her ear. She couldn't help to think there was some really weird game of power she was involved in, and she was merely a pawn.

The footsteps approached which Lana took it as a cue to step back and act like she hadn't just been eavesdropping on Lex's private phone conversation.

"Sorry about that," Lex said when opening his office door. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Do give what I said some thought, though."

Lana nodded in response. Whatever Lex was up to, it wasn't like she was going to find out any time soon.

* * *

Clark Kent made his way past the side entrance, which was the least secure point of the facility. A security guard dozed off against the wall. Kara took a step behind him, and needless to say, the Kryptonian survivor was on edge. Both of them were, come to think of it.

They moved deep inside without even the most token amount of resistance. Kara twitched and looked over her shoulder to stare at Clark.

"So, there's no security?" Kara asked.

Clark spent some time searching around the lab and turned back towards Kara.

"Be careful," Clark said.

He half expected the lab to be combing with researchers. Other than the one man working in his office, overlooking the ship, there was no people around. Kara and Clark locked eyes. They both had the same thought in their minds.

' _Let's do this.'_

Kara disappeared into a flash of light, prodded the back of the man's neck with a nerve pinch and rendered him unconscious in the blink of an eye.

She returned back to her position on the ground, and both of them stared at the ship. It just sat in the middle of the room, almost as if waited for them. This made matters worse, if at all possible.

"I'll go first," Clark told her. "Back me up in case things get bad."

Kara turned around and watched the door. The lack of security again put her on wit's end.

Clark approached the ship, and suddenly, it flashed away from him. It disappeared as quickly as it appeared in bright, blinding silver light. The act caused both Kryptonians to stand there, flummoxed for a moment.

"Must be some side of security protocol," Kara muttered.

Clark's eye twitched for a couple of seconds before he shook his head. Something funny flashed over his body.

"He has to be somewhere," Clark said. The hairs prickled on the back of his neck and again, not for the first time, he had a pretty bad feeling about it.

Clark took a staggering step back. He felt extremely light headed and the light headed feeling was worse.

"Clark," Kara said, catching him before he fell over. "Are you there?"

Kara struggled to hold Clark up, so he didn't fall down onto the ground.

"Kal, Clark, please, say something," Kara said.

The lack of response rose Kara's adrenaline and made her very nervous. He hands shook, barely able to hold Clark.

"I feel, strange," Clark said. He was a little light headed, and Kara struggled to hold him up.

"We're heading back to the Fortress," Kara said. "Just keep your head up, and hang on."

The two of them bolted out of the facility almost as quickly as they arrived. Kara didn't know what that flash of silver light was, all she knew was it caused Kal-El to be affected, and it worried her, extremely.

The doors swung open a split second after they cleared the area and Lex approached the ship. He noticed it sitting in the center of the room, just waiting to be analyzed. He frowned when skimming his eyes over the side of the ship. The symbols on the ship were blinking different colors, something Lex didn't notice before.

He opened his mouth wide and raised a hand. Lex touched the surface of the ship. No longer cool to the touch, but it felt warm as if the ship had been activated.

Lex turned over towards the three security guards who escorted him. He cleared his throat to get their attention.

"Yes, Mr. Luthor?"

"Make sure you search the premises," Lex said. "Someone has been here."

Maybe one of the research scientists found a way to activate the ship. The symbols finally started to calm down and rested in their normally static gray color.

' _Very curious.'_

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 11** **th** **, 2016.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Genesis Protocol Part Two**

* * *

Silver lights and numerous bright flashes rocked the mind of Clark. He could feel everything, countless thoughts pounding in the back of his head. Numerous whispers which stated there was something really bad happening around him.

Clark Kent felt a tiny bit delirious and the delirium got even worse the further he departed from the LuthorCorp sight. Kara flew him back pretty quickly, in a blink of an eye. She set him down on the examining table with the young man shaking.

It was a rather terrifying state to see him like this. Something inside that ship reacted to his Kryptonian biology. It caused her only mild tingles. Kara could only begin to guess what it meant.

Kara took one long look at him and could tell by the bloodshot, slightly glazed over look coming from his eyes, something was very wrong. She just didn't know what it was. Whatever it was, it didn't seem to affect her, and in fact, it had been geared mostly towards him.

' _I don't understand it,'_ Kara thought. _'Maybe it may be because I spent sixteen years on Krypton, and he didn't. I was more used to some of the elements.'_

One look at the sweat soaked forehead of Clark made Kara put her attention back on him.

"Just hang on, I'll figure out what's wrong," Kara said.

"What's wrong with me?" Clark demanded. He went from hot to cold and the throbbing which entered the back of his head grew in increased prominence. He wanted to scream because of the agonizing feeling entering the back of his head.

"I don't know, I'm sorry, but….I just don't know," Kara said. It took her a couple of moments to return to the test. She blocked the worry out of her mind.

The first scan didn't pick up anything wrong. Kara didn't believe those initial scans, though, she knew deep down there was something deeply wrong. Her cousin yelled out something, and sometimes his words didn't make sense. It was almost like he was trying to get out some strangled thoughts.

"Lex….he set me up!" Clark yelled. "After all, we've been through, he still set me up….I should have left him to drown, it would have served him right! He can't have….he just keeps sticking his nose in people's business, in my business. My secrets aren't his to learn, why just can't he….."

Clark descended back into a random, incoherent babbling. Kara bit down on her lip. This was one of the cases where she really wished Lara's AI had not been purged from the system. She would have been extremely useful right now. Kara clutched her hands around the edge of the Fortress's main console and continued to get to work.

' _Damn, this is…..let's see, there's got to be something here, just think, think, think harder,'_ she thought to herself.

The scan had to be deepened further inside Clark's mind, beyond the conscious, deep inside the subconscious. Clark continued his babbling and was getting very agitated. His inability to sit still also made Kara a bit more nervous.

' _He won't allow me to help him,'_ Clark thought.

"Kal-El, please sit still!" Kara yelled a bit more shorter than she wanted to. She didn't want to have to knock him out.

Clark managed to calm down long enough for Kara to get back to work. She still was able to feel those piercing eyes locked onto the back of her neck, giving her a pretty intense stare down. Kara didn't really let it bother her, at least she really didn't let it bother her too much.

"Find out please, I'm not sure…..I'm not sure what's going on," Clark managed, taking in a deep breath. I just feel…..I can't explain it…..but…something is wrong."

Kara imagined something was wrong. She tapped into the scan and frowned. She located something, lingering around the back of Clark's neck. She punched it up on the screen to get a better look.

"Nanites, you've been infected with nanites from the light on the ship," Kara said.

Clark focused his thoughts on the facts and nothing but, instead of the paranoid delusions popping through his head.

"What…is there any way to purge them?" Clark asked. "Why are they making me so…..you're holding back something, aren't you?"

Clark's accusatory tone hit Kara with all of the subtle force of the punch to the stomach. Kara managed not to waver, at least not to her credit. She peered forth into the eyes one her cousin.

"I think he created synthetic silver Kryptonite," Kara informed him. "It's…."

"How many forms of Kryptonite are there?" Clark asked. His heart started to beat at a rapid fire rate, sounding off like a gunshot in the back of his chest. "And why didn't I know about this?"

Kara sighed. There had been oversights to be honest. Different chemical radiations in the planet caused different forms, some rarer than others. Green was the most abundant, with red the second most abundant. Gold had been the rarest, and yet also the most dangerous.

"Way too many apparently, although it's very rare," Kara said. "It causes paranoia and delusions, causes the person involved to lose all sense of reality."

This very notion snapped Clark back into life. He took in a deep breath and looked at Kara. Their eyes met each other, as he was almost pleading for her to do something.

"What do we do?" Clark asked Kara. He took in a deeper breath looking back to her. "There has to be a way to get rid of this…infection, isn't there?"

Kara heard the desperation in the voice of her cousin. She didn't know what to do. She had a couple of choices in mind, and she wasn't sure if they would really work.

"Maybe if I consult Jor-El….."

Clark rose up on the table. Kara got a look at his red face and bloodshot eyes. His fingers twitched when he looked back at her. The fire in his eyes made Kara step back, opening her mouth wide in fear.

"Oh, it's about him isn't it, he's just…he's just biding his time, waiting to test me isn't he?" Clark asked. "It's always Jor-El, likely it's one of his tests, it's always one of his tests. For my oh so important destiny, and I'm sure there are other people in on it….maybe you're in on it as well."

"Kal-El what are you talking about?" Kara asked even though she knew completely what he was implying.

"Maybe you're one of his tests as well!" Clark yelled. He grew completely agitated. Everyone around him was always conspiring to keep him down, hell, Lana, Chloe, Lex, they might have been all in on this for all he knew. Hell, he couldn't even trust his parents. "It would be just like Jor-El, to send someone here, where I think I could trust them."

Kara tried to bite her tongue.

"You can trust me!" Kara yelled. "I wouldn't…"

Clark's angry eyes made Kara almost drop her head. She knew paranoia had hit him, but thanks to his father, he had some trust issues.

"You could be in on this, just like the rest of them, just like….."

Kara did something which wouldn't have exactly helped with the trust issues. She rushed across the Fortress and nailed Clark in the side of the face. One punch dropped him down onto the ground. Before he could wake up, she secured him to the medical table.

"I know you don't mean anything you said," Kara said. "But, I need you to trust me, and….I'll find out how to fix what is messing with your mind."

Kara saw the Silver Kryptonite shards attached themselves to the base of Clark's brain, which did not bode well for her. She would not have been able to remove them without killing them.

' _Maybe there's another way,'_ she thought, seeing Clark stir. _'Not sure how long that's going to hold, though.'_

A few thoughts entered Kara's mind. She wondered if the plan would work.

* * *

Chloe paced around, thinking she might have worn out a hole in the rug she was walking around. She just was worried something happened to Clark and Kara. They were going off to check out something regarding the alien ship which crashed. The ship which now happened to be in the possession of one Lex Luthor, which didn't shock Chloe in any way whatsoever.

' _Always a Luthor,'_ Chloe thought to herself, half amused by the thought. _'That's one thing which is about as clear as the sun rising in the morning. It's always one of them.'_

Last she heard, Lionel had been sent away for reasons of his health. Chloe wasn't sure she bought it, something seedier was afoot there. Still, Lex had managed to bury the real reason for his father's absence, maybe out of concern it would agitate certain parties.

And maybe out of some tiny shred of respect, if such a thing existed in the house of Luthor. Chloe tried to figure out the high level chess game the Luthors played and she realized they were way in over their heads.

Regardless, Chloe turned her attention back towards Clark. She admired the new ambition he showed, but she didn't know how long it would last. Regardless, Kara had been there as an encouraging influence on him and had connected with him in a way she hadn't managed to connect on.

' _It's really frustrating how I haven't been able to penetrate his thick skull,'_ Chloe thought to herself, almost amused at this particular fact. _'Maybe I needed a chisel.'_

' _Oh, you've been there for him for years, don't forget how that's appreciated.'_

Chloe always thought about engaging the voice which randomly popped inside of her head. Something held herself back, though. Maybe it had to do with the fact by engaging the voice inside of her head, it would be a confirmation of her own madness. Call it a crazy hunch, call it whatever, but that's how Chloe figured things would work in a situation like this.

A phone ringing prevented her from spending another moment of her life thinking about it. Chloe spent very little time debating on whether to answer the phone, she needed something to keep her mind off of the madness after all.

"Chloe?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, I'm here," Chloe said. "What do you need?"

"I just got back from meeting with Lex," Lana said. "And he's been acting….a bit off."

Chloe tried to hold back the obvious sarcastic response, and try and be a bit smoother in getting to the facts of the matter. The fact Lana opened up in such of a way threw her for a loop.

' _Wonder if I took a headlong trip into Bizarro World,'_ Chloe thought to herself. _'Guess the situation must be serious.'_

Curiosity got the better of her to be honest.

"What do you mean?" Chloe said.

"He seems to know about Kara first of all, almost like someone tipped him off about her," Lana said.

Chloe took a moment to sigh. Always trying to find out information which he shouldn't.

"He always knows about things he shouldn't, and yet, has never been able to figure out what's underneath his nose," Chloe said, almost smugly at the fact he still hadn't figured out the secret of Clark Kent.

Granted, she had to have it practically shoved underneath her nose by Alicia, so Chloe shouldn't have been one to cast stones. She did have all of the pieces for years, but there had been a very obvious blind spot which prevented her from putting together.

She returned to her research while Lana explained the meeting.

"He wants my help to research the ship for some reason," Lana said. "It's...I don't know, it's not like I'm an expert on alien ships. I don't know what help I could give him."

"Maybe he wants to know everything you've seen," Chloe said. "Maybe…..actually, you were there when those alien invaders came out of the ship, weren't you?"

The sigh indicated Lana had been trying to forget this particular point.

"Sorry," Chloe said.

"Yes, thank you for reminding me," Lana said.

Chloe didn't mean any ill-will with reminding Lana of a potentially traumatic event.

"He wants the ship open," Chloe said. "And he thinks you might have seen something which could help him open up the ship."

"I didn't see how they opened the ship!" Lana yelled. She took a deep breath, calming down. "It landed...I was shocked, and the next thing I knew….two alien invaders came out of the ship, just like that."

Chloe could understand how something like that would happen in a blink of an eye.

"He's also talking to someone on the phone, a….Doctor Fine I think he was," Lana said.

' _Bingo,'_ Chloe thought to herself. Something was adding up there.

Chloe tried not betray her happiness of having clear information, finally. It was about time something happened.

"So, what did Doctor Fine have to say?" Chloe asked.

"Well, I don't know."

Chloe was afraid of that.

"He tried to get me out of there in a real hurry," Lana continued. "It's almost like he didn't want anyone to know the two of them were talking, or something."

"Maybe it was because he didn't want anyone to know about it," Chloe said.

Chloe absent-mindedly worked on the computer, tracking down a lead. One of her sources in Gotham City came through with something. She had just dug up something very interesting, a lab Fine owned which had been shut down under mysterious circumstances and abandoned. No one was there.

Well, no one on record yet. To be honest, the critical comments made by one Milton Fine regarding the Luthors piqued Chloe's interest. Now, the fact he was actually talking to Lex.

"Lana, I'll call you back later," Chloe said. "I'm actually waiting for Clark to call me back about something."

"Oh, right," Lana said. She sounded a bit put off but managed to retain her good spirits. "I'll talk to you later."

Chloe hated lying, but, she had gotten so good at it over the years. She found something very interesting she could take a look at. Did she wish she had Clark for back up when she went there? Yes, you better believe it, but still, she could hardly wait to go there.

It wouldn't be the first time she took a really restless risk.

' _What's the worst that can happen?'_

* * *

Clark woke up from his very groggy state. He couldn't believe Kara knocked him out, but a small, ever-shrinking sliver of himself was very glad she managed to do so. He looked up to see Kara standing at his bedside. She was holding something wrapped in a box inside her hand.

"What are you doing?" Clark demanded. His breathing grew heavier when locking his eyes on his cousin. "What do you have in your hand?"

Kara honestly hoped this idea would work. If not, they were pretty much screwed, and not in a good way.

"The answer to our problems, I hope," Kara said. She leaned towards Clark and touched a finger to his lips. He stared back at her, looking frustrated. "The silver Kryptonite nano-bots are inflaming your brain."

Clark looked towards her. He realized she had a point. He didn't have to like it, but she had a point. He nodded slowly and swiftly. The paranoid thoughts threatened to resurface about how everyone was out to get him.

Kara was glad she had been able to get through Clark, at least in this particular regard. She decided to press forward, striking while the iron was hot.

"While you've been taking a nap," Kara said. She allowed pause for Clark to glare at her at her choice of terminology. "I've been skimming through the database at the Fortress."

Clark looked up at her. His heart almost constrained. He was pretty sure the rapid, irregular heartbeats were not healthy, even for a Kryptonian such as himself.

"What did you find?" Clark growled.

He wished to break free and smash something, smash this entire Fortress even. He had a feeling if he destroyed the Fortress, it would cause his problems.

"Well," Kara said. "This is a theory, but I think the malady can be cured by a stronger, more potent source of energy. And I just happen to have the solution to our problems right here."

Clark wondered exactly what she meant by solving the problem. He eyed the mysterious black box in her hand with a bit of suspicion. The box opened up and Clark came face to face with a very familiar looking red rock. His gasp grew even more obvious when looking down at the ring.

' _You've got to be kidding me!'_

"That's your solution?" Clark asked. He tried to keep his gaze steady when directed towards Kara. "Your solution is to douse me with Red Kryptonite?"

Kara shook her head. Now he mentioned it, it didn't sound like a good idea. But it was a last ditch effort to try and help him in any way she could.

"I know it's…insane," Kara said. "But….."

Clark almost snapped his way out of the restraints. A second attempt, there was no almost about it, he did snap himself out of his restraints. Thankfully, though, he made no motion to attach Kara. Rather he sat on the edge of the operating table, taking a deep and very calm breath.

"You realize the Red Kryptonite….it removes my inhibitions….and I'm holding myself back from doing something I regret right now," Clark said. He drew in his deeper breath. "And...I might end up strangling you because of the Silver Kryptonite. I hope you know that."

Kara didn't even bat an eyelash because of his comment.

"Yes, I'm aware," Kara said. "And it's a risk I'm willing to take, especially if it means purging your system. And…if I'm right, there are other emotions more ingrained in you which are going to be…stronger than your paranoia. We're just going to need the Red Kryptonite to get it out."

Their eyes met together. Kara rested the hand which was not holding the box on top of Clark's hand. A second passed when the two of them shared a long look.

"I know this is the worst thing to say, especially when you've been gripped with paranoia," Kara said. She continued to meet Clark's eyes. "But, I really, and truthfully need you to trust me this time."

Clark's hand ensnared Kara's for a moment. He gave it a firm squeeze and extended his finger.

"I didn't really want to do this under these circumstances," Kara murmured to herself.

She slipped the Red Kryptonite ring on Clark's finger. Ten of the longest seconds of her life passed when Clark's eyes flashed over. The red energy coursed through his body and started to replace his paranoid emotions with slightly different ones.

' _Waiting is always the hardest part.'_

Kara waited for to see what he would do. Waited to see whether or not he would jump her, or strangle her. Every second seemed like an eternity, hammering out the time on the clock.

Clark looked at Kara, eyes glowing.

"I've wanted to do this for a very long time."

Clark grabbed Kara and pulled her into a rough kiss, forcing his tongue into her mouth with sexual aggression. Kara could take his lust fueled actions, though. Her tongue pushed against his, and the two battled for domination.

He lifted Kara up into the air and hurled her down onto the operating table. Kara landed firmly on the operating table and Clark jumped on top of her, pinning her down on the table. Kara squirmed underneath him and Clark leaned down, kissing her on the side of the neck.

"Now that I have you, I'm not letting you go," Clark said. He ripped off Kara's top to reveal her firm breast in a lacy red bra.

Kara looked up at him, with a smirk in response.

"Less talking, more action."

' _That it, Kal, let's sweat it out.'_

* * *

Clark pulled off more of Kara's body. Her round breasts popped out. Clark wrapped his hands around them and squeezed them. The more she moaned, the more he squeezed them, before leaning down and kissing the side of her neck.

"KAL!" Kara yelled at the top of her lungs.

She could feel his hot mouth working some real magic on the side of her neck. Every nip on the side of the blonde's neck was rough, and it made her really hot for him.

"You like that, don't you?" he growled. Clark kept kissing down the side of her neck and working his way down her body. He put his hand between her legs and tore off her bottoms as well, revealing her wet panties. "You've been wanting this for a long time."

Clark's hand rubbed Kara's dripping hot pussy. The beautiful blonde squirmed underneath his fingers, body heating up with an unlimited amount of lust. She could barely hold herself back. The excitement caused her body to burn up something fierce.

"Yes, baby, I've wanted this for so long."

Clark rammed three fingers into Kara's dripping wet pussy and jackhammered them inside. He was relieved to see someone who could take everything he had, without him being able to hold back. Finally, he could let loose.

"The fact you're my cousin, and I'm feeling this, this is all your fault," Clark said. He drilled those fingers into her pussy for a little bit longer before pulling them out. "Here, taste these?"

Clark shoved his cum soaked fingers into Kara's mouth. She took them into her mouth without warning and sucked on them like she would if Clark shoved his cock into her mouth.

Speaking of which, Clark's pants grew a fair bit constricted. He closed his eyes and tried to keep himself from busting out of his pants, which was easier said than done from this particular angle. Clark reached over and ripped off his pants.

"This is what you want, isn't it?"

Clark's cock sprung out and smacked Kara in the face. She watched as the thick, veiny, perfection came out. She got a nice long look at all twelve inches of thick meat. She looked up towards him, licking her lips.

"You need my cock inside of you, don't you?" Clark asked her. Kara nodded, biting down on her lip with a sultry expression on her face. "You'd die without me shoving my cock inside you, and fucking your pretty little brains out."

Kara grew hotter at the thought of being underneath him. His length sliding in between her legs and stretching out her body on it, the thought of which enticed Kara a whole lot.

"Yes," Kara said, her voice breathy and needy. "I want your cock inside me. I want you to shove me down on the bed and fuck me cross-eyed. Please, Kal, please….please baby cousin, let me show you how much I love you."

Kara grabbed Clark's cock as she said this and pumped it. She bent down to kiss the tip of his cock and started to do things Clark never even dreamed of happening with her tongue and mouth. All this did was inflame his lust for her.

Clark pulled away from her and pushed her back onto the table. He reached down and grabbed her hips, pushing her thighs apart. Her wet pussy shined in the light for him. She looked so tight and so inviting. With his cock properly lubricated with her saliva, Clark knew exactly what he wanted to do.

"You've been asking for this the entire time, since we met," Clark said. "You've been bending over in front of me, thinking I wouldn't notice."

"No, I hoped you would notice," Kara said. "What are you doing to do about it?"

Clark mounted his cousin and rammed his cock into her hard while grabbing both hands full of her hair. He rammed down into her tight pussy and viciously slammed his cock into her body.

Kara was kind of glad this first encounter was without any inhibitions, because it would have been very awkward otherwise. Clark's own primal instincts lead him through pounding her pussy. Every time his cock pushed into her from above, Kara could feel a jolt.

Clark buried his frustration and his cock inside his cousin's wet quim. Kara felt so good, and Clark didn't waste any time fucking her. All of the women around him were attractive, and if he had a chance, he would take them as well. But, good old Clark Kent would never do that.

"You're cumming already?" Clark asked, almost amused at the fact her pussy clamped around his thick throbbing cock when he buried it inside her.

"Yes," Kara said. "I told you I was hot for you."

Her legs ensnared Clark's body and encouraged him to fuck her. He placed a hand on the side of Kara's leg and started to run it up and down her leg. Clark continued the thick and heavy pounding of his cousin's perfect pussy. Each time his cock rammed into her, he could feel her close in around him. Clark's hard penis shoved further into her hot body.

"You're making me cum so hard."

Clark's entire cock had been surrounded by a type of warmth he never experienced before. He worked his cousin to another orgasm. His balls slapped against her. He stroked her legs and then moved up to fondle her breasts.

Kara's hands reached up to encourage Clark to take the plunge. He dove face first into between Kara's generous tit flesh and began to motherboard her. She ran her hands through his hair at the continuous fucking.

"Yes, you make me so hot, my little cousin grew up so strong, and big, you're making me so happy," Kara said. She ran her hands down Clark's strong and muscular back when he continued to pound her. "You're going to make me cum so hard…..so….hard...SO FUCKING HARD!"

Clark tightened his grip on her hips when pounding away at her. He continued to suck her breasts which caused the volume of cum burning through his balls to increase. He needed to ram his cock into this pussy in the worst way possible.

Kara's hips jumped up to meet Clark's hard thrusts. Her entire body lit up with increasing pleasure. She knew the end would be cumming sooner rather than later.

"Don't hold back," Kara said. "Shoot your big load inside me Kal-El….if you pull out, I'll be upset."

Clark had no intention of pulling out of her. He continued to ride Kara. Her multiple orgasms shooting over his cock gave him a feeling he never thought he could have. The warmth of her seat slid over him.

Kara took note of his balls slapping against her thighs every time he came up and brought himself down. The intense pounding sped up, and Kara could only raise her hips to meet Clark's incoming thrusts several times. She pushed those nails into the side of his neck and continued to encourage him to drive all the way down inside of her.

"Getting so close," Kara murmured. "I can feel it? Can you feel it?"

Clark felt it already. He just hung onto Kara and rode out her slick walls. They hugged his cock and made the ability to shoot his cum into her so much better.

The two cousins screamed when Clark buried his cock into Kara one more time and began to fire a never ending stream of cum inside of Kara. She milked him, squeezing his cock hard.

"Damn, you really wanted my cum," Clark said. He leaned down and pushed his mouth against Kara's ear, sucking on her ear lobe.

"More than life itself," Kara encouraged him.

The fluids spilled into Kara's dripping hot center. Clark rode her all the way to the conclusion and pulled out of her.

The moment she flipped over to present her sweet, round ass, Clark's rod hardened again. Her thighs spread in the most inviting way possible.

Clark Kent, Kal-El, no matter who was in the driver's seat, would be foolish not to take the invitation. So he rammed his cock deep inside Kara, stretching out her warm pussy on his throbbing hard rod.

Kara set herself in for the long haul, enjoying the pounding of her cousin's cock when it buried itself deep into her insides and stretched her out in different ways.

* * *

Several rounds of fevered intercourse passed before the Red Kryptonite ran its course. The solo silver Kryptonite burned out and the scan read as clean. Kara and Clark in the meantime collapsed in a heap of sweat and sexual fluids. Clark wrapped his arms around Kara and placed his hands underneath her breasts.

' _Okay, I'm pretty sure that did wonders in curing him,'_ Kara thought. _'It might have given his immunity a boost.'_

She regretted nothing, though. It was only inevitable, and hopefully, with that out of their systems, they could move forward in their relationship.

Kara wasn't going to lie. This little encounter went better than expected.

* * *

' _It's likely nothing.'_

Chloe stepped in front of the office and placed her hand on the doorknob. She turned it and much to her surprise, the office door clicked open.

' _Okay, that was much too easy.'_

Chloe walked into the office and moved her way towards the desk. She took in the contents of this room and realized someone had been in here more recent than about a year ago. There was not a half inch of dust or anything which indicated this place had been unoccupied for quite some time.

' _Okay, is there a secret switch around here somewhere?'_

Chloe kicked back the rug right next to the desk and got down on her hands and knees, feeling around on the floor. She realized there was nothing here.

Rising to her feet, the inquisitive young woman noticed a box of something set out on the desk. She frowned, wondering what it was. She placed her hands on the box.

Images of crystal towers fell when people screamed in terror. The red sun set on a planet with extraordinary architecture for the last time.

' _You need to get out of here, now.'_

Chloe didn't hasten to listen to the voice inside of her head. She turned around to go face to the face with one Milton Fine.

"You're in the wrong place at the wrong time, aren't you?" he asked in one of those creepy tones of voice which didn't have the slightest hint of emotion in them. Chloe took a half of a step back, pressed up against the desk.

"I'm….I'm….looking for a friend of mine….."

Chloe's words fell upon deaf ears.

"You're a terrible liar," Fine said. "The shortness of breath, the sweaty palms, the fact you seem to be eying up a convenient exit….all marks of someone who has been caught doing something they shouldn't have been and are somewhere they shouldn't be."

Chloe tried to make a break for it. Fine's hand grabbed her around the shoulder and prevented her from making said break. The moment he laid hands on her, he realized something.

"Something intriguing about you," Fine said. He put pressure on Chloe and her knees buckled, rendering her out for the ten count. "I'm going to have to figure it out later, right now….there are more pressing matters to take care of."

He scooped the woman up off the ground and marched her over. He moved into the next room, into a utility area. He took extra care to secure her.

"I hope you're comfortable because you're going to be here for a long time. At least until I'm ready to take you apart and see what makes you tick."

Fine turned around, well aware the Kryptonian had been poisoned. That particular part of his plan had worked out about as well as could be expected. The other problem was the other Kryptonian was here ahead of schedule.

She could still be an asset, in delivering the son of Jor-El to his master. It would take some swift manipulation on his part.

Fine departed from the office leaving an unconscious Chloe leaned against the wall, secured, with no place to go.

' _Chloe, Chloe, it's time to wake up,'_ the voice told her.

' _Just five more minutes,'_ Chloe mentally mumbled, getting a bit agitated at being roused from such a fitful state of sleep.

' _You need to wake up, my son…he could be walking into a trap,'_ he said.

' _Wait, your son?'_ Chloe asked, snapping back awake at these words. _'You're….just who are you?'_

' _It's a very long story,'_ the voice in Chloe's head responded. This caused Chloe's voice to take a dryer inflection.

' _Well, I'm very much tied up at the moment, so we've got time to kill,'_ she thought.

' _Very well, my name is Lara.'_

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 18** **th** **, 2016.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Genesis Protocol Part Three**

* * *

Clark's eyes slowly opened up. His arm remained wrapped around Kara and one hand rested on the top of her breast. It took him a couple of moments to determine what just happened. His mouth turned around into a deep frown.

Everything which happened came back to him. The interesting thing was, he regretted pretty much nothing that happened. There was a huge part of him who felt like he should, but he wouldn't.

The Silver Kryptonite left his system. The Red Kryptonite which Kara infected him had been burned out of the system. He didn't really move from his position. Kara's cute ass brushed up against him when she rested her head lazily on his shoulder. She didn't move from her position at least not yet. Clark lifted his hand up from on top of her breast. A bit of shock spread through him, and yet, at the same time, there was a bit of relief.

Conflicting emotions presented themselves for one Clark Kent. He decided it would be best if he would state the absolutely obvious thing which happened.

"We had sex," Clark muttered underneath his breath. He drew in a deep breath and frowned. "We had sex."

Kara tried not to laugh at the absolutely blunt manner he said this. She hid her face underneath her hair as it swung loosely for several minutes.

"We had sex."

Kara smiled, her cousin was almost adorable at what he was talking about.

"Yes," Kara agreed. She finally turned around and made sure she faced Clark. Clark could see the results of what happened dripping from between her thighs. Kara rested a hand on Clark's chest and slowly began to trace patterns on it. "That's what happens when two consenting adults are in love with each other…and it was the only way I could have saved your life."

Clark once again drew in his deep breath. Seconds passed when he closed his eyes, unable to believe what exactly was happening. He could sit here all day, deep in thought, and still not believe he had just had sex with his hot cousin.

"I still can't….."

Kara's lips met Clark's to silence him. She placed her hands on the back of his head and guided him through a long kiss. He didn't waste any time returning the kiss. His strong hands maneuvered behind Kara, latching onto her ass when he pushed into her.

The two looked about ready to resume their activities. Clark pulled away from her in an instant and tried to get up. He realized his clothes had been torn off in the fevered actions that were the night before. One hand lingered on the side of his hip when he looked out into the distance. Mouth hanging open, Clark looked up into the sky. He didn't even want to begin how wrong this was.

Kara turned towards the side of the bed, legs dangling. She looked up towards Clark. His human values clashing with his Kryptonian instincts caused Kara some frustration.

' _Time to nip this in the bud.'_

"Look me in the eye, and tell me you regret this."

Kara rose to her feet and stood before Clark, and all of her naked glory. Clark's eyes raked over her beautiful, firm, body. He couldn't look her in the eye and tell her regretted this. Kara placed a hand on Clark's cheek and leaned closer towards him. Her dazzling smile looked him in the eye.

"Human say it's wrong," Kara said. "But, we're not like them, biologically, are we?"

Clark shook his head. She had a point, as much as he hated to admit it.

"It's not a knock on them, it does take them awhile to come around certain things," Kara said. "Some of them still have trouble having an enlightened attitude with people from a completely different skin color than them….and then there's…"

Clark reached over and this time, he gave Kara a kiss this time before she complicated things more than they already were. She had been surprised, although ultimately pleased that he took the chance to kiss her on the lips. Kara locked her hands on the back of Clark's head and lead him into deepening the kiss. Their tongues pushed further together.

The two broke apart from each other. Clark moved over towards the wardrobe where he was certain there would be more clothes left for him. A couple of seconds passed, and Clark had been proven to be correct. There were more clothes out in the wardrobe. He scooped them up in his arm and peered out into the Fortress.

He had entered a brave new world, full of many possibilities. Clark couldn't really understand half of them, all he knew was he was willing to explore them. And if he was going to be in a relationship with his cousin, and then maybe multiple women, maybe it was meant to be.

' _There were far worse fates,'_ Clark thought to himself.

Kara looked over towards the scans which had come over Clark's body. Her lips fell into another smile, one which brightened with a bit more triumph. Overall, their little encounter had been a success. Excitement flashed through Kara's eyes.

"So, it turns out all of that mind-blowing sex wasn't for nothing," Kara said. She took a moment to snicker at the look which crossed over Clark's face before she slipped into a more stoic frame of mind. Her eyes locked onto him, looking him straight in the eye. "You've been…cleared of Silver Kryptonite, the Red Kryptonite is gone, and your power levels have been seriously amped up. If that isn't successful, I don't know what is."

Clark just allowed it all to sink in.

"How did my power levels amp up?" Clark asked.

"Shared energy can have that effect, given how my body absorbs yellow sunlight as well," Kara said with a smile. "Gives you further incentive to explore our relationship, other than personal pleasure, wouldn't you agree?"

Clark thought she might have had a point. He wanted to figure out where they would head from here. There were so many possibilities of what they can do. And Clark would be lying if he didn't want to test how far they could go.

A loud and shrill siren cut through the air. Clark staggered back and almost fell over because of the siren hitting his ears. Kara reached over and stopped Clark from falling over. She rushed over towards the Fortress computer. Her fingers started to whirl a million miles a minute in an attempt to get the information up.

"It's coming from an abandoned lab outside of Metropolis," Kara said. "The one which Chloe was researching, before we left."

"Of course it is."

Clark almost could have groaned. Chloe's curiosity had gotten the better of her before, and this time, he was almost certain his friend had stepped into something dangerous. Yet there was something else in his mind.

"Could this be a trap?" Clark asked. Kara raised an eyebrow. "Brainiac might want to finish the job he started and lure us somewhere…where we can't escape."

Kara thought her cousin had a good point. He was finally showing intelligence his mother would be proud of.

"I think we can turn the trap around on him," Kara responded. She looked towards Clark. "Trust me on this one."

"I do," Clark said.

The two dressed at the speed of light and flew off. Clark only barely had time to register how much faster he was going.

* * *

Chloe entered the most frustrating state of being she could have thought of. She had a few of the questions, and every single answer she had, just raised more questions. Nothing infuriated a reporter more than something like this.

' _It's a lot to take in, I know,'_ Lara thought.

' _So, your name is Lara, and you're Clark's biological mother,'_ Chloe said. _'I don't want you to take this the wrong way, and there's really no other way you can take this but…..exactly where have you been all of these years when your husband was running amuck? Couldn't you have exiled him to the Artificial Intelligence Couch or something?'_

Lara tried to hold back her laughter. Out of all of Clark's friends, she liked Chloe the best. Granted, Lana and Lois weren't without their merits, but she liked Chloe the best. Then again, she only knew them from Chloe's memories and brief observation as a third-party.

' _I'm afraid it's not that simple,'_ Lara said. _'And again, it's a long story.'_

Chloe inhaled and exhaled.

' _And again, I told you, I have plenty of time,'_ Chloe thought. She tried to pull herself free from, but the ropes snapped back a second later. _'I'm just going to be stuck here for the rest of the day while some mad scientist does a whole lot of whatever.'_

' _My AI laid dormant for several years, I have no idea why it did, it just never had gotten activated,'_ Lara said. _'It had been downloaded into both the ships and the caves much like my husband's had, but it never had a chance to rise to greater prominence.'_

' _Okay,'_ Chloe thought. _'But, what made you wake up? Especially after all of this time.'_

Lara had plenty of time to think. Chloe tried one more time to break free and all this accomplished was an aching pain through her wrist.

' _You handled the stone in the cave when they activated to create the Crystal of Knowledge, the element which empowers the Fortress of Solitude,'_ Lara explained. _'I had a couple of choices, a couple of directions where I could have gone. I could have downloaded my mind into a creepy young bald man, or I could have downloaded my mind into a perky blonde. I think I made the right choice, given your closeness to my son.'_

Chloe thought the rope had been loosened. She pulled herself to a standing position and managed to use her free hand to untie herself. Finally, she made some progress.

' _Who needs Clark Kent anyway?'_ Chloe asked. She looked a little bit smug and assured of herself. Scrambling over towards the door, Chloe tried to grab onto it to free herself. Only, the moment she reached the door it had been stuck. _'Actually, you do, right about now…damn, it…of all of the times for a door to jam.'_

' _Chloe, do you see the radio equipment on the desk?'_ Lara asked her.

Chloe turned her attention to the radio equipment. She saw it alright. It might, if she played her cards right, be her ticket out of here.

' _Plug the red wire into the blue port,'_ Lara thought. _'And then when that's done, flip the third switch to the right.'_

Chloe had just allowed all of this information to properly sink in. She did as Lara had requested. It seemed so absurd. She flipped the switch, and yet nothing happened.

' _Okay, that was a bust,'_ Chloe thought. Suddenly, the radio lets out a shrill sound which caused her to stagger back. _'Okay, spoke too soon, it's causing my ears to bleed. What the hell did you just ask me to do?'_

Chloe's ears stopped ringing. Now, all she heard was a dull hum coming through the air.

' _I sent a signal to Kal-El and Kara,'_ Lara thought back to her. _'They should hopefully be arriving soon…and we can put a stop to this.'_

The radio equipment ended up burning itself out. She figured as much. Cheap equipment found in an old office wasn't really made. Chloe noticed the door opening up and wondered if she could shove past whoever entered the room and make a clean break for it.

' _Anything's worth a shot,'_ she thought to herself.

Chloe made her attempt to bolt from the office. She came head to head with Milton Fine. Fine grabbed her around the wrist and hoisted her off of the ground with a surprising amount of strength. Chloe's legs dangled from underneath her. She tried her best to kick out, but Fine was too strong.

Fine studied the woman like most would study a new breed of insects. Curious, yet the woman annoyed him.

"You think you're pretty clever, don't you?" Fine asked.

Chloe didn't think of a non-clever retort to fire. So she just decided to swing for the fences and go for broke, given how busted she would be anyway.

"I got free, didn't I?"

Fine continued his brisk stare of the woman. She would break free.

"Yes, and you summoned for help like I hoped you would," Fine said. "And I wasn't referring to you, human. I was referring to what resides in you…she thinks she's clever. But I am the most powerful mind in the universe. The Genesis Protocol will occur, and there will be nothing happening to stop it."

Chloe had been racked with confusion. She only had one recourse right now.

' _Okay, I'll bite,'_ Chloe thought to Lara. _'What exactly is this Genesis Protocol?'_

' _It was used as a means by my friend Alura, Kara's mother, to save Krypton from its doom,'_ Lara said. _'The plan was to send all life on Krypton to the Phantom Zone while sending a select few to another planet where they would take it over.'_

The implications they planned to take over another planet entirely had not been lost on Chloe.

' _Yes, it's pretty extreme,'_ Lara confirmed.

Chloe found herself secured, this time with tighter ropes. Ropes which made it beyond impossible for her to breathe, because the more she struggled, the more those ropes strained against her. Fine wasn't wasting any time now.

' _What is Fine?'_ Chloe asked. _'I think he used to be human, but he's not anymore…is he a meteor mutant or something?'_

' _No,'_ Lara said. _'He's something much worse than that. He's a computer known as Brainiac, and he's working to utilize the Genesis Protocol to clear Earth of all human life, so Zod and his followers inside the Phantom Zone can arrive on Earth.'_

' _Wait, that's…that's insane!'_ Chloe yelled. _'How does he hope to do that?'_

The number of people who would perish made Chloe sick to the pit of her stomach. Fine being a machine explained a lot. No human, no person, they couldn't have such a disregard for the actual lives of people. He was only built for one purpose.

' _There are ways,'_ Lara thought. _'There are ways to do this.'_

Chloe had been so close to freedom. She needed to find a way out of here before Clark walked into a trap. And it wouldn't be the first time he had gotten into trouble on her account either.

* * *

' _Okay, let's do this.'_

Clark took the first step into the facility. He turned his head a couple of inches to the right and then turned his head a couple of inches to the left. When he made sure the coast was clear on both surprises. Kara took a couple of steps forward as well and she heard a light humming sound. Such a human normally had been the harbinger of something really bad.

"Kal," Kara said. "It's behind the door…he's behind the door."

Kara didn't need to say another word about exactly who was behind the door. Said door opened up and revealed the face of Milton Fine. He took a couple of steps before them and he walked out to meet both of them.

"The Son of Jor-El," Brainiac said. He rose up to his full height, his eyes locked onto him. "I expected you...I had hoped to run into you since the moment my period of dormancy concluded."

Kara's contempt could be barely held back when she stared at the soulless machine who was responsible for so much destruction.

"I wish you would have remained shut down," Kara said.

Brainiac's eyes turned towards her. Kara refused to waver from her stance. Their eyes met together when the two of them stood eye to eye. They didn't blink, she didn't blink.

"I didn't expect to see you out of your box this soon, although perhaps I should have," Brainiac said. He surveyed them with a harsh expression on her face. "Do you know where her loyalties lie, Kal-El? Do you even know who she is?"

Kara figured Brainiac was going to pull this game, but she wasn't going to let him.

"Don't listen to a word he says," Kara said. "He's a deceiver…..he deceived all of Krypton….and he's up to his old tricks on Earth."

Kara could tell Brainiac upgraded himself to be more durable than ever before. The form he preferred might have looked human on the surface, but it was anything other than human. They were in for a fight, one way or another.

Brainiac's powerful gaze locked onto Kara.

"You betrayed your own bloodline," Brainiac said. "And now you're going to pay for your sins, just like your mother….."

Kara jumped at Brainiac and knocked him into the wall with a super powerful punch The computer crashed into the wall with a sickening thud. He bounced back off and Kara swung her fist into his chest, knocking him down one more time.

"You have no right to talk about her….."

A beam of light shot out from the other side of Brainiac's hand. Kara dodged the beam of light and fired back with a beam of heat vision which sent Brainiac spiraling back a few inches.

Clark rushed towards Brainiac and clipped him on the side of the head with a huge swinging punch. The punch caught Brainiac on the side of the head. More punches followed with Clark chaining the attacks together.

Brainiac caught Clark's arm and knocked him back to the ground. He raised his hand which started to illuminate with red energy.

Kara drove her shoulder into Brainiac and caused him to slide back from the impact. Clark jumped over Brainiac, and the two of them punched at him from either side. Brainiac shimmered out of the darkness. He turned around and closed his hand.

A shrill signal resulted in Clark dropping down to his knees. The pure agony spread through his body. Kara tried to rush in to attack. Brainiac flipped her over and caused her to land onto the ground.

"You're on your knees, just like an inferior being like yourself should have been from the very beginning," Brainiac said. He raised his hand, continuing to force Clark down to his knees, further grinding them into the ground. "You're weak, pathetic, a waste of life. Look at you, struggling to breathe. If this is the savior Earth demands, then they aren't worth of salvation."

Clark once again struggled to get out of the position. He broke free and nailed Brainiac with a punch. The punch rocked him a few inches back. Clark summoned all of the power and channeled all of his frustration into one thunderous punch.

"I'm not weak!" Clark yelled.

"Your human upbringing makes you soft, and unable to comprehend the power I can use to bring you to your knees."

Kara jumped back into the attack. The distraction caused Clark to nail Brainiac in the side of his robotic neck. A loud crack followed when Clark started to string together multiple punches to stun his adversary and bring him down to his knees.

Clark continued to string together a multitude of punches. Each of them caught Brainiac off guard and forced him back a few more inches. He rushed forward and nailed him as hard as possible. The punch started to rip through his side. Brainiac struggled to avoid the punch before it dropped him to the ground.

He noticed the weak spot. Brainiac had taken extra care to guard it against Clark's attack. He locked eyes with Kara.

Kara swung her fists and caused a gust of wind to hit Brainiac in the chest. Brainiac blocked the gust of wind with a shield.

"Genesis will happen, like it or….."

Clark caught the spot in the side with one huge punch. Brainiac's eyes bulged out when Clark hit it.

"Much…start…repairs!" Brainiac managed.

Clark's fist pushed further into his side and he grabbed a black and orange box before ripping it out from him. Sparks flew when Clark removed the component core from him.

Brainiac's knees shook and the vibrations continued to ride through his body. He vibrated into a cloud of black dust.

Kara quickly gathered up the dust. She thought it was too easy, but more tests would prove whether she was right, or if she was just being paranoid.

"Hold onto that tightly," Kara told Clark.

Clark nodded, vowing to guard the black and orange box with his life.

* * *

Chloe looked up at the sound of footsteps. She really hoped it wasn't a creepy robot coming to have another little chat with her. She looked up and the doors opened. Clark entered, with a black and orange box in his hand.

"Thank Rao it's you," Chloe said.

"Thank Rao?" Kara asked, looking at Chloe in confusion.

Chloe blinked, wondering where that came from. Actually, she knew, and they would have to have a talk sooner or later.

"Um, yeah," Chloe said. She looked at Clark and Kara. "Do you think you could untie me? Those don't look very comfortable?"

"You're not the bondage type I take it," Clark said.

"Well, maybe, if you play your cards right," Chloe said. "But seriously, these ropes are making it very hard to breathe, so do you think you could….."

Clark undid the ropes. Relief hit Chloe's body, finally, she could breathe again. She had gotten up to her feet and Clark wrapped his arms around her to make sure she was stood.

"He didn't break anything," Clark said.

Chloe shifted towards Clark with a smile.

"Oh, are you a doctor now?" Chloe asked. "Maybe you should give me a full exam."

Kara cleared her throat a moment later. Chloe decided to take herself off of the high of being rescued to focus on the situation at hand. And also the fact she had something very important to tell Clark, and Kara as well.

"Clark, there's something I need to tell you," Chloe said.

' _Took you long enough, '_ Lara thought.

' _Oh, I'm just telling him about the fact you're inside my head,'_ Chloe said.

' _That's what I was talking about,'_ Lara said. _'What did you think I was talking about?'_

Chloe flushed in embarrassment. Talk about sticking your own foot in your mouth.

' _Never mind,'_ Chloe thought.

"There's…something really important I need to tell…." Chloe said. "Well, it's just…..I was hearing voices in my head ever since the cave…well not voices as in pure, but….just a voice."

Chloe's entire voice shook. Clark put an encouraging hand on her shoulder and convinced her to stand up. She took in a deep breath and tried again.

"I thought I was going insane, and can you really blame me," Chloe said. She decided to cut off Clark. "And I thank you for not making the obvious comment about me being halfway there."

Clark took a second to just let it all soak in with Chloe.

"Your mother, Lara, she's inside me," Chloe said.

' _You make it sound so seedy,'_ Lara thought, with a smile.

"She is?" Kara asked. "Are you sure about that?"

Chloe realized something. Kara had brought up a pretty good point. No one could be sure Lara was really inside her head.

"Tell me something only Lara and I would know about."

Lara relayed something to Chloe which caused her face to go about ten shades of red. Chloe walked over and leaned towards Kara, whispering it in her ear. Kara's ears went a bit red at what she heard, she couldn't believe Lara used that as the thing, but to be fair, it was something they only would remember.

"That's her…that's her alright," Kara said, voice shaking. "Aunt Lara, it's good to see you again."

"She says it's good to see you again as well," Chloe said. "Um…maybe we should find her a body…or find a way to create one, I'm sure there's some Kryptonian thing we can use in the Fortress."

Chloe's eyes rested on the black and orange box.

"It was a trial run," Chloe said. "The real Brainiac is out there somewhere."

Clark and Kara both figured deep down as much. It looked like they had a lot of work to do.

"We better go back to the Fortress," Clark said.

"As long as I don't freeze half to death this time," Chloe said

"Don't worry, I can keep you nice and warm if you do."

"I sure hope so."

Clark smiled and scooped up Chloe in his arms before he darted off. Kara followed closely behind.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 25** **th** **, 2016.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: Transference**

* * *

Chloe's initial impressions of the Fortress of Solitude weren't exactly the warmest or the most charming in the entire world. The second impressions worked out a lot better. Sure, the Fortress couldn't have been dressed upon too much given the circumstances. Still, she didn't feel the cold and dead feeling the moment she stepped into the Fortress that she did the last time. There were a lot of things about the Fortress which improved in her mind.

Plus, not freezing to death was a huge positive in her book. Chloe walked into the Fortress, taking a good look around. Kara and Clark stepped right behind when they explained the ordeal the two of them went through.

"Wait, wait, just let me get this straight," Chloe said. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face, sighing before plowing back in. "You're telling me the two of you had sex…with each other."

The complete dead pan way Chloe said this statement was only matched by the complete dead plan way.

"Yes," Clark said. He sounded so nonchalant Chloe would have had to laugh. "Yes, I did."

Chloe looked from the two of them for a couple of moments. She blinked and tried to figure this out. Granted, she didn't blame Clark, and hell, she didn't blame Kara, and Clark did live in a rural area, so relationships with blood relatives weren't exactly uncommon out in these parts. And they were from an alien planet, where such things might not have been as frowned upon as they were from the people of Earth. Plus, the advanced genetics might have not resulted in the potential biological problems offspring would have, although Chloe was thinking too far ahead.

Besides, they might have had advanced contraception to go with advanced genetics. Okay, Chloe was overcomplicating things a lot.

The rambling thoughts faded from Chloe's mind. She took a couple more seconds to figure this out.

"So, the two of you knocked boots….."

"Well, to be fair, we weren't wearing boots," Kara said. "We weren't really wearing anything."

Chloe tried to push the thoughts out of her mind. She didn't think it was wise to visualize Clark in such a state, especially considering the fact Chloe had the man's mother lingering about in the back of her head. Therefore, it would be kind if inappropriate to think about the fantasies she had been having about Clark for over five years.

' _Oh, I already know about your perverted fantasies about my son,'_ Lara thought before Chloe could really brush those thoughts out of the back of her head. _'They're so deeply ingrained in your subconscious mind it's…well, it's kind of amusing.'_

' _Oh God,'_ Chloe thought.

' _And by not thinking of it, you only pushed them further into your mind,'_ Lara answered.

Chloe couldn't believe such a thing would happen, and yet at the same time, she did believe it. Her mind flew through multiple different possibilities, going a hundred miles a minute with so many thoughts. It almost made her ears buzz.

"You know, if you think about it, it was about the only way possible to eliminate the Kryptonite infection," Clark said. "You know to sweat it out."

Chloe figured it out after a moment's thought and really kicked herself for not thinking about it. All of those times Clark had been under the influence of Red Kryptonite, she could have, helped him get over it. Granted, there were two problems with that. The first was, most of those times, she didn't really know what was going on. And if she had an idea, she made herself blissfully ignorant and unaware. People could be willfully blinded and not know it.

And the second thing was she would have hated herself for it in the morning, with such an obvious and blatant breach of Clark's trust. It would be a rather dodgy proposition, no matter how much desperate times called for it.

"Right, sorry, sorry, it's just….a whole lot to take in, you know," Chloe said. Clark looked at her with a smile. "It would be just like if I told you about a sexual escapade I had with Lois, just casually, as if it was the most normal thing in the world."

Clark stared back down at Chloe, smiling.

"Is there something you're not telling us, Ms. Sullivan?" Clark asked her.

Chloe flushed, realizing she stuck her foot in her mouth. She tried to look stoic, but Clark's smile made her flush even deeper.

"No, nothing like that, and I'd kindly ask you not to get any ideas of the sort either," Chloe said. Her hands on her hips only caused Clark to crack up into laughter.

Chloe realized, perhaps a bit too late, this was not a battle she would win.

' _Open mouth, insert foot.'_

"We're going to…well there's no delicate way to put this," Chloe said.

' _We're going to have to locate me a body, yes, I'm aware of this,'_ Lara thought.

"Well, your mother, who only I can hear right now, pointed it out," Chloe said. "We're going to need to find her a…."

"A body?" Kara asked. "Yes, I thought about that as well."

Kara moved her way to the Fortress of Solitude computer. She brought up several different plans on the computer. Clark and Chloe watched them flash about the screen.

"And Clark gave me an idea," Kara said. "A couple of years ago, Jor-El used an imposter bearing my name to try and trick Clark to return to the cave, for one of his little missions."

Chloe recalled that, although she was a bit too busy narrowly escaping being blown up to really think about it until now.

"His sense obviously left him the moment he went all AI," Chloe said, shaking her head.

' _My words exactly,'_ Lara thought.

Chloe wondered if Lara was being a bit more literal with these words than she thought she was.

' _Didn't you just put them in my mouth,'_ Chloe thought. She brushed back a lot of hair from her face and frowned.

' _Don't split hairs over the details, sweetie,'_ Lara thought.

Kara shook her head. She could tell right away from the look on Chloe's face, she was having a mental debate with Lara. And she decided to take pity on the other girl.

"I was looking around, and I'm pretty sure, Jor-El kept the girl in cold storage, just in case he needed her again," Kara said.

Chloe thought about the bad implications and realized things got even trickier, and dare she say it more dodgy.

"Yes, because kidnapping a young girl, keeping her captive, using her as a pawn, and shoving her into storage isn't creepy at all," Chloe said. A shudder reached through her body. Clark put a hand on her shoulder which relaxed her. "Still, it's not like there are many bodies we can use for this process."

She thought that was a sentence which would have never passed through her lips. Since when did she go all mad science and stuff, Chloe wondered. It didn't really matter, though. It might be the only chance to separate Lara and not have the awkwardness of having the mother of the man she loved inside her head at all times.

"I have a pretty good idea where she might be," Clark said. "I saw…..well I saw her disappear, and I know where Jor-El put her….."

Chloe raised a hand and smiled, understanding where this would go.

"Well, lead the way, then," Chloe said, a bit more chipper than she thought she would have been.

* * *

It made about as much sense as anything else for Jor-El to keep the body of Lindsey Harrison, the imposter Kara, in cold storage. After all, why go to all of the process of turning someone Kryptonian, giving her abilities and just throw her away like a piece of cheap tissue paper. That entire process seemed rather counter production even to Jor-El. He may have wanted a failsafe just in case his son went rogue, after all.

The trip into the cave brought back all kinds of memories for Clark and only a select few of them were anything good. He closed his eyes and flashed back to the moment where he had been brought into the cave. It was over a year ago, but to Clark it just seemed like yesterday in many ways.

Chloe stepped behind him, and Kara followed. The trio walked into the cave. Thankfully, perhaps by some sheer miracle or stroke of fortune they didn't run into any trouble. Perhaps their luck would actually pan out for once in their lives.

' _Not going to count my chickens before they hatch, though,'_ Chloe thought. _'The worst thing possible is this turns around for the worst.'_

Clark touched his hands on the cave wall. Despite Jor-El's presence in the caves being negated, there was still an echo of what was. An echo of memories which threatened to bubble up in the back of Clark's mind, but he shoved that way into the back of his head. He continued to work his way through.

"We have to be close, aren't we?" Chloe asked.

"Yes," Clark said a moment later. "We are…"

' _Don't worry, nothing bad will happen,'_ Lara thought. _'Kara removed all of the failsafes Jor-El used to…discourage intruders.'_

Chloe recalled one of them, and chills once again found their way to the base of her spine. The extent Jor-El went to safeguard the cave for intruders, it was amazing. And quite frankly it was fairly obsessive if she were perfectly honest.

Yet, a small part of her understood.

' _Given how many shady people sniffed around these caves, the failsafes were needed.'_

Clark's hands brushed against the side of the cave wall and he found the spot he was looking forward. He turned to Kara and Chloe, who shifted their feet off into the distance. He realized what could happen, and he might be the only one to stop it if it did.

"The two of you should stand back," Clark informed them. "I'm pretty sure it's safe, but…we're not going to take any chances."

"Right," Chloe said. She stepped back, and so did Kara, although she lingered a little bit closer.

Kara knew she disabled all of the fail safes, but disabling them was not a completely foolproof process. She watched, along with Chloe, a tad bit nervous about what might happen when Clark touched his hands on the side of the cave wall.

Clark experienced a flow of energy between his fingers. The vibrations rocked his body. For a mere moment, Clark thought he was about ready to lose sense of himself, with the continuous vibrations of the cave rocking in and out.

The rock slid open to reveal a shining bright light which caused everyone to be back.

Contained in a modified stasis chamber was a beautiful statuesque blonde, dressed in white attire, much like the type Kara wore. Her eyes closed shut and it looked like she was sleeping. Yet, there was something extremely eerie about her.

Chloe stepped on the other side of Clark and stepped over towards the chamber.

"Chloe, what are you doing?" Clark asked.

"Relax, I know what I'm doing," Chloe said. She screwed her eyes shut and decided, she had better verify what she meant. "Well, at least Lara knows what she's doing, I….I really don't have a clue what I'm doing. This should be amusing."

Clark thought amusing might not be the word to describe it. Regardless, Chloe pressed a couple of buttons in sequence. The fluids released from the chamber. The body of Lindsey Harrison slid from the chamber, and Clark caught her. She was still pristine, still healthy, other than the fact there didn't seem to be anyone home.

"Back to the Fortress."

A macabre sense of checking the cave for other bodies which Jor-El may have stashed here visited Clark. He shook it off, not wanting to go there.

They were back into the Fortress in a blink of an eye. Lindsey laid down on the operating table. Chloe and Kara secured her to the table, where Kara walked over and a brain scan started up.

It took several moments for them to eve scratch the surface of what a brain scan would have had to offer. Kara touched her hands to her hips, watching the scan go over to make sure the vessel was completely empty for Lara's transference.

"I don't think she's had any brain activity for a long time," Kara said. "Other than what Jor-El directed her to go…"

Kara double-checked the brain scans, nothing inside her mind. The humans had a saying where the lights were on, but no one was home.

It must be awful to lose memories, not have a sense of herself. And yet, Kara could feel only vague memories of those last few months on Krypton herself, so she understood the predicament the girl had gone through.

It would be far too late to restore her, but she could use her as a vessel for Lara's AI.

"She's all gone, mentally, and the only thing Jor-El used her for as a puppet."

"The crash she had been in must have caused her to go…well caused her to have brain damage," Chloe said. She brushed back another lock of hair from the side of her face and frowned. "Are you sure this is a safe process?"

Kara put a hand on her cousin's friend's shoulder and gave her a smile.

"Entirely," Kara said. "You'll feel a mild tingling feeling before you pass out. And then you'll wake up, and your cranium will be less crowded."

' _Well, Lara, I guess you don't have to put up with my perverted delusions about your son anymore,'_ Chloe thought. She slipped onto the second table when Kara helped set up the process.

' _Remember, they're only delusions if you choose for them to be.'_ Lara thought. _'And it's not like I'm leaving you without leaving my mark.'_

Chloe was caught off guard.

' _What do you mean?'_ Chloe asked.

' _Well, you'll be able to understand Kryptonian writings still, and you'll have higher durability than usual, you won't be full Kryptonian, but you'll be stronger than the average human,'_ Lara thought. _'So, I don't think there will be any excuses for you not to fulfill your…..delusions.'_

Chloe realized how surreal it was for her best friend's mother to be playing matchmaker when they were about ready to be separated. Regardless, she felt her eyes getting fairly heavy, and she knew now it would only be a matter of moments before she blacked out.

Kara watched Chloe's mind drift off into a state of restfulness. This gave her an open door to start up the transference process and separate these two brilliant minds.

The process started up without any hiccups and with a careful hand, Kara intended for it to go this way.

* * *

Chloe rested currently, and Lara was adjusting to her new body. This left Clark and Kara alone in the Fortress, along with the black box which Clark pulled from Brainiac sitting in front of the pair of them. Clark hunched over the box, the deepest of frowns passing over his face.

Kara walked over to Clark to put a hand to his shoulder and started to caress it.

"The box, it's not giving off any signals," Clark said.

"None that the Fortress could read," Kara said. She took a moment to turn it over. "Brainiac's not exactly an idiot. He must have disconnected himself from this particular drone the moment you defeated him."

Kara hoped to find anything, the slightest, most minor trace out of the system. She located pretty much nothing, therefore they had pretty much gone nowhere.

"And the ship, it's a non-starter," Clark said. He leaned back into the chair. "Lex would have upped the security around it after….he found out someone tampered with it. And then…..it's not to say what the ship would do to either of us."

Kara had some many unanswered questions in her mind. She decided to try and state one of them.

"Who was the one who sent you the information anyway?" Kara asked.

Clark had given the matter much thought and decided to come off with what he hoped was a solid theory about the matter.

"It would have had to have been someone who was pretty high up the food chain in LuthorCorp," Clark said. "Someone who Lex would have trusted to get close enough to a top secret project."

Luthors always had their secrets, and if Clark knew one thing, he didn't exactly hand out trust very easily. Throughout their entire friendship, Clark always had the sense Lex was viewing him with a critical eye, underneath a microscope. Therefore, Lex wouldn't be telling Clark anything.

"So, while we're waiting, there's something else I have to ask you," Kara said.

"Is this about the multiple wives thing?" Clark asked.

"Yes," Kara said. "Have you given it some thought?"

Clark frowned when looking towards the box. It allowed him to stall for time for a few more minutes.

"Yes," Clark said. He turned around and returned tinkering with a couple of items in the Fortress. He was trying to put something together where it would help him trace Brainiac a lot easier.

At least, it was the idea, but Clark knew what happened to the best laid plans. They often flew completely off of the rails.

The dead signal coming from the dead box should have been an ideal starting point. At least it should have, but Clark figured in the end it didn't. It left him back at square one, trying to scramble to find a way to locate something.

"We don't have to do anything too jarring," Kara said. "Just find someone that you trust, and bring them into the fold. And then we'll work from there, on a case by case basis."

"Yes," Clark said. "I perfectly understand where you're going with this one…and…..I don't know….."

"Right," Kara said.

Kara figured the fact he didn't exactly say no outright was encouraging. And she had the perfect ace up her sleeve to help convince him. She knew Clark about as long and as well as anyone else. And she had her eye on Clark about as long as anyone else.

She stepped into the room to check on Chloe. Chloe had sat herself up in bed and was shaking her head. Kara walked past the room where Lara was currently resting in her new body and sleeping underneath yellow solar ramps to replenish her energy faster.

"So, how are you feeling?" Kara asked.

"Oh, I feel….it's funny, I went through a major medical operation, and I feel like I can tackle pretty much anything," Chloe said. "That's funny, wouldn't you think?"

Kara smiled. She had to be perfectly honest, she did find that fact kind of amusing. Still the fact Chloe had plenty of energy served Kara's goals quite nicely. She reached over and touched a hand onto Chloe's. Chloe looked up at her in surprise.

"So, you and Clark are very close, aren't you?" Kara asked.

"Yes, I mean, we've had our differences, but even the best of friends do, don't they?" Chloe asked.

Chloe took one look at the smile on Kara's face. She didn't really know what to make about that particular shifty little grin.

"Um, why are you smiling?" Chloe asked.

"Chloe, it's obvious you have an interest in him," Kara said.

Chloe knew she could be pretty transparent at times. Still, the fact Kara was grinning made Chloe wonder exactly what she was up to.

"Yes, but you've…already made your interest in him clear," Chloe said. "So….."

Kara reached over and touched her fingers to Chloe's lips. The spunky blonde looked up at Kara.

"You think you don't have a chance, but you do," Kara said. "Kal-El, Clark Kent, whatever name you want to refer as is special….and he deserves….don't you think he deserves a reward for all of the times he's saved the day?"

Chloe's lips formed a very obvious smile. Boy did he ever save the day, more times than she cared to count.

"He has saved the day a whole lot," Chloe said, wondering where this was going. Actually, she had a pretty good idea where this was going and she was pretty sure she….well she was conflicted about it.

Kara could tell she hooked Chloe. All she had to do was drag her in.

"Didn't you ever dream about thanking him for all of the times he swooped in and saved you?" Kara asked.

Oh, Chloe thought about it alright. Thankfully, Kara didn't listen to her when she slept sometimes. Her frown grew in prominence. She didn't know where this was going, to be honest. All she knew was Kara was doing a pretty good job in egging her on, and making her think, making her crave the notion to take her relationship with Clark to the next level.

"You should go for it," Kara said. "You should have gone for it years ago….I'm not opposed to sharing, and I know you're a girl who wouldn't be selfish either."

Chloe blinked and wondered if Kara….actually there was no wondering about it.

' _She just gave me her blessing, and come to think about it, so has Lara,'_ Chloe thought a moment later. _'I…boy…this is…..well….'_

She thought Kara was right, maybe something like this should have happened between the two of them years ago. Chloe took a moment to consider something and considered the ultimate question of the universe.

What would Lois Lane do?

Chloe had no idea why her cousin came to mind during this pressing question, but a voice resembling Lois barked through Chloe's subconscious.

' _You should stop being a pussy and jump his bones.'_

Chloe raised one hand and gave a weak salute. What did she have to lose anyway? If anything, Clark and her would awkwardly realize this wouldn't work, and things would be awkward, but their friendship would be strong enough to survive.

What if it did work?

Chloe was sick and tired of wondering what could be. It was time to woman up.

* * *

Clark bent over several pieces of high-level equipment. It was amazing how sex cleared the mind and gave a person some inspiration to get certain things done. He continued to work over the pieces of equipment and try and find something which would allow him to track down Brainiac.

He just wished there was more success in doing so. Pretty much every attempt to hunt Brainiac and track him made Clark think ramming his head into solid concrete would be more productive.

' _Every single moment he's out there, he puts people at risk,'_ Clark thought. He shifted two pieces of the equipment together. _'He's a danger, a danger to everyone in the universe.'_

Clark heard the sound of water running all throughout working on the project, but he really paid it little mind, if any mind at all. He had his mind on the project.

"The Fortress is really perking up now, isn't it?"

Clark turned around and noticed Chloe walking out of the shower. She wore nothing other than a towel which covered her body. Clark noticed it was hard not, how she had undergone a growth spurt after the transference process. Her bust had grown a cup size or two, her hips grew a little bit wider, and her legs had shot up a few inches. Chloe walked over with a smile and parked herself onto Clark's lap.

The brazen action of the young woman caused Clark to be off guard. She turned towards him, her lips coursing in a smile.

"You seem tense," Chloe said.

The towel wrapped around her looked to have been held up by the sheer force of gravity.

"Um, Chloe," Clark said. His gaze averted down the front of her towel. It was almost like some kind of magnetic pole pulled him in. "You know….aren't you…aren't you getting a bit cold…."

Chloe smiled and leaned closer towards Clark. Their lips almost touched, but Chloe pulled back with a tease.

"Well, if I'm getting cold," Chloe said. She touched a hand on Clark's shoulder and smiled. "You can help me warm up a little bit, can't you?"

Chloe's hands touched on the back of Clark's check. Her body pressed against his which caused Clark's pants to become very constricted. He tried to block it out of his mind. Chloe's smile widened when she pressed closer towards Clark.

"You saved me again," Chloe said. "That seems to be a recurring thing, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Clark said. "But, it's no problem, I'm….."

"You think I should get a tattoo on my ass?" Chloe asked. "Maybe it should read, the Property of Clark Kent."

Chloe turned over and the towel rode up. Clark almost slid back in the chair when he saw Chloe's firm ass, along with other parts of her when the towel rode up. He wanted badly to touch her, to have her.

"I think it would look good right about here, wouldn't it?" Chloe asked. "But, that doesn't seem too practical right now, when I can just thank you."

Chloe turned around and dropped the towel completely. Clark's heart started to race when Chloe sauntered over towards him. She placed her hand on Clark's package and squeezed it.

"You are tense, Clark," Chloe said. She gave him another squeeze. Chloe picked up Clark's hand and placed it upon her breast. "Maybe we can help out each other."

Chloe decided to seal the deal before Clark could protest with a kiss. Her warm lips crushed over Clark's and he returned the favor. The warmth of their mouths pressed against each other, when Chloe unleashed years of pent up aggression into one kiss, even though it was just the beginning.

She violated Clark's tonsils with her tongue, before pulling back.

"Let's get you out of those pants," Chloe said. "And into something a little warmer, and maybe a bit tighter."

Kara watched from the corner of the Fortress, a triumphant smile crossing her face. As much as she would have liked to help Chloe out, she preferred to see how this would go.

Plus it would be good progress for the limitations of Chloe's new found stamina.

* * *

Chloe settled the towel down on the ground and settled herself down on her knees in front of Clark. His throbbing cock stuck up in the air in front of Chloe's face. Chloe wrapped her hand around it and stroked him a few times.

Clark enjoyed Chloe's soft hand caressing his manhood. Her fingers intertwined against his hard cock. She leaned down and licked the head which resulted in his cock jumping up a little bit more.

"You like that, Clark?" Chloe asked with a sultry smile. She ran her tongue all the way over his manhood. "Well, if you like that, then you're really going to love this."

Chloe took Clark's hard rod all the way into her mouth. She sucked on him, lips making some rather nice smacking sounds when she made her way all the way down on Clark's base. Her hands rested on Clark's thighs with these long, powerful, sensual sucks.

Clark could not get enough of her warm mouth and throat. Chloe really went to town on his manhood. Her fingers caressing his balls made this even better.

Chloe continued her sucking on his rod. She pushed her lips around him and took him down into the back of her throat. She hummed when coming all the way down on Clark's mighty rod. Chloe's fingers stroked him a tiny bit and looked towards him. The hunger increased when her hot, passionate sucking did. She really did work over every inch of his cock.

Clark enjoyed this for several minutes, but he wanted more. He grabbed Chloe's face and made her pull his rod away from her mouth.

"Why did you make me stop?" Chloe asked. She bit down on her lip.

"Because," Clark said. He leaned down and cupped one of her nice firm breasts in his hand. "I want to take you to my bedroom and eat your pussy before I fuck your brains out."

"Sounds naughty," Chloe said. "But, do you think you can handle me?"

"Let's find out."

Clark scooped up Chloe, and the next thing they knew, they were in a bedroom inside of the Fortress. He tossed Chloe down on the bed.

Chloe laid back and spread her thighs. Her pink pussy opened up, inviting Clark to dive in between those warm and inviting thighs.

Clark did so. He started to kiss his way down, starting from Chloe's chest. He sucked on her nipples and caused her to scream. He then kissed all the way down from her navel which resulted in more tingles coming down her body. Then, the moment he reached her pussy, his tongue lavished the hot wet hole and shoved his tongue deep inside of her.

Chloe grabbed onto the back of Clark's head. She could not believe this particular dream came true. Clark was eating her pussy. And it felt so good to have his powerful tongue delving inside her. She moaned and grabbed the back of his head, encouraging him not to stop. An amazing orgasm started to rack Chloe's body. Her hips thrust up to send her juices flying into Clark's mouth.

Clark tasted Chloe's hot pussy, making sure to lick up every single inch of it. The only thing which this served as to get him hotter and hornier, cock throbbing even harder, becoming like an iron bar hanging between his legs. He knew the only way he could kill this pulsing erecting.

He pulled from her face, dripping with her juices. Clark peered down at Chloe's beautiful face. She looked so primed and ready to fuck. He leaned down and pushed his throbbing cock head at the edge of her entrance. Chloe's hands rested on his hips.

"Clark," Chloe muttered. "I need you, badly."

Clark smiled and shoved his hard cock into Chloe's dripping hot pussy. Her wet cunt stretched over the top of his throbbing cock head. The warmth Clark had been surrounded in was intense.

Chloe closed her eyes. She had never believed this would happen. Yet it did, with Clark rising almost all the way up out of her, and driving his hard cock into her tight body. She hung onto the back of his neck, enjoying him taking some deep plunges inside of her.

"More, please," Chloe breathed. She could hardly stand this. She needed Clark so far inside her, it wasn't even funny.

Chloe grabbed onto Clark's shoulder and tried to dig her nails into him to make him ram into her.

Clark hung onto Chloe and drove himself down into her. Her pussy felt so warm, and tight he could just fuck it all day. The build up in his balls made him feel how much he wanted this.

Chloe's orgasm hit her hard. Clark didn't even back off. He held down Chloe and kept fucking her. She encouraged him to.

"We should have done this….a long time ago!" Chloe yelled. Her hands cupped Clark's ass and encouraged him to drive his cock deeper inside her. "Keep fucking me, don't…don't ever stop fucking me!"

Clark slid his cock deeper into her snug hole. He had no intention of letting up on her, not if he could help it. The warmth of her latest orgasm only encouraged him to drive his hard cock further into her body.

"All of the times...I wanted to pull you into my office at school….suck you off," Chloe said. "Do you realize how many times I wanted to do that?"

"Why didn't you?" Clark asked. "I would have let you."

Chloe's pussy tensed up around his hard rod. He slammed this rod into her body.

Clark wondered how he could make this night even better. He had his answer when Chloe's newly developed breasts grew with each time he pushed his cock inside her tight body. Clark bent down and grabbed her wonderful tits.

"Oh, Rao!" Chloe yelled. Clark's hands squeezed those breasts. "It feels so good…keep fucking me, I'm almost there again!"

Clark rode Chloe out to another orgasm. Chloe's hips rose up to meet Clark one more time. She tried in vain to milk his cum all out of her.

"I want to get on top of you, and ride you," Chloe said hotly in his ear. "I bet you'd like that, I bet your cock would be bigger inside of me if I was on top. I bet it would be so nice to see my new titties hitting you in the face."

Clark pulled out of her and Chloe's pussy whined. She never thought she could feel so empty. Regardless, she saw Clark lying back on the bed, cock primed for her. It looked so delicious having been coated in the evidence of her constant orgasms.

"You wanted me," Clark said. "Here's your chance."

Chloe turned over and smiled when getting over on the bed. She looked at Clark's throbbing hard penis. Chloe climbed on top of him and put her pussy at the tip. She spread her legs and eased his cock inside of her.

"It is much bigger when I'm on top!" Chloe yelled.

"Damn has your pussy gotten tighter," Clark groaned.

Chloe smiled and started to bounce up and down on Clark's rod. The spunky blonde pinned Clark down onto the bed while riding him and assaulting his mouth with hungry kisses, along with every other part she could reach. She rose up until the entire tip was brushing against her entrance, teasing herself and Clark. She brought herself down, giving herself a slap on the ass for good measure which made this entire situation all the more enticing.

Clark reached up and cupped Chloe's chest in his hands. It only caused her to bounce even higher. The friction of their loins meaning together lead to an aching in Clark's balls, so much cum inside of them. He watched Chloe come up and down on them, those tits just firmly cupped in his hand.

Then, he sat up, and Chloe wrapped her arms around the back of his head. Clark's face buried between Chloe's soft, sweaty, breasts. He sucked on those juicy nipples, and hunger started to increase in his body. Chloe made Clark suck her round, sweaty orbs.

It was so good to feel Clark worship her breasts. Chloe almost came undone when feeling him buried inside her.

"That's it, baby, fuck my pussy," Chloe said. "Don't you pull out of me either….I want your cum inside of me…..I've been waiting for you to fuck me hard for five fucking years. I think I need a little reward for my patience."

Clark kept at her pussy. Chloe squeezed his rod, trying to milk him for everything he had.

"Well, maybe not so little," Chloe whispered in his ear. She tensed up around him. "Yes, baby, that's it, cum for me."

Clark held onto her ass. Her sexy voice hitting his ear, her breasts in his face, tight pussy wrapped around his cock, and his hands on her firm ass, it was almost too much for Clark to bare. Chloe kept whispering dirty speak in his ear and he could not last much longer.

"Spill your sticky cum in my tight, nasty pussy," Chloe whispered. "Just think, we could have been doing this for years. You should have taken your reward. And now, I'm going to take mine."

Clark had been a little slow on the uptake sometimes, although she did blame herself for not being ab it more assertive. Chloe's wet walls closed down on him and she knew the end of his orgasm was near. Her pussy sang with hunger, wanting to milk his balls dry.

Those balls released their glorious reward inside of her. The first blast of cum hit the inside of Chloe's walls with the force of a rocket, and she admired them for that. Every time they hit her, she thought she would have lost her mind.

Clark enjoyed the warmth of Chloe's pussy. She squeezed his cock and milked his balls all the way down to the last drop, filling her body with his semen.

* * *

Chloe rolled over, resting her head on Clark's chest. She placed her hand on his abs, tracing patterns all over them. She was sticky, sore, and all worth it.

She turned, a slight scowl on her face. Clark had been surprised about the about face in Chloe's temperament.

"Did…did I do something wrong?" Clark asked.

"Yes, there is."

Chloe shook her head and grabbed Clark firmly by the shoulder. Her leg wrapped around Clark's hip when she pushed towards him.

"I'm pissed off at myself for not doing this much sooner," Chloe said. "And Kara, the next time, feel free to join us….after all, the more the merrier."

Kara smiled over from the corner. She had more than enough fun watching two friends unleash their bottled up sexual aggression towards each other.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 4** **th** **, 2016.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Ancient History.**

* * *

The more time passed, the more questions Clark got and the more answers he wanted. Brainiac might have been banished temporarily, but he would come back, and Clark needed to get all of the answers, regardless of what they were.

Thankfully, Brainiac left something behind.

Clark spent a fair amount of time looking over the artifact which came from the fake Brainiac. He had a hunch, something he remembered seeing a while back. At the time, Clark didn't really think too much about the item, so he shoved it into the back of his mind. Now, given, hindsight, he had plenty of time to consider what he had seen all these years ago.

The young man retreated from the Fortress. Now he had his marathon sessions with Kara and Chloe, Clark's mind cleared and he had a lot more to think about. He made his way past the entrance of the museum. It had been opened to visitors on Saturdays, free of admission. Not too many people took advantage of the free admission, which was a pity.

' _Let's see if my hunch is right,'_ Clark said.

Clark stepped back the standard exhibits. He walked past an assembled dinosaur fossil skeleton. He kept walking down the beaten path and turned around an exhibit of Roman armor. The armor interested Clark for a brief moment, but something else caught his eye a bit more. It was the very thing he looked for in his search.

A large stone tablet hung from the wall. He stepped on the other side of the velvet rope and took a closer look. The writings on them shined out in front of his face. Clark recognized some of the symbols as Kryptonian, albeit a much more ancient form of it. The symbols shined in the light.

' _Curious,'_ Clark thought a second later. He would have liked to touch the tablet, but doubted it was possible.

Something about the object beckoned Clark, made him want to take a very close look at it. A closer peak couldn't hurt, could it?

The young man took a half of a step and positioned himself closer towards the other side of the tablet. Clark wondered if he could get away with reaching over the rope and touching the tablet.

A set of footsteps from the other side of the museum stopped Clark in his tracks. He didn't want a security guard or one of the employees or even a guest catching him in the act with what he was doing. Clark turned his attention to see what person came around the corner.

Clark backed away to see who was coming, bringing himself away from the stone tablet hanging against the wall.

Quite a vision came around the corner to greet him. A dark haired woman maybe a couple of years older than Clark, at least by the looks of her, stepped in. Her black hair clipped back on a nice bun which allowed her beautiful face to shine brightly. Her blue eyes shimmered between a pair of eyeglasses. The woman favored the standard purple button up blouse and long skirt combination which dipped down past the other side of her thighs. Her stocking clad legs were slightly uncovered when she shifted. The woman balanced and stood.

Clark saw how tall she was. She was the type of woman who could stand out and didn't even need to try. And her eyes were on him, as if trying to figure out about his presence here.

"Hello," she said. "You're curious about the exhibit, aren't you?"

Clark answered with a nod.

"You aren't the only one," she said. "I have to admit, I've been here for a while and well…."

"Yes," Clark said. "I don't know, it's just something about it which has drawn me, I can't really explain it, even if I tried."

The dark haired woman smiled. "The marvels of the universe are like that in many ways. We never quite know how we're drawn to them. They just draw us. Although, if I can hazard a guess, there's a connection you've had to them, deep in your past."

She stepped forward to get a closer look at the young man. Clark sensed she studied him over the glasses like he was one of the exhibits in the museum. The woman extended her hand for Clark to shake. The two of them moved closer to each other.

"Diana Prince," she said.

"Clark Kent."

The two of them touched hands. Clark noticed the firm grip she had. The strong handshake took him aback for a second. He fixed his look into a more stoic demeanor before pulling away from her, the handshake having concluded.

Diana had been taken off guard for the moment at his strong handshake but recovered quickly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Diana," he responded.

"Likewise," Diana said.

Diana could not believe the strength of this young man. It took quite a bit for her to feel a grip of someone when they shook her hand. And something told her, he held back about as much she did. This encounter would prove to be interesting.

' _There's something about him,'_ Diana thought. She smiled and looked at him. _'He'd be worth getting to know a little bit better.'_

She realized Clark's eyes were back to the exhibit. He turned back towards her and stood up straight to face her.

"So, what can you tell me about the exhibit?' Clark asked.

Diana smiled, many people asked this question, and she had the same answer every time.

"Not much, I'm afraid," Diana said. She motioned for Clark to follow her over towards a bench. The two of them sat down so they could have their discussion in a more leisurely area than just standing around in the middle of a museum lobby. "Doctor Sandsmark, she's the one who led a team who dug it up, about five or so years back. They haven't been able to decipher the writing on it."

Clark thought some parts of the writing looked familiar, but exactly how much, he couldn't really tell.

"You think the language might have been lost to history?" Clark asked.

"Actually, I think the language might have been not of this particular world."

Diana's searching gaze made Clark think she figured out there was something more to him than met the eye. Which might have been just as well as Clark figured there was something a bit deeper to her than he first believed, at least at first.

He wanted to see if she meant what he thought she meant.

"You mean it's of some other planet?" Clark asked. Diana responded with a nod. "I can see why you would think of it. I've seen it before, though. Or at least something similar."

Diana blinked. Curiosity had gotten the better of the woman.

"You have?"

"Yes," Clark said. "There's a set of caves in my hometown, in Smallville, which has the writing. I'm surprised Doctor Sandsmark hasn't heard of them. They belong to the Kawatchee tribe in the area."

"Well, I'm not certain how much she knows about them," Diana said. "Doctor Sandsmark is in a business meeting, trying to get funding for one of her trips. She should be back by tonight, though. Maybe you could ask her then."

Diana paused, a thought having come to mind.

"How about the two of us head out for coffee after my shift ends?" Diana asked. "I'm just curious at how much you know, and….I don't think this is the place to talk about it, isn't it?"

A couple more people flooded inside the museum and Diana thought this could be a pretty sensitive subject.

' _Plus, I'd like to get to know him,'_ Diana thought.

She saw many men since leaving home, but Clark was unlike anyone she ever saw.

"No, it doesn't seem to be," Clark responded to her. "So, about what time do you get off?"

"I get off at five," Diana answered. "So, is it a date?"

"I'll be there," Clark said. "Five o'clock sharp."

Diana smiled. She would have been deluding herself if she didn't think about how much she was looking forward to this little encounter with the mysterious young man. Diana recalled several legends, and the more she thought about it, the more he could fit certain stories.

Could be a coincidence, or it could be something to them. One way or another, Diana endeavored to figure it out.

' _Tonight's going to be interesting,'_ she thought.

* * *

Kara arrived back in Smallville, having dropped Chloe back off at the Talon, where she was going to have coffee with Lana. She couldn't have helped, but be pleased with how things progressed at the Fortress. Years of sexual tension, bottled up all at once, threatened to burst out.

Once it did though, it was a beautiful moment.

' _Overall, so far so good,'_ Kara thought, smiling.

Kara recalled what had been going on over the past couple of weeks. Kal had a hunch about the writing on Brainiac's artifact and he went off to investigate it.

Lara continued her modifications on the Fortress and continued to improve it. If Kal-El had to be there to continue his training, Kara wanted the experience to be about as enjoyable as possible. The Fortress would never be home to him because he didn't grow up on Krypton. Kara both knew that and respected that.

Still, he had a lot to learn from his Kryptonian heritage and from the past. Those who failed to learn from their pasts had often been doomed the mistakes made in the present.

Kara stepped away from the front entrance of the Talon and almost ran into a figure who walked inside. Her hands shot out and caught Lois before she took a half of a step forward. Lois staggered back. Kara grabbed her wrist gently.

The two of them lingered together before Kara made sure Lois could stand upright. When she did, Kara pulled away from Lois.

"Oh, hey, Kara," Lois said. "Sorry, I'm just….checking on Chloe. She wasn't answering her phone earlier, and….I'm afraid she might have gotten in trouble again."

"Oh, you don't say?"

Lois didn't really understand half of what Chloe was up to when she tried to delve into the mysteries of life. Okay, she could understand the allure, a little bit, some of the time. There were other times though where Lois wanted to bury her head in her hands in frustration at everything Chloe did.

"No, she's fine," Kara said. "She's actually inside having a cup of coffee with Lana."

"Oh, that might seem harmless," Lois said. "But, if Chloe gets too hyped up on the coffee, she tends to get ideas."

Kara's eyebrow rose up at what Lois suggested.

"Weren't you just going in for the same thing yourself?" Kara asked.

"Actually, no, I was just hoping to ask Lana whether or not she heard from Chloe, but I figured, since you told me, there's no need for me to ask about anything," Lois said. She slowed down her rapid-fire pace of speaking. "So how are you finding Smallville?"

Loaded question, and Kara decided to give a calm answer.

"It's interesting," Kara said.

Lois smiled and managed to hold back her laughter to try and be polite. Or at least as polite Lois could potentially be.

"You must have lived in the pinnacle of boredom if you find Smallville interesting," Lois said. "Sure, there's…the occasional meteor shower….which I suppose is interesting. But other than that, it's just your typical town in the middle of Midwestern America."

Lois decided to ask something which had been bothering her for a very long time.

"Why did it take you so long to contact Clark?" Lois asked. "He's been here…what about eighteen years? And that's the first he's heard of any biological family."

Kara already had a story together, she would have to. Lois would be among the most harmless of people who would end up asking questions.

"It's complicated," Kara said. She figured Lois wasn't going to go for that particular explanation. "The truth is, I didn't know where he was until very recently, or he even lived in Smallville. My father and his…they weren't that close."

"What happened to your parents anyway?"

Kara sighed.

"They died," Kara said. "And I went to an Orphanage in Minnesota….I'm sure Chloe told you all about this, and I lived there until I was eighteen."

"Yeah, Chloe told me all of this," Lois said.

Lois couldn't believe someone like Kara would have popped up pretty much out of nowhere, overnight, and she looked too good to be true. And Lois automatically looked at things which were too good to be true with an extremely critical eye.

It wasn't like she was concerned for Clark, okay maybe a little. Someone had to keep an eye on him to keep him in line, and Lois decided it might as well be her.

"You've got your questions, I've got a lot of questions too," Kara said. "I don't remember a lot about my life before the Orphanage, and…..it was just a miracle that I happened to be in Smallville when I did, to find Clark. Any later, and I would have missed him."

"And your life would have been a lot less interesting if you did," Lois said.

"So, what do you think about Smallville?" Kara asked. Lois opened her mouth. "Seriously, about all of the weirdness….I want to know what Lois Lane thinks about all of the insanity."

The raven-haired girl tried to figure out what to make of this particular question and how to answer it without sounding too overtly salty. To be honest, Lois didn't give it much thought, she just rolled with whatever happened. Spending half of your life moving around from military base to military base prepared someone for anything, and yet, Lois almost had been caught off balance by life in Smallville.

Sometimes though, she just rolled with the punches.

"Well, I don't spend half of my life obsessing over it like Chloe does," Lois said. "But, I'll be honest, underneath all the madness, Smallville…well, I don't know how to say this. But, it seems quaint."

"Quaint?"

"Yes," Lois said. "It's the most stable home I've ever had and the Kents have been great taking me in. I don't know if you've noticed this, but I can be a bit of a pain in the ass sometimes."

It took every bit of self-control Kara had not to smile at Lois's bitterly honest feedback of herself.

"No, I can't believe it," Kara said smiling. "The Kents are great, and I couldn't have been happier Clark found them."

' _He did turn out right, in the end,'_ Lois said. _'For all of his oddness, he turned out alright in the end.'_

"So, what do you think of him?"

Lois almost jumped up in surprise. Kara asked the question which nearly pierced her armor.

"I'm…well…he's….he's not too bad," Lois said. "I guess deep down, I have a soft spot for the big lug. He can be….well he can be endearing. He's the embodiment of Smallville. That's what….I call Smallville, Smallville, because…"

Lois stopped before she shoved her foot deeper down her throat. Kara only smiled at her.

"Don't worry, I understand."

Kara saw the deeper connection having been formed between Lois and Clark. Whether or not it was meant to develop further, Kara had no idea. Still, she would have to keep an eye on Lois.

Just to see how things would go with her. She had a lot of issues to work out, but then again, didn't everyone at Lois's age?

* * *

Lara parked herself in front of the computer at the Fortress. Finally, the place ran at her specifications, at least most of her specifications. She figured there would be quite some time before everything ran up to the standards she expected everything to run out. Regardless of this particular fact, though, Lara found herself rather pleased at how things were going. At least for the most part, Lara really couldn't complain.

Now, she could study what other surprises awaited them after the latest meteor shower. Lara sat back and waited for the Fortress to full a wide scan of the entire planet.

The moment Lara locked onto anything suspect; she would know precisely what they were dealing with. Lara placed her fingers on the edge of her mouth and the frown on her face, if it all possible, just deepened. The flashes dancing across the screen concerned her.

"Enhanced them."

Lara turned her head around. She still grew used to her new body. Her old one was quite missed, even though it perished along with Krypton. Lara spent some time moving around, making some adjustments in this particular body. Weeks later, Lara adapted it for her uses.

' _Still going to get used to this,'_ Lara thought. _'But if it's going to help out my son, and niece, all the much better. Anything to make their lives a lot easier, anything. I'd do absolutely anything for them.'_

Lara smiled knowing deep down in her heart anything, meant anything. She wasn't going to go to certain extremes which her husband had been willing to go to help their son achieve his destiny.

One problem at a time, Lara noted. She fixated on the spots.

"Just as I thought," Lara said. She made a few notes down on the piece of paper. "The Interdimensional Disturbance opened up a number of sizeable looking rifts between dimensions."

Lara double-checked and eyeballed some measures. She noted down a couple of potential problem spots. She would have to study them in closer detail later.

Hopefully, they didn't end up opening portals up, before she could properly address them. It might have just been usual spots in the fabric, nothing to be concerned for.

"Nothing too alarming, at least nothing too alarming just yet," Lara said. She made a couple more swift notes. "Still, there are a couple of things worth noting on."

Lara smiled when the entrance to the Fortress told her they would be having visitors. She upped the security on it as well. Lara would be the first to tell you nothing in the world was foolproof. And those who thought as much had often been proven to be a fool.

Still, she had a lot of confidence the new security system would work. Lara turned to face her son and niece when they stepped into the Fortress. They had been deep in conversation about something or other the moment they stepped inside.

"So, how are you holding up?" Clark asked. Lara looked towards him with a smile. "Seriously, are you doing alright in your new body?"

Lara placed her hands on top of Clark's and looked her son in the eye. She edged closer towards him and smiled.

"I'm holding up as about as well as someone would think in a brand new body like this," Lara said. She turned her head around and gave a cracked her neck. "Still a bit weird….but I'm sure over time, I'll adapt."

Those who did not adapt often suffered a huge downfall. Lara understood this and learned it very well over time.

"You will," Kara said. "So, what's the problem?"

Lara retracted her hand from her son's and turned her attention around. She pointed towards the large map of the world.

"Brainiac and the meteor shower for a start but they're just tips of the iceberg," Lara said. "The stones when they had been joined into the Fortress crystal, they've caused an interdimensional disturbance. And this interdimensional disturbance looks like it may have crossed over multiple universes."

Clark's feeling in the pit of his stomach grew a bit sourer. He focused his attention on Lara.

"So, how bad of a situation we're talking about?" Clark asked. "And are we prepared for it?"

"Well, I'm not sure how bad the consequences are going to be," Lara admitted. "It could have long-lasting consequences over multiple universes. Or it is nothing of consequence."

Clark's frown worsened. He had a pretty good idea which of the two it was going to be. The past five years of Smallville taught him there were few things which were nothing of consequence. Everything had a consequence. It was just a matter of what and how long reaching they would be.

"And as for if we're prepared," Lara said. "We are, but at the same time, you never truly can be prepared. And given this event is unprecedented, I'm not even sure what's going to come out of any interdimensional disturbances."

Kara studied the interdimensional disturbances with a careful eye. She could see them going either way, either just fixing themselves or complicating matters. She couldn't really decide which way things would go, for now.

"With any luck, they will heal themselves," Kara suggested.

"Pretty much, yes," Lara said. "So, what are the two of you up to?"

"I visited the museum, the older one in Metropolis," Clark said. "And there's a stone table with Kryptonian writing on it."

Lara looked thoughtful at Clark's declaration. It pleased her to see his idea was on point.

"Hmm, interesting," Lara muttered. "Could be anything. Could be someone's journal they left behind, or it could be the plans to something dangerous….or something useful. Or it could just be a piece of an artifact which had been left behind on Earth, with no meaning at all."

Kryptonians visited Earth a time or two long before Kal-El. They had these bad habits of leaving their things lying around.

"I have a date with Diana, she works at the museum," Clark said. "Hopefully she'll be able to tell me more about it."

Lara smiled. Clark really didn't need as much encouragement as she thought. This bode well for his future.

"So, is she a beautiful girl?" Lara asked.

"She's quite beautiful in fact," Clark said. "And she has a pretty firm handshake."

Lara smiled, well this date would prove to be quite interesting.

"Well, you don't want to be late," Lara said. "That's the type of woman you don't want to make a bad first impression on."

Clark smiled at his mother's not so subtle commentary. He could see his cousin's grin.

"I'll deal with you later," Clark said.

"Oh, I'm sure you will."

* * *

Kara made a decision to tag along with Clark on his way to the museum. She wanted to meet Diana, and also she wanted to have a closer look at the tablet herself. And given it would be when the museum was not at peak hours, she could get a closer look at it without being disturbed.

Diana stood at the front desk. She had a conversation with someone at the desk about something.

"Oh, Doctor Sandsmark sounded pretty pleased?" Diana asked.

"Yes, she did, I think she finally secured the funding she needed."

Diana couldn't help and smile at this particular result. Doctor Sandsmark deserved all of the funding she could achieve and then even more. She turned her attention and saw Clark walking in.

"Clark, wow, you're a bit early," Diana said.

It wasn't a complaint by any means, merely an observation.

"Well, I'd figured I'd make the best impression possible," Clark said. He stepped closer towards her. "Did you expect me to be late?"

Diana smiled.

"No, I didn't," Diana said. "It's just most people put much stock on being punctual, even though it's important. And the fact you're here five minutes early really speaks for myself."

Diana looked to see Clark was not alone. Her eyes drifted towards the beautiful blonde girl and Diana was momentarily distracted from Clark.

' _She wouldn't be out of place back home,'_ Diana thought.

"This is my cousin, Kara," Clark said. "She's interested in the slab as much as I am."

Diana looked at the tall blonde and smiled. She extended her hand to shake it.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kara," she said.

Kara took her hand and shook it with a smile.

"You too as well, Diana."

The two women let go of their hands after having a firm handshake. Kara thought Clark was on point about her having a firm handshake.

' _Guess a firm handshake runs in their family,'_ Diana thought.

"So, what drew you to the slab?" Diana asked.

"My mother studied similar artifacts before she died…"

"I'm sorry to hear about that," Diana said, in a sincere voice.

"Thank you, it's appreciated," Kara said. She drew in her breath and continued to talk. "My mother studied these artifacts, trying to do what she could to unearth the mysteries of the universe. I don't remember too much, but the writing is fairly ancient. And the most basic translations have been lost to time."

Diana nodded in response. She came to the same conclusion, as did Doctor Sandsmark. And Doctor Sandsmark had this artifact longer than Diana worked at the museum, so she would know.

"And Clark mentioned Doctor Helena Sandsmark might know more about where this artifact came from," Kara said. "And if she told me about it, I'd be happy to share some of my mother's findings, the ones I can remember anyway, with her."

"She'd like that, she's had a long day, she needs something to perk herself up," Diana said. She looked towards Clark. "So, are you ready to go?"

Clark paused for a moment and looked around. He could have sworn there was someone else in the lobby watching their every move. He realized now was not the time to see people watching him. He turned towards Diana and smiled.

"I'm ready," Clark said.

"Excellent, the coffee shop around the corner serves the best coffee, and the best pie….well at least I've had in Metropolis anyway," Diana said. "We can just go for a nice walk, it's a beautiful night."

"Sounds like a good idea," Clark said.

The two of them departed from the museum, leaving Kara alone.

Diana frowned. She sensed something in the museum before they left, something which put her on guard.

' _Hopefully, it's nothing,'_ Diana thought to herself. _'I really hope it's nothing anyway. I really hope it's no one from back home stalking me.'_

Diana took a step around, resolving to enjoy this night to the best of her abilities. She hoped no one would ruin it.

* * *

 **To Be Continued 10/9/2016.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Wrath of the Gods Part One**

* * *

Kara walked deep into the museum to get a closer look at the exhibit now Clark was off with Diana. She waited patiently for Helena Sandsmark to finish off a call. The few snatches of conversation Kara caught out of the side of her ear showed how important it was.

' _Guess I better wait, I wouldn't want to disturb her.'_

She could wait, she had the patience to wait. Kara took a half of a step off to the side and leaned against the wall. She acted casual when looking around. A quick glance delivered to the right side of her and a quick glance delivered to the left side of her. The moment Kara turned all the way around, she saw no guards were on their way around.

Daring thoughts entered Kara's mind. It wouldn't hurt to take more quick peak before Doctor Sandsmark was ready to meet with her.

Kara took a casual step over the velvet rope. She prepared to move the moment anyone approached. Curiosity damned her and got the better of her. Every single moment she walked closer to the exhibit, Kara experienced an amazing pull towards it.

She lifted one hand and lightly brushed her fingers against the edge of the tablet. A spark of energy caused her skin to light on fire. Kara reached into her bag and pulled out a scanner developed of spare parts in the Fortress. She flickered the device on and ran it over the tablet a few times. The frown deepened the more as she took in the tablet. The scanner didn't hit any match and this thought confused Kara to a new degree.

' _Right here, it looks like there's no trace of any technology, '_ Kara thought. _'That's extremely odd.'_

Kara double checked to make sure the settings had been calibrated properly. She scanned the tablet. No signs of energy again, after the second scan.

' _Someone carved these symbols in here, a long time ago,'_ Kara thought. She took a chance and touched the symbols. She didn't notice any super-secret hidden technology buried within the carvings. _'There's nothing out of the ordinary, although the writing is curious.'_

All Kara scanned the symbols writing. There were no literal translation, but with the Fortress database she should be able to piece together a more concise scan of them.

Kara stepped back and took a step back over the ropes. Despite the scans coming up as negative and everything else coming up as very empty, Kara couldn't help, but see something was wrong, and very out of the ordinary. She just couldn't put her hand on what might have been wrong. She did have a feeling something was going on.

' _Extremely odd,'_ Kara thought.

The phone conversation continued in the next room. Kara listened for Doctor Sandsmark to wrap up the call. She figured an interview with her would unearth some answers to this item.

Only, a chill went down Kara's spine.

' _I'm not alone.'_

A flash of light caught Kara's attention's further. The actual lights in the museum began to flicker and cause a slight disturbance. Kara stepped closer towards the edge of the room and frowned at the lights flickering at a very interesting and crude pattern.

' _I knew there was something up.'_

Kara stepped in the general direction in front of the disturbance. Nothing here other than some very ancient Earth armor. It looked like she could damage it with a strong burst of her super breath. Hell, it looked like she could tap on it and ding it pretty good.

The only recourse was to pick up her scanner and take a closer look. Kara waved her hand in the air with the scanner. The scanner blipped and showed some foreign residue entered the air. The residue circled around the statues and showed something was amiss.

The light grew even more blinding and three shadowed figures appeared out of the portal. Kara stepped closer towards them. The trio of guards stepped out of the portal. Their attired consisted of a rather bulky armor which didn't seem too convenient for skilled battle. They looked more apt for brute force and to bull over armies without any strategy.

Kara stepped closer towards them and for the longest moment, none of them really reacted. The nearest of the soldiers extended his arm and caught Kara in the face. The huge punch caused her to launch up into the air and slam hard onto the ground.

The wind knocked out of Kara. It surprised her how strong they were. Something augmented their abilities, and Kara realized what it was.

' _Magic, of course it is.'_

The three soldiers walked closer towards her. Kara took a closer look, with them having ignored her now she exited her direct path. They weren't based on technology, rather they were based off of some mystic abilities. The enchantment swam around the soldiers when they approached.

"War will be at hand!" one of them bellowed. A sword had been withdrawn. "Come forth with my brothers! Our master's prize awaits us!"

Kara jumped in front of the soldiers when they continued their march. One of them looked at her like she was a mere annoyance. The arm extended and Kara dodged a gust of wind before it took her out. She ping-ponged off of the wall and flew at him back at them.

A long clang caused a surprising amount of pain to spread up Kara's body. She never expected anything to hit her like the solider did.

A shield extended around the body of the soldier. A rubber band effect shot Kara up into the air and sent her flying all the way down to the ground. Kara clutched onto the ground and struggled to get to her feet. Her knees almost slid out underneath one side of her. A small drop of blood spilled from her mouth.

' _These soldiers are going to wreck the museum if I don't put a stop to them.'_

One of the soldiers withdrew a spear and charged towards her. Kara caught it before the spear impaled her. Two of the guards stepped over and helped their guns towards the soldier. The soldier lifted his hand and the guards slammed off against the wall with solid thuds.

Kara jumped on the back of one of the guards. She tried to aim her fist at the fleshy part of the guard's neck. The guard turned around, yanking her by the hair off of him. The guard whipped around and hurled Kara back out of her path.

She noticed, perhaps a bit too late for it to do any good, these guards only fought her when they attacked. The moment they pitched her off to the side, the guards returned to their business as of nothing outs of the ordinary happened.

Kara brushed herself off with a harsh frown. She stepped outside. The guards had made their way outside and would be storming the city in a matter of moments.

She dropped down onto the ground and looked up at a bright light engulfing her. The soldiers disappeared into a flash of light, leaving a mild amount of carnage.

' _So, I'm not the target,'_ Kara thought. _'If I'm not the target, then who is?'_

Kara had been visited with more questions than she had answers, and nothing added up, at least in her mind.

' _It's very odd.'_

* * *

Clark settled in for a nice cup of coffee and a rather refreshing helping of stew. He had to admit it was pretty tasty, even though nothing could beat his mother's cooking. His own biased opinion might have been at work there.

Diana sat across with him for a smile. It was nice to have a rare night out with someone and not have to worry about any responsibilities.

Sadly, there wasn't any doubt in Diana's mind she would pay for this lack of responsibilities later.

"It's different than what I'm used to back home," Diana said. "But, variety is the spice of life, isn't it?"

"Where are you from anyway?" Clark asked.

Diana smiled and took a drink of coffee. Clark sensed the eyes of someone who was gauging how much she could tell Clark this soon.

"I'm from the Mediterranean," Diana said. Granted, it would take a little bit of explanation to tell Clark where she was from, and Diana wanted to have a nice relaxing meal. "The autumns are quite jarring, though, but it's quaint in a way. Much like Smallville is, and….it's a change of pace."

Diana figured she would take this nice and slowly before she ended up dropping the princess bomb on him. She figured being the princess to a nation of strong warrior women might be off-putting for most men and thus not really a good topic for conversation on the first date.

"The tornados and bitter winters are a change of pace from the sun of where you're from," Clark said. "Granted, I only know it from reputation…"

Diana smiled and took another long drink of her coffee.

"Well, there's a lot to love, although when you live some place for a long time, the magnificent can turn mundane."

She laughed and finished downing her coffee.

"The beaches are relaxing, and there's an interesting culture if one is willing to learn about it," Diana said. "It's just….some aren't as interested in learning all of the lessons of the past. They want to interpret the teachings of the goddesses in ways they were never meant to be interpreted."

Clark raised an eyebrow.

"Goddesses?"

"You've…you've heard of the Greek Goddesses, right?" Diana asked.

"You mean like Aphrodite, Athena, Hera?" Clark asked.

Diana smiled, granted she read the few of the myths about them. Hera did not come across as very favorable in many of hers. Diana suspected it was because of the many bastard sons of Zeus spreading misinformation about her.

"Yes, among a few others," Diana said. "Some of them left home when they had a conflict with how it was being run…they thought….well it really doesn't matter."

Diana really was about where she wanted to be in life and to her. These facts were the only thing which mattered right about now. She looked up in time to see Clark's hand extend over the table.

"So, was that the real reason you came over here?" Clark asked. "To get away from the politics at home?"

Loaded question, despite so, Diana felt he deserved a clear and concise answer.

"No," Diana said. "There were other reasons. My mother encouraged me to get out and have a chance to see the wider world before I had a chance. I managed to look out Doctor Sandsmark and she had a job opening for me when her old assistant went on an extended sabbatical."

Diana later found out the old assistant had gone mad and ended up in Arkham Asylum in Gotham City. Diana found out a little bit about the place and knew from her experiences it was a place with some of the sickest people in the world. She prayed to Hera ever night they would gain the peace and the solace they needed.

' _Mother was right, I needed to get out and enjoy the rest of the world for what it's worth, unwind a little bit,'_ Diana thought. She flipped a lock of the dark hair away from her face. _'It's not the easiest thing to do, but at least I found something interesting. And something I want to find out more about.'_

Diana enjoyed the coffee she shared with him.

"So, your cousin mentioned….."

Just a second before Diana could properly ask a question, a scream cut in through the night from outside. Clark almost bolted up in a hurry, but Diana didn't notice it. She turned her attention from the window outside and back to Clark who sat at the table.

Who was not at the table, but another scream coming outside distracted Diana. She pulled herself up and dropped the money down on the table to pay for the rest of the meal. The dark haired princess stepped out of the back door.

' _Time for drastic action.'_

The moment she walked out of the back, Diana walked further into the back of the alleyway. She spun around three times in the alleyway. A flash of light flickered through the alleyway.

Diana stood dressed in a red, white, and blue one piece suit which showed off her long legs. Red boots had been pulled up. She dressed in a tiara and a pair of bracelets. The ancient Amazonian armor gave her enhanced power.

A woman trembled on the ground, and her two children were yelling at her, but those words had gone on deaf ears. Several ancient soldiers charged towards her and were about ready to flatten her.

"Mommy, please wake up!" one of the children shrieked in terror.

A blur shot out off from the side and scooped up the two children and yanked them out of the way in the blink of an eye. The mother followed, being slid out of the way.

Clark dropped down to the ground and came face to face with the lead warrior. The warrior raised a huge iron mace and swung it towards Clark. Clark caught the mace in his hand and jumped high in the air with his hand wrapped around it.

The soldier gave a grunt from his weapon being parted from his hand.

The mace ripped out of the hand of the soldier. Clark spun it around and the mace connected with the stone skin of the soldier and knocked him onto his back. Several stone fragments shot up into the air.

The second of the soldiers charged Clark with a sword from behind. The sword came precious inches from hitting Clark.

' _No.'_

Diana rushed on in and blocked the sword from slamming into the back of Clark's head. She clung the sword back into the place where the shoulder and chest of the stone warrior connected. The stone warrior's eyes shifted in anger when he pulled back his arm and lunged at the Amazon Princess.

"You!"

The growling coming from the warrior showed Diana someone very dangerous pulled the strings. The wondrous woman's experience told her exactly who was behind this latest round of trouble.

"Yes, it's me."

Diana jumped behind him, and she turned towards Clark.

"I'll handle them, see if there are any more civilians who are in need of care!" Diana yelled.

No time to ask any questions, both of them would have plenty of time to hash this out later. Clark sped off in a search for the civilians. The sounds of battle occurred over his shoulder and intensified.

' _Guess there is much more to her than meets the eye.'_

The sound of a second of the third soldiers falling brought some new found hope to Clark. He finished the search for civilians, but with a sense, there was someone else watching him.

' _What more can happen tonight?'_

* * *

A large statue loomed in front of the red skies which flashed with lightning. A figure made his way forward, his footsteps approaching. Some people considered his domain to be absolutely useless. Fools didn't know the necessity of war, a necessity of the work that he did.

The natural state of humanity was chaos. To consider anything less, would be foolish. They were all bloodthirsty. This state of bloodthirstiness didn't extend simply to humans. No, it extended through a variety of realms and all over the universe.

The figure took a half of a step forward and walked even more. He made his way into the temple. Several weapons hung from hooks on the walls. The man walked past the weapons and took them all in. He stopped in one particular spot which looked very vacant. The lack of item in front of him caused fire to burn through the eyes of this particular monster.

' _It should be here.'_

This particular thought flashed through his mind. No matter all of the spoils of war which had been gained or lost, this particular item missing dug underneath the skin of Ares. He placed a hand on the side of the bare spot on the wall.

Hatred burned through his walls. The Amazons, with Athena's questionable wisdom, took his most prized possession away from him.

He must take it back by any means necessary. His entire life had been incomplete. It was made for him.

The figure in battle armor turned to the army of warriors he assembled. They ran into a snag which caused the god's teeth to curl into a furious snarl.

"So, they've run into the son of Jor-El."

Ares shared several things in common with many gods. They traveled to other planets beyond their area of worship to see what it was like on the other side. Ares found many individuals who were of like mind to himself. One of those people who impressed him beyond all else was General Zod. Zod's ruthlessness proved to match Ares, and he respected the man.

It was a pity Ares could only observe, and not guide, because of the rules that bound him to only Earthly matters. Zod had some kind of spark in him which was beyond greatness.

Sadly, in the end, Zod failed, thanks to Jor-El. The only solace which kept Ares mostly calm was the fact the destruction of war had ended up destroying Krypton at the very end. The end result of a very long and rather stubborn planet who refused to learn the lessons.

They saw the dangers of trying to avoid war at any costs. They could not prepare themselves for true conflict, for true bloodshed. When it happened, they could not survive.

The son of Jor-El was someone who did survive all of the conflict and all of the war. Ares crushed his fingers together, teeth gritting together in an obvious growl.

' _I will crush the son of Jor-El, he is nothing, he's very much like his father. He impedes the progression of war, and for that, he will must be sacrificed.'_

Ares turned to the army before him. If only Jor-El's son had been the only problem, then Ares could rest easily. However, there were other difficulties. He noticed her show up instantly.

' _Hippolyta's daughter,'_ Ares managed to get out with a rather prominent growl. He clutched his fist together until it had gotten blue in the face.

It was only appropriate in some twisted way the daughter of Hippolyta joined the battle. Hippolyta had been one of the ones who had attempted to keep Ares and his precious armor away. The thought of it resulted in a sickening feeling to enter the pit of the stomach of the God of War. He needed to make her pay, he needed to make her suffer.

She took down two of his warriors. The Princess never understood the first battle was always the easiest. It was always a mission to find the weaknesses in his opponents and exploit them to his best abilities.

Ares focused his complete attention on the third person, the one who met his warriors at the museum when they had been activated.

' _Yes, she's rather interesting given her bloodline,'_ Ares thought. _'She has a thirst for bloodshed and for war she's struggling to keep at bay. Well, we just got to find a way to get that out of her. It's always a delight to see the warrior spirit forced out of anyone.'_

Ares was pretty sure he located the armor. It was only appropriate it had been located inside a quaint little farm town. The armor was so close, he could taste it.

"Come forth my children, and claim for me what is rightfully, and truthfully mine!" Ares yelled.

It had been a while since he had led a campaign of decimation. It was only fortunate enough the goddesses had been preoccupied for reasons which had unknown.

"Your target is a town called Smallville, in Kansas," Ares said. "I want you to destroy everyone who stands inside….you two…go back up your brothers against the Daughter of Hippolyta and the Son of Jor-El."

The two soldiers dropped down to their knees before the god of war. Ares only just barely kept himself from breaking out into one of the wider smiles possible.

' _They fail to understand humanity's natural state is war. But, they will learn.'_

* * *

Diana dropped down hard onto the ground and just barely avoided one of the soldiers taking her head off with a very violent punch. She pivoted off to the side. The two she had taken out rejoined the battle. One of them charged towards her.

Clark popped up right next to her and blocked the sword before it sliced through the top of Diana's head. Clark and the soldier struggled to fight each other. A punch caught the soldier and knocked him up off of the ground.

"So, it appears there's more to you than meets the eye," Clark said.

"Yes," Diana said. She caught the ax from one of the soldiers. The Amazon's knees buckled in an attempt to force the ax back. She summoned all of her strength against the attacker, pushing him back against the ground. "Do you really think this is the time or the place where we should be having this particular discussion?"

Clark shook his head in negative.

"Not really," Clark said.

Most certainly not given the enemies coming at him from all sides. Clark had to dodge the swing of the sword blade before it cut into his chest. A flash of light emitted from it.

Diana was glad for the challenge. She noticed a portal opening up on the side and two more of these soldiers came out. The soldiers threw daggers at Diana.

Before Diana could take any actions in blocking the daggers, a blast of heat vision popped up and nailed the daggers. The daggers dropped to the ground, a smoldering bit of ash when they connected to the ground.

Diana opened her mouth. She had been impressed. Kara hovered over them in the air. The soldiers turned their attention towards her.

"Okay, now they want to give me the time of day," Kara said. Kara jumped down on the ground and drove her elbow down on the side of the soldier's neck. "At the museum, these soldiers never wanted to give me the time of day."

"They attacked you at the museum?" Diana asked. "Is everyone okay?"

Kara spent the second smashing the heads of the soldiers against the wall. They both landed with a thud.

"Yes, everything's fine, some people are a bit shaken up," Kara said. "And there were just three of these things when I saw them. Now, there are five?"

Diana caught one of the soldiers and hooked him before slamming him down onto the ground. The blow only rocked the soldier ever so slightly. It did little other than to take the wind out of him, at least for the moment.

"There's going to be a lot more than them unless we stopped them soon," Diana said.

The soldiers crowded around in a line. They all raised their hands and created a mild shockwave .The shockwave caught Clark, Diana, and Kara. They tried to push through but it caused them to slide back a couple of inches.

Kara noticed a portal opening out of the corner of her eye. She raised her hand and threw a disc on the shoulder of one of the soldiers which they passed through the portal.

"They stopped attacking us," Clark said.

Diana answered with a shake of her head. Ares really stopped an attack until his hand had been forced by the goddesses. Unless of course, there was something better at stake elsewhere which he needed all of his forces.

"They're heading to Smallville," Kara said.

Clark tensed a little bit. No more than Diana did. Something snapped in the back of her mind as if she had forgotten it until now.

"We need to beat them there, now," Diana said.

Diana knew it would be hope behind all hope. Regardless, if her hunch was right, that's where the Amazons hid it. One of the last places on Earth where anyone, Ares would expect to find it, but obviously the notion had not been foolproof.

' _Oh, Hera, help me,'_ Diana thought.

Diana didn't voice the thought, but her tensing up raised a red flag in Clark's mind.

"What's wrong?" Clark asked.

"I'll explain when we're there."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 9** **th** **, 2016.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Wrath of the Gods Part Two**

* * *

Tranquility had been enjoyed by the people of Smallville. Those who had stuck around for the past fifteen years had dealt with two meteor showers and also an army of the meteor infected. They almost had been used to the weirdness. Very little rattled them these days and for very good reason, and the mysterious forces which took down these meteor mutants had been speculated in whispers. No one knew the truth, but many people were not immune to speculation and trading rumors.

The most common theory happened to be the people in Smallville believed there was a special task force which helped take down these meteor mutants. No one had ever seen it, it was just the various meteor mutants caused havoc and then they were stopped. Some of them may have died and those were the ones who could be verified. Others only just disappeared in a blink of an eye, where everything changed.

There were going to be many mysteries for a town which fifteen years ago, was only known for the production of corn.

An old man looked up into the sky. This was going to be a beautiful summer and he couldn't wait to get the crops in. A smile crossed over his face when taking in the atmosphere.

A swirling light above his head caused the farmer to drop his rake on the ground. Three figures, all dressed in armor dropped down to the ground. The farmer took a step back before standing up to his full height. These hooligans, whoever they were, looked about ready to trample all over his crops, and he wasn't about to have anything to do with this.

"Hey you, get off my property!" the farmer yelled, waving his fist. "Yeah, you heard me. Get going and get off my property!"

The soldiers took a step forward. The farmer's blood pressure rose when he realized these men, whoever they were, did not listen to a word he said. One of them knocked down the fence as if they didn't hear what the farmer did. The farmer's eyes bulged out and he ran into the barn.

Seconds passed before the farmer returned with a shotgun and aimed it at the soldiers who dared intrude on his property. He cocked the gun and fired the moment one of these armored gentlemen got close enough. The bullet connected with the soldier and the farmer thought for a brief second he connected with the soldier. The soldier staggered back and the farmer prepared to fire again.

The farmer gasped in surprise when his gun had been blocked. He looked up to one of the last sights he expected to see in his life.

The soldier flashed forward in front of the farmer and grabbed the gun from his hand. The gun ripped out of the hand of the farmer. The farmer struggled when the soldier hoisted him up above his head. The farmer screamed and kicked his feet, making a valiant attempt to break free from the grip of this particular soldier.

The soldier slammed the farmer down onto the ground, the resulting impact having knocked all of the wind out of the farmer. The farmer rolled over and tried to get back up. His ribs cracked, and one of his arms had been broken.

Several more of these gateways opened, the light of which almost blinding the farmer. One of the soldiers walked down the road and raised his hand. He touched fingers down upon the ground. His general indicated a scorched earth policy and everything would be burned to the ground.

A cop car skidded to a stop and two officers stepped out. They looked at the soldier who turned around to hail the other men. The soldier's eyes locked onto the cops.

"Alright there, freeze!" one of the cops yelled. "That's right, nice and slow…no sudden movements or…."

The soldier took another step forward and almost dared the cop.

"I'm warning you. Not another step, or I'll….."

The cop fired the moment the soldier came towards him.

The soldier's fingers caught the bullets which had been fired at him and flung them back. The bullets pierced the side of the police cruiser. The cops took a half of a step back. The soldier lifted the police cruiser up over his head.

The cops dodged the car which is thrown towards him. If ever was a time for some kind of special task force to come in to deal with these soldiers, now was the time. The car flew over the side of the road and burst into flames the moment it dropped to the ground.

A quartet of soldiers marched down the streets towards their destination. The cops held guns in their hand and they tried to steadily aim at their attacks. The soldier's hands glowed with some kind of strange energy. The entire countryside was being wrecked and they just rebuilt after the meteor shower as well.

A large sign with the words "Smallville: Meteor Capital of America" written on it blew up when one of the soldiers incinerated it. The choking fire and smoke spread through Smallville.

A large truck pulled out and several uniformed men stepped out. They had run the entire gambit of military mutants, some of them having been secured in a secret facility for testing in an attempt to create a cure to bring them down.

This may have finally entered a couple of notches above their pay grade. The leader of the army turned his attention towards the military men and stepped forward.

"You have decided to declare war against our leader," the head of the army said in a rough and gravelly voice. "You must pay the consequences."

The leader of the special task force had no idea what to do or say. A second truck pulled up which brought his thoughts out of the conversation. A large broad-shouldered man stepped out of the back of the truck and shouldered a rocket launcher.

The rocket launcher fired and took out the entire street which the soldiers stood on. Smoldering rubble flew up in the air.

"Looks like we got them."

One of the soldiers closest to the blast zone looked horrified. "You might want to take another look, look at it again."

The uniformed men took a step back and gasped in horror. These soldiers were not going down, not without a fight. Many of them remained standing, those dangerous and deadly eyes locked on the soldiers. The military men all took another step back.

They realized they were dealing with something even more incredible than anything they ever faced in the past, the present, or maybe even the future. One of them opened his hand hand and shot a bolt of energy at the leader of the task force. The bolt lifted the man off of the ground and launched him back, dropping him down like a piece of garbage.

Ares viewed the battle from afar. No matter how much he always enjoyed watching the world burn, he would not forget what he came for.

"Let them deal with this….pitiful resistance," Ares said. "They know nothing of true war. It would have been amusing had it not been so insulting."

The God of War opened his hand. It was almost close, so close he could feel it in the palm of his hands. He knew the armor was here in this Smallville, hidden within a mansion of some sort. All he needed to do was track it down.

* * *

Two children huddled together, shaking in absolute terror. The events of today would be a constant fixture of their nightmares for some time to come. The stone cold stone warriors approached them and one of them withdrew a dagger.

"All who stand in our way is an act of war," the soldier said. "All must suffer, all will meet their demise."

A blur came down the road and plucked the children out of the way before they could be trampled. The two children trembled in fear. They looked at their equally shell-shocked mother. The two children rushed over towards her and clung to their mother's leg when trembling with fear.

Kara deposited herself on the ground in the smoldering wreckage. Said wreckage turned her stomach; it resembled Kandor during the siege, in the months before the disappearance. It was an extremely awful sight to look upon.

The soldiers turned towards a man who trembled when going down the road. A knife flew towards the man's head. Kara reached out and caught the knife between her fingers. She turned the attack around and launched a knife attack into the chest of one of the soldiers.

The second of the soldiers caught sight of Kara. The hideous and angry expression on the soldier's face caused Kara to take a step back for a fraction of an inch. She wanted them go after her, and leave civilians alone.

"Come after me," Kara said. "Wouldn't you want a real fight against someone who can fight back? Or are you too scared?"

Calling them cowards stirred them up quick nicely. The stone warrior approached Kara with a large battle ax swinging wildly. when charging towards her. She dodged the swing of the ax and hopped high into the air. A huge kick caught him flush in the face and sent him careening to the ground with a sickening thud.

The Woman of Steel wiped out a Soldier of Stone with one kick. Kara dodged another dagger. He tried to attack her again, and this time Kara caught it in her hand, before she flipped up into the air. The dagger went flying and the soldier decided to switch the play by swinging a sword.

A flash indicated Diana had shown up. The very powerful and skilled Amazon clanged her sword together with the soldier. The skilled warrior drew back the sword and smashed it into Diana's. The two of them went back and forth, sword to sword, with neither of them giving the other any quarter.

Diana dipped up from underneath the soldier and managed to use the leverage to stagger him back a slight amount. The Princess of the Amazon's managed to drive her fist into the side of the soldier's face and drop him down to the ground.

' _One down,'_ she thought. _'Several more to go.'_

Diana lifted a shield to block the daggers propelled at her from one of the soldiers. The Amazon drove the shield back and pushed the enemy back from this particular position. The two struggled against each other, the battle growing more heated by the second.

Clark returned from his battle and noticed the soldiers marching in a very alarming direction. He locked eyes with Kara and both of them came to the same conclusion. The soldiers headed their way towards the Kent Farm.

From the distance, Clark noticed Lois standing at the edge of the road when the soldiers closed in on her. She staggered back when she noticed the soldiers which were coming her way.

' _Oh, Lois, your timing is always bad.'_

Clark grabbed Kara by the shoulder and pointed towards the farm house. Kara sped off in the direction of the farmhouse and managed to grab the Kents before the soldiers reached the front door.

Lois had no idea what these soldiers were after. It completely and utterly defied all things weird if she was perfectly honest. She looked up and observed the soldiers coming. One of them held a huge battle axe up in the air towards her.

Someone or something grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of harm's way. Lois's entire heart had stopped and it had started up again when she had found herself standing outside of the city limits.

Lois dropped down onto the ground. The smells of burned flesh hit her one hundred percent when she flopped down onto the ground. The dark haired woman drew in her breath and she wondered what the hell was going on.

Clark skidded off to a stop and nailed one of the soldiers with a huge punch to the side of the head. The punch knocked the soldier's head clear off. He still functioned without a head despite not being human.

"So you never mentioned what these soldiers are after," Clark said. He stood back to back with Diana when the two soldiers came after them from either end.

Diana blocked the punch from one of the soldiers and came back with a jaw jacking punch. Another soldier dropped to the ground.

Now, Diana had room to breathe, she happily enlightened Clark on what they had to deal with.

"They are heralds of the god of war, Ares," Diana said. "And his most valuable possession, a suit of armor, is hidden somewhere in Smallville."

Clark blocked one of the punches and tried a maneuver he learned in his training at the Fortress. He created a miniature vortex by spinning around one of his arms, to launch the soldiers high into the air and send him crashing down hard. The moment they had space, Clark decided to ask the obvious follow up to Diana's statement.

"Do you know where it's being held?" Clark asked her.

Diana avoided the ax swung at her. She didn't really have a second to answer, mostly because she could see the soldiers had been increasing. She took a half of step back and tried to block out the very real frustration she was feeling.

' _Okay, time for drastic measure.'_

Diana pulled out a medallion dangling underneath her arm, secured around her neck. When her mother gave it to her upon her trip, she told Diana to keep it close to her heart. Personally, the Princess of the Amazon hoped it would work as intended because she was running rather low on options.

' _Here goes nothing.'_

While Diana used the medallion, she was pleased Clark took out these soldiers rather well.

Clark's vortex tornado arms wiped out one of the soldiers and dropped him to the ground. Kara dropped down on the ground to assist in the battle. The dust cleared and several soldiers have been taken out.

"All of the civilians have been moved," Kara said. "It's going to be a challenge trying to move them all back, and they're going to be confused, but….."

"We'll worry about it later," Lara said. "Can the two of you hear me?"

Clark smiled, his mother's voice was pleasant.

"Crystal clear," Clark said. He turned and looked up the street to see another small army marching directly at them.

"And just in time, because we have a problem," Kara said.

Clark lived in Smallville for long enough to understand this, and an entire army of stone cold stone soldiers qualified as an emergency, at least in his mind.

* * *

Lex Luthor reclined in the Luthor Mansion. It had been difficult to get any kind of television or radio reception. One would think with the best technology money could buy, Lex could get a crystal clear high definition television signal. One would be wrong though, and it just showed why people should not make assumptions.

"Hello?" Lex asked.

He tried once again to dial the phone. Once again, Lex had been on the outside looking in. Something happened in the area, some kind of disturbance. Lex took a step forward and made his way to a side office. He tried to monitor the security system.

The Luthor Mansion security system had been a bit of a running joke in some circles. Lex thought it would be unfair to criticize it, but yes, he conceded it was in desperate need of an upgrade. He flipped through a few switches, frown getting deeper when he tried to dig into it.

' _Hopefully, the guards at the front gate are competent enough to keep any intruders out.'_

Lex tapped the side of the security console. He might not have any alarms or cameras, but he heard his own hearing.

The sound of gates crashing open on the outside was a security breach. Lex stared up at the ceiling and watched hanging lights flicker before they had blown out.

Lex took a step outside and ended up in a hallway. He had a few ways to defend himself against intruders, and one of them was a specialized security force which patrolled the mansion. A security force Lex could not reach. He tried his best.

"If any of you can hear the sound of my voice, meet me at the front hallway," Lex said. He stopped at the edge of the door and pressed an ear towards the side of it.

' _Trouble.'_

Lex took a step back and opened up the door. He took a lot of things in extremely careful stride and one of those things he just had to take in stride was several rather rough-looking soldiers who peered down at him.

He cast a look down on the ground to see the crumpled up forms of two of his security guards. Lex frowned and looked towards the soldiers who were staring a hole through them. It was almost like they were waiting for something and Lex knew the look of subordinates which couldn't function on their own without any type of orders.

Lex stepped back a couple of seconds and looked back at the soldiers.

"I don't know how you gentlemen got in here," Lex said after a long moment's pause. "My guess is we are in desperate need of some security upgrades."

The door swung open and an imposing looking gentleman who towered at least two heads over Lex stepped into the room. Lex stood up to face this rather tall man. He had a presence which was both divine and commanded respect. A small part of Lex just had to respect that even a larger part of him didn't respect the fact this particular man decided it was a good idea.

' _Time to get to the bottom of this.'_

"May I help you?" Lex asked. "Just who are you?"

"My name is Ares, and you have something which belongs to me."

Lex took a moment to look at the man. He had a couple of intriguing thoughts which passed through his mind. Regardless, he looked back towards Ares.

"I wouldn't bother summoning for your security; they would not be very effective in this situation."

Lex only responded with a half of a raised eyebrow before speaking in a rather cool tone of voice.

"So, I gathered."

Lex stepped forward and the two soldiers took a step forward on the other side of their employer. Ares cleared his throat and the two soldiers fell back in line. Lex had to admire that kind of loyalty, which did not come along too easily.

"I don't know what your game is, Mr. Ares," Lex said. "But, one thing I do know is you also don't have an appointment with me. So, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Ares only responded to Lex's words with the driest chuckle possible.

"I don't think you fully understand what you're up against, mortal," Ares said. "I'm no mere man, I am Ares, the God of War. And I am the one who will lead to your end."

Ares raised one finger in the air and flicked it into the chest of Lex. Lex lifted off of the ground and smashed up against the wall with a sickening impact. His head slid off of the wall and bent at an unhealthy angle.

The God of War surveyed his latest conquest and stepped forward. He could feel it, almost taste what was rightfully his. It put his heart into a flutter when walking forward. The God of War grabbed onto the edge of the door and forced it open.

He entered a trophy room which had been filled to the brim with interesting items. No doubt someone else who raided this room would concern themselves with the conquest of war. However, there was only one item he had his eyes set upon it.

Ares ripped the armor from the trophy case and turned around. He stepped out and came across the slumped down form of Lex Luthor. He stood over the young man who was only slowly regaining consciousness.

He pulled Lex over onto the floor and stood on top of him, standing on top of the man's chest.

"Let it be known you were bested," Ares said. "And thank you for holding my armor for me. Allow me to return the favor by taking it off of your hands and relieving you of the burden of securing it."

Ares stepped back to allow the battered and bruised form of Lex Luthor to slump to the ground. His soldiers left the area, having found what they came for.

* * *

Lara really wished she could have been out there, but her body still had a couple of flaws in it which she had not quite ironed out. Then again, given this body was technically deceased and just held in stasis, there was going to be a couple of drawbacks.

Thankfully, those drawbacks were being worked through, and Lara was able to help her son and niece and friends in other ways.

"I have pinpointed the source of the strange energy," Lara said. "And the source is heading west, right towards your direction."

"West?" Diana asked, frowning. "What's out west?"

Clark looked out towards the distance and realized something. He should have known.

"Luthor mansion," Clark said. "Lionel had the armor, well Lex has it right now, and…"

Both Clark and Diana groaned, having shared the same thoughts.

"I'm not certain Lex will have it much longer," Diana said.

Diana had a feeling in the pit of her stomach this was too late. Ares, proving to be a master of war, put the lives on countless on the line as a distraction to regain his precious armor.

Speaking of his soldiers, three more came up the road. Clark rushed towards one of the soldiers and started to pound him. A series of punches rocked the soldier.

Clark put a lot of unanswered fury and frustration into all of these punches. He had no choice, but to take them all down, given how much they put Smallville in danger.

Diana came up towards the second of the soldiers. The soldier stabbed a spear towards her. Diana blocked it with her sword, and the two of them went head to head with each other. Neither party broke because neither party could in fact break. The Amazon's knees started to buckle a slight amount, with a heavy breath coming from her body.

Kara caught one of the soldiers with a rough uppercut punch. She threw herself into more attacks and came back with a barrage of kicks. The soldier stepped back and opened his hand. A gust of wind and sand caught Kara in the face.

More soldiers came up the street. Clark slammed his hand into the chest and pulled out the purple pin, the medallion hooked to the soldier. He yanked it out and a flash of light recalled the soldier back to where he previously stood.

"I found a weakness!" Clark yelled in triumphant.

Kara rushed the warriors and ripped two of their medallions from them. His theory proved to be more than correct when they disappeared into the distance.

Diana used her sword to block the attack of one of the heralds of Ares before ripping out the medallion and causing him to disappear in a flash of light.

"We're making progress, "Diana said. "But more are appearing!"

She realized Ares had been sending his entire army into Smallville out of spite to crush her, innocents be damned in the process. Diana flipped a lock of hair out of her face and screwed up said face to pure determination. If she was going to fight, she was going to fight hard.

A flash of light appeared and three women dressed in the royal guard attire of the Amazons dropped down to the ground. The leader, a redhead, nailed one of the guards in the chest with an arrow, taking him down.

"Hello Artemis," Diana said when she moved to fight side by side with the woman.

"The Queen figured a situation would occur," Artemis said. "It's good to see you again, Princess."

She turned towards the young man who moved with precision. No doubt he was a curiosity, but they had to get down to business.

"Ares may have the armor."

"If he set out to get it, he most certainly does," Artemis said. The Amazon General turned her full attention to the soldiers. "Otherwise, the chaos wouldn't have been so prolific."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 23rd** **, 2016.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Wrath of the Gods Part Three**

* * *

Ares spent a sufficient amount of time observing the fallacies and the flaws of the entire human race. One could say he spent countless lifetimes in an honest attempt to piece together the results of his observations. Many years and many generations passed before Ares had received a proper measure of all of humanity. He could not deny it any longer.

It was perfectly obvious to all other than the ignorant.

The natural and most obvious state humanity fell into happened to be a sufficient amount of chaos. Chaos beyond anything any rational being or any god could even imagine. It took very little to provoke a war and to fuel Ares in his quest to spread it through the entire world. Conflicts raged on for generations and many individuals had long since forgotten what they had been about in the first place.

Ares had little doubt should they remember the root conflict of many wars, they would have been appalled to think such a war had been raged. But, Ares took steps to ensure his domain remained strong. Humans did not think in a rational manner at all. He focused on them and focused on stirring up their flaws in a hot fire.

' _And now, the most innocent can be stirred up into war, given the proper motivation, and the proper reasoning. Especially if they believe their livelihoods are threatened.'_

A sleepy and quaint little farm town descended into absolute chaos. Ares stormed the mansion and took back what was his. He looked on at the armor and realized once it had been put on, no one would be able to stand in his way.

The energies surrounding him in the air made Ares crack into a more devious smile and he turned to the legions of men he commanded. Soon these armies would grow, and once he had control of one of the fiercest military commanders the universe ever knew then Earth would be plunged into a great state of war. Humanity had yet to experience the great war which would draw it to its natural conclusion, at least not yet.

Ares intended for them to reach that final state. He stood up straight, chest puffed out when he faced his followers. These men made of stone, dropped down to their knees to face their general .Ares peered down at them, a devious smile flickered over his face.

"You may rise."

The stone warriors rose to their feet and turned to properly face Ares. The God of War puffed out his chest and looked towards the warriors who surrounded him.

"Some of you have known the consequence of war and the great losses which is to come with it," Ares said. He clapped his hand together and the men responded to them.

They all rested in the palm of his hand. Ares could do what he wished to them and they would have no choice but to obey his requests. The God of War stared down at them and smiled.

"Now, we begin the next phase now I will lead you," Ares said. "And soon I will find the means to bring true war. They panic now, but they haven't experienced anything yet. Countrysides will burn, people will be trampled, and homes will be demolished. There will not be a rock which they can hide underneath, a hero which can save them."

Ares manipulated the stone guardians and they all dropped to their knees. They couldn't help but obey his every word and for good reason. They remained and would always be a direct extension of his will. Once they ceased to have a purpose, they would just cease to be.

"My armor has finally returned to me after being stolen," Ares said. "Now, I lead an invincible charge where their decimation will finally be at hand."

The loud raucous cheers continued to escalate. Ares enjoyed having an audience, especially one which he manipulated to his every move. The God of War soaked in every precious moment, but why stand in the midst of this mansion and give speeches to his soldiers. Especially when there was work to be done.

The God of War closed his eyes and a sense flickered over him. There was a long pause which followed him.

"So, the Amazons have arrived."

Ares sensed the General of their armies. She talked a good game and boasted of glories, but Ares saw through her harsh façade. She would have decimated more people in her path if Artemis had the strength. She was much like her goddess counterpart. Bold, but at the same time insufficient, and she saw really not a threat to Ares at his full power.

"It matters not," Ares said. "March out with your heads held high my brothers in arms. And join them out in Smallville. Join them to cause their decimation."

Soon the army would be enough to decimate whatever resistance the Amazon and the two Kryptonians had put together. The fact the Amazons had been summoned changed very little. It just gave Ares more bodies to stack to the sky when his victory was at hand.

Ares pulled the helmet over his face. Only glowing red eyes became visible on the other side of the helmet. A sword clutched within his hand, ready to spill the blood of all who dared face him down in defiance. Ares only had one word to spill out.

"Onward."

The doors of the mansion where Ares addressed his followers busted open. The legions of stone soldiers all walked forward and marched their way into Smallville. No one could stop the legions of men who were going to move forward. Not even the Amazons, especially when Ares wore the armor.

The God of War stood taller and prouder than he ever stood before. He would prove the gods to have been foolish when naming a group of warrior women as their champions. They will all break, none could stand up and face the might of Ares. And in his mind, might meant right and might was power. Glory was at hand and he would not rest until success would come.

' _Time to decimate them all.'_

* * *

Artemis took a step back and saw one of the tallest stone warriors. The Amazon's expression reminded many of her namesake and how fierce she became when focused in battle. A small trickle of blood oozed down her cheek from the battle. To many, it might have been a problem, but to her, it was merely a wound of war and a necessity.

The stone warrior lumbered forward in an attempt to take out his adversaries. Artemis saw it in his eyes, the ego and the desire Ares always had to prove himself. Artemis would prove the fallacy in this. She drew back an arrow and fire it right between the eyes of the monster. He stepped back and lifted his arm.

"Hit them with everything you have, my sisters!" Artemis yelled. She extended her sword. "Everything, thin his ranks!"

Three of the Amazons moved in succession to manage to attack. Their swords hit different points on the tallest of the guards. One struck the back of the neck, the others when for the arms, and the others took the knees. The guardian could only defend one of the spots at once, leaving one open for an attack.

One of the guardians lifted up a large chunk of the ground and supercharged it into a ball of glowing magma. The magma flew forward towards them and threatened to burn the Amazons.

Kara jumped in front of the magma ball and used her super breath to blow it out of the way. She kicked up a steady wind until the temperature dropped slightly enough and then dropped to the ground which sent several pieces of sharp ice dropping to the ground.

The Kryptonian Survivor scooped up the ice daggers in her hand and flipped them in the air. She brought the point of the dagger down on the side of the neck of one of the creatures and bounced up towards said enemy.

Clark took a step back from one of them. One of them sent a huge wrecking ball at him. Clark blocked the wrecking ball and punched it back at the creature. The wrecking ball whipped back and took out three of them at the same time.

He couldn't really pat himself on the back too much. One of those creatures hoisted up his hand and launched a blazing inferno at Clark. Clark crouched down to avoid the fire before he popped back up and nailed a succession of punches at the creature.

The stone warrior wobbled on his feet. Clark grabbed the warrior and punched the lights out of him.

"They just keep coming," Clark said.

Artemis blocked the sword and nailed him with a kick to the chest to knock him down to the ground.

"Then you should just keep fighting," Artemis said. "But, if it's becoming too much for you, then leave now. We'll handle them all."

Clark ignored the very obvious slight from Artemis. He wasn't about to give up the battle, not if he could help it. Punches strung together with Clark channeling just enough of his energy. The initial plan to use the medallions to transport them back was not working due to the power having shielded them.

"We're feeding into him!" Kara yelled. She adopted a more defensive stance. "The more we fight, the stronger he gets."

Diana's mind clicked with something. One of the giant stone soldiers tried to nail her in the side of the head. Diana blocked his punch and kicked back to send him down to the ground.

"That's because he has the armor," Diana said. She blocked another attack and jumped up to nail her adversary with one fluid shot.

One of her sisters had been knocked down onto the ground. The warrior woman jumped in and dragged the Amazon out of the way. The Amazon took a deep breath, looking very annoyed in the process. She gave Diana a look as if to say she's fine.

"It's impossible," Artemis said.

"Yes, it should be, but somehow he found it," Diana said. "And I'm sure my mother has told you what it means if Ares reclaims his armor."

Only a stiff nod from Artemis told Diana she knew exactly what it meant and why they should be very nervous by now. The general of the Amazon Armies aimed her latest punch against the shoulder of one of the goons and dropped him back onto the ground. She drew back her latest attack and punched at him again.

"Yes, I know," Artemis said. "But, I'm afraid I'm not sure what to do. If they keep fighting us, we're going to have to keep fighting back, or we're going to be destroyed."

Kara hated to admit it, but she had a point. They had run into the ultimate paradox of war where no matter what, the fighting would have to continue in a loop which encircled them all until frustration followed. No one truly won any war, they only survived, and just rested until the next conflict reared its head. The Girl of Steel hoisted her hands into the air and clapped them together. She thought it would stall them.

She jumped down and tried to disarm one of the amulets. A flare of energy knocked Kara back. She flew back into the arms of Clark who held him up. He set Kara down onto the ground and the two locked hand to hand before they took them out.

Artemis watched, impressed beyond believe. The two of them managed to disable the fields through the combined force of flying at the armor-clad soldier. The blonde female reached it and grabbed the medallion off of the neck of the soldier where the dark haired man threw it into the air.

"Hera," Artemis muttered.

"Clark actually, and Kara," Diana said. She turned around and planted the point of the blade into the side of the head of her enemy.

"We only have to do this about three hundred more times, and the army should be defeated," Clark said. "But, there's got to be a better idea."

"There is," Artemis said. "We'll hold the line, go after Ares himself, rip his armor from him."

Take out the master and the slaves would follow, Clark liked the plan. Then again, the general of the Amazons would be strong.

The soldiers threw flaming daggers at Artemis. Artemis lifted up a shield to block the daggers before they impaled her. Sweat rolled down the face of the Amazon General and drippings of blood followed soon after. She forced the shield forward.

"Go, trust me!" Artemis yelled. "I can hold them off….just long enough….."

Clark, Kara, and Diana both nodded. The energy surrounding them showed Smallville was about ready to get ripped into pieces sooner rather than later.

"Where do we start?" Kara asked.

Diana closed her eyes and offered a momentary hum before pointing her hand forward. She had a pretty good idea where to go now.

* * *

The sleepy little farm village had been reduced to a burning mile of rubble. Several farm houses have been totaled and the fields had been torn up. Ares looked around and most of the people had fled. He smiled, the hunt was on.

The God of War broke into a smile and a few of his troops moved close around him.

"No war can be complete without causalities," Ares said. "Hunt those who have fled to the ends of this world and decimate them. We will finish burning this city to the ground, and the next war. We will have our moment in time."

"There will only be one casualty today."

Ares turned his head towards one side and came toe to toe with the Princess of the Amazons. He reminded of her mother in many ways. Bold, willing to foolishly fight for a moment's of peace, and very willing to die for her beliefs, no matter how fractured and how wrong they would be.

"Princess," Ares said. "Are you offering yourself up?"

"No," Diana said. "I'm here to put a stop to your campaign and stop you from causing any more death."

"Your funeral."

The Amazon Princess rushed forward with a blade extended. Ares used his arm to block the attack. He blocked the first two swings of the blade which crashed against the arm. The second swing, he reached up and grabbed Diana.

Diana struggled with the fingers of Ares gripping around her chin in a death grip type movement. The Amazon Princess couldn't have broken free even though she wanted to. And she did try, trying to kick out of the attack.

"Your arrogance astounds me, to really think you could fight me head on," Ares said.

"Have you caught glimpse of yourself in many mirrors?" Diana asked.

The hand of Ares closed around her throat and made Diana gasp. His strength enhanced and Diana had to summon all of the energy within herself to break free. She landed down on the ground, purple marks all over her throat. Diana adopted a battle stance.

"You think all about the darker parts of war," Diana said. "I agree, war has to be a necessity sometimes, it's unfortunate, and unavoidable."

"So you've finally grown some sense," Ares said. "It's a pity I'm going to have to break you in half."

Diana refused to yield to him despite the crushing grip around her throat.

"Oh, I think you've got some points, I've always did think you did…even if you were wrong with others," Diana said. "You looked fully at the dark side of war and neglected to look at the brighter side of war. The people who bravely fought to protect their loved ones. The ones who fought for peace."

Ares stared down Diana.

"Lending a helping hand to others in need is a huge part of war," Diana said. "And I have friends who will happily lend me a helping hand."

Ares turned around in time to see something rush at him at super speed. A huge punch clocked him in the side of the head. The god of war tipped over and dropped on the ground. Drops of blood spilled from his mouth when rolling over.

He looked up and saw the individual who faced him. Ares scowled and let out his declaration.

"The son of Jor-El."

Clark never ceased being sick of the comparisons which had been given by his father. He turned his attention towards the man question, the god in question. He caught Ares off guard once, it wouldn't happen in a second.

"I knew of your presence, but this is just too good to be true," Ares said. "I will crush you and the daughter of Hippolyta beneath my feet."

"You talk big, but way too much," Clark said.

Clark nailed Ares with a bone-rattling headbutt to empathize these words. All it caused Clark though was a ringing feeling through the side of his head. Ares leaned forward and hoisted Clark off the ground. He held Clark above his head and started to growl.

"I don't think you understand what I can do," Ares said. Clark's body began to shake when Ares continued to hold him high above the ground. "I don't think you've figured it out. Maybe I should spell it out for you because you have a little bit of difficulty ready between the lines."

"Maybe you should," Clark managed.

Ares continued his non-stop dangling of Clark above the ground. Clark's breathing escalated when the God of War was this close to planting him to the ground.

Kara swooped in and flew in circles around Ares and Clark. Ares stopped what he was doing to focus on her, and he blinked. Some of the carnage had been cleaned up around them.

"It doesn't matter," Kara said. "What you've done. In the end, there will always be people to stand up for what they believe in. Not because of the joy of war, but rather the glory of helping protect those closest to them."

"You have betrayed who you are," Ares said. "You've betrayed your bloodline…"

Kara's uppercut punch nailed Ares and caused him to drop Clark along with stopping his foul words. She narrowed those shimmering blue eyes towards him and beckoned him to come forward. She had heard about how she betrayed her bloodline so many times she almost believed it.

She grew beyond all expectations and became stronger. Kara caught him and backed him off again.

Diana saw a couple of cracks in the armor of Ares. She locked eyes with Clark, and they both nodded. If they put him through enough agony, the armor would come back.

"I'm going to fight just to protect those around me," Clark said. "You try to fill the void with mass carnage and destruction. You're pathetic, weak….because you have nothing to fight for, and nothing to live for."

Ares charged towards him. Clark and Kara locked hands and nailed him with a double attack which brought him back into the grip of Diana. Diana wrapped her arms around Ares and put the squeeze on the God of War.

"It's been what I've been telling you this entire time," Diana said. "It's been what my mother told you and all of the gods and goddesses. You can't win, because you refuse to see the bright light at the end of the tunnel. All you care about is the different ways humanity can destroy themselves! But what happens when they do? You're obsolete!"

"You Amazons…seal yourself away on an island," Ares breathed. "You don't have much faith in this world either."

"We all knew, most of us did, they would find a balance, just like we needed to as well," Diana said. Her eyes burned into a stare down at him. "Like you never did. You're not a God of War….you're a God of Carnage!"

Ares broke free, just in time for Clark to start to nail him with several vibrating punches to the side and to the lower back. The armor started to break off of his body.

Kara, Clark, and Diana all nailed Ares with the fullest force they could at the same time. The armor broke free from his body and flew into the air. It hit the ground at the feet of Ares and the God of War went flying himself in the exact opposite direction.

Off in the distance, the army of stone warriors Ares had brought to Smallville faded from the distance. The God of War had been left alone and he rolled over, balling up his fists in an agonizing howl.

It wasn't over, he wouldn't surrender, especially against these three.

* * *

Ares stood to his feet. How dare they attack him like this? They might have taken his armor, his army might have deserted him, but he still had power, and he would prove he didn't need an army or armor to crush them.

"You think you've won," Ares said. "If you think I've defeated me, then you have much to learn about war."

Ares withdrew a sword which could even cut Gods and rushed towards Kal-El with the blade. The blade shined in the light.

Diana jumped in front of Ares to block his attempt to stab Kal-El and used her own sword to draw him back. Ares stepped back and opted to carve up the Amazon Princess with his feverish stabs instead. She blocked every single attack with the sword, and he deflected her assaults as far back as possible. They were going sword to sword in an attempt to get the better of each other. Both had been evenly matched for now.

Clark watched Diana move Ares into position. Kara had disappeared and returned. She threw him one of the purple medallions which had been used to recall the soldiers.

He realized the hint instantly. Diana pushed Ares back, and Clark spun him around.

"Let me pin a medal on you."

Ares realized it as well and also realized there was no way whatsoever to fight it. The medallion began to dig into his skin when Clark jammed it into him.

The God of War's entire body exploded into fire when the portal opened. The sword he wielded had been kicked from his hand from Diana and left behind to add insult to injury. He watched the son of Jor-El and the daughter of Hippolyta smiled at him when he had been sucked into oblivion.

"Hopefully you will learn your lesson, this time, Ares."

Ares cursed the day Diana had been sculpted before disappearing through the portal with a flash of energy.

A long time had passed. Diana looked around to see the entire army done and also a glimpse of her sisters coming over the horizon. In the end, all appeared to have ended well.

"I would highly suggest you head back to the Fortress to get checked out," Lara said.

"Diana, a quick word with you?"

Diana turned and saw Artemis. A part of her inwardly groaned because every single time Artemis wanted a quick word with her for whatever reason, it never ended in a way she would consider well. She stood tall and more importantly focused at the General of the Amazon Armies when she approached them.

"The Queen will want to hear about this," Artemis said. "About how all three of your fared…and yes, that includes you."

Her eyes brushed across Clark for a moment, looking at him in a way which she observed no other man in the past before turning away. She wasn't exactly repulsed by him, but Artemis was conflicted with how she felt.

"We'll be in touch."

Clark smiled. Sure Smallville looked like it had been hit by a major tornado, but in the end, everyone was safe, and that was all that mattered.

"So, Ares?" Diana asked.

"It wasn't pleasant," Kara said. "But, he'll likely survive on account of being a God."

Satisfied with her answer, Diana turned away and wondered what came next. It had felt rather exciting this adventure, despite the risk involved, and she was rather keen to have another. Although hopefully nothing this world changing.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 30** **th** **, 2016.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Hero's Reward.**

* * *

Artemis had certain perceptions she held on for a long time. She wouldn't go as far as a few Amazons who had left who had thought the Amazons should band together and slaughter all men. The extreme made them no better than the men who had victimized many women in the past. One could argue it made them worse, and as Hippolyta had told them multiple times in the past, it would just make them far worse than those monsters who would have enslaved and assaulted all women.

However, Artemis really didn't have many kind thoughts about a lot of men. She thought they were a necessary evil for the world. They could live, but she thought in the end, they would wilt underneath true conflict. Artemis had her own encounters with men, and for the most part, they didn't impress her. They weren't the evil type which soured many of her sisters to the entire gender as a whole.

Perception was an interesting thing as far as Artemis was concerned. It could have been changed in a blink of an eye. And she came to one crystal clear conclusion.

' _There are exceptions to every rule,'_ Artemis thought to herself. Her lips curled into a very obvious and very knowing smile.

It was possible, and very probable her knowledge was a little bit outdated.

Diana walked up the road towards Artemis. She inclined her head and the two very strong women looked each other over. Artemis and Diana had butted heads a couple of times as a pair of very headstrong women would do in the past. Artemis respected the fact Diana challenged her, no matter how frustrating she was.

"Good morning, Princess."

The two of them tested their relationship through the tried and true battle arena.

"Did you speak to my mother?" Diana asked.

"She's…intrigued about the events today," Artemis said. "The goddesses are unhappy about Ares. They gave him a strict warning not to intervene and he broke it."

Artemis wondered why Hera didn't keep a closer eye on Ares after the last time he had messed with the Amazons, and tried to incite war. He was the one who gave a nudge to a break between the Amazons, and had caused a divide where a small tribe of man hating Amazons left. Not like most Amazons, who had been anxious around men, these had been dangerous women who wanted to slaughter every single man on Earth.

Despite her poor opinion, Artemis dare not go that extreme. And it was very galling to see these Amazons had been manipulated by Ares, their prejudices damning them.

"Why didn't she keep a closer eye on them?"

Hera turned towards the blonde who fought in the battle. She fought with a certain valor which impressed Artemis beyond all belief. That certain amount of respect made Artemis more inclined to speak with her.

"I haven't the slightest idea….Kara, isn't it?"

Kara responded with a nod of her head. Artemis's eyes scanned over. She saw Diana and Kara standing there, but she did not see the third man standing beside them.

"Yes," Kara said. "You would think he would be a security risk."

Artemis placed a hand underneath her chin, tilted her head back, and just allowed the most present sigh to pass through her lips. The moment the sigh passed through her hips and through her body, she turned the majority of her attention back towards Kara and Diana.

"There have been many mistakes made," Artemis said.

"Yes, I agree," Diana said. "I'm certain my mother will…register her displeasure regarding this."

Artemis smiled. Hippolyta praised the teachings of the goddesses, but behind the scenes, she had butted heads with them. The divine had this tendency to test the people around them.

"She just might," Artemis said. "If, you don't mind me for asking, where is your companion?"

"He is checking on his parents and friends," Diana said. "He'll be joining us in a moment….I'm sure he's sorry to keep you waiting."

Artemis smiled, not offended at the slightest. She supposed many might assume she would be. Artemis projected a hard exterior because she had to.

"No, it shows his valor to put the safety of others beside himself," Artemis said. "He didn't need to fight Ares. This wasn't his fight…"

A blur came up off to the side of Artemis. Artemis withdrew her sword in surprise and faced off against the young man who rushed up against her. She stalled and stepped back to get a closer look towards him.

"You might think it's not my fight, but I respectfully disagree," Clark said. "They target my town, my home, it's my fight."

The wreckage around Smallville demonstrated the ultimate price of the battle. No casualties, but many people who would be shaken. Smallville just picked up after the second meteor shower. It would frustrate many people, and for good reason to have to clean up all over again.

They were survivors, but there were only so many times where they could pick the pieces back up before everything frustrated them.

"It is," Artemis said. "And…you're proof I have some hope for…the fairer gender."

Clark could hardly suppress the smile. It was kind amusing how Artemis referred to men as "the fairer gender" where many around here at called women "the fairer sex". He wondered if it was tongue in cheek when she referred to it by that standard.

Diana's eyebrow's crinkled up in shock. If she didn't think it was physically impossible, she would have assumed Artemis had made a joke, but surely that would have been absurd. Diana turned from Clark and Kara.

"There's just one matter, the armor….."

"It's in a safe place," Clark said. "When, the Amazons arrange a place to secure it, and keep it out of the hands of Ares, we'll discuss moving it."

Artemis inclined her head in respect. She couldn't force the issue and make Clark relinquish the armor, because he won it through the spoils of war. All she could do was take her thoughts back to the Queen.

"I'm leaving to have a further more in depth discussion with Queen Hippolyta," Artemis said. "Once everything has been cleared, she might want to have a word with all three of it."

The shock increased in Diana's mind. She processed something many Amazons could not fathom.

"Are you referring to….."

"Yes, it's unprecedented," Artemis said. "Stand by. I'll be in touch."

* * *

Another attack swept all through Smallville and left the people in the town devastated. They couldn't even begin to describe the chaos which occurred, no matter how hard they tried. The citizens trickled back into town one on by one.

' _I don't even want to pretend I know what's happening.'_

A small part of Lois Lane did a small little dance at she survived this encounter. She stopped, due to not wanting to embarrass herself. One minute, she came face to face with some crazed looking stone guard things, and the next minute, she was about as far away from the carnage as possible.

Lois stepped over and peered down. She came across a piece of the sign which welcomed the people into Smallville. The frown deepened over her face when lifting the sign up and looking it over. The more she knew, the less she understood, or that was at least how she figured it out.

' _Welcome to the world of weird, population….me.'_

Lois's frown deepened when looking over the sign once again and dropped it down. She came across a piece of a dislodged stone head.

' _Charming.'_

Lois rotated her gaze as far up the road as possible. She saw a group of people. A small family came across their truck, which had been flipped over. The mother had the arm around her son and while they knew they had to pick up the pieces.

"Why does this keep happening?"

Lois thought there had not been a more poignant question ever asked. She placed her hands against her pockets and let out the most frustrated sigh she could manage.

' _Good question, little boy, good question.'_

Trouble found Lois Lane, and she actually hoped for a change of pace when showing up in Smallville. She tried to ignore the weirdness and just go through the normal college stuff, well until getting kicked out of college. Then she just lingered around, being where she could be and offering a pleasant amount of snark all around.

There were times where she thought there was something extremely weird going on underneath her nose. Lois didn't even begin to guess what it is. She didn't want to know.

' _I need to drink something…hard….before I think too much about what happened. You got your ass saved….maybe you ran out of there, and you don't remember it. But….there isn't someone who runs superfast plucking you off of the ground.'_

Lois shook her head. Don't think too much indeed. She caught the eye of someone up of the road.

Chloe had so many questions, and not enough answers, which didn't put her in a good place. She brightened up when seeing Lois coming up the road. She rushed towards her and wrapped Lois up in a hug, holding her in tight embrace.

Lois wondered how a girl so tiny could be so destructive. Or have such a tight grip.

"Lois, are you okay?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah….well up until the point you started crushing my…ribcage," Lois said. "Ease up, Chloe, please, for my sake."

Chloe smiled in spite of herself and retracted the grip around Lois. Lois almost staggered back, and to think, she hadn't drunk anything today. Chloe caught her around the hand to prevent her from having the epic meeting of ass and asphalt.

"I must have missed you, the Kents said you were there at one moment, and you disappeared, and Clark was looking all over for you," Chloe said.

Lois smiled and shook her head, barely keeping the grin from spreading over her face.

"Ah, he does care," Lois said. "I'm going to have to send him a Christmas card."

Chloe shook her head.

' _Well at least she's in a chipper mood,'_ Chloe thought. _'Time to find out what she knows…if she knows anything….I'm honestly surprised she hasn't put two and two together. Bless her, she tries to stay out of trouble, but she just doesn't do a very good job at it.'_

Still, Chloe had best distract Lois from thinking too much.

"So?" Chloe asked. Lois's full attention turned towards Chloe.

"So, what?"

Somehow Chloe knew that was happening, and she couldn't really stop it.

"So, how did you get out of here?"

Lois looked thoughtful and shook her head in negative.

"You know something, I don't know," Lois said. She lifted her shoulders in one of the more obvious shrugs possible. "It's weird, one minute I was standing there, and the next minute I was standing….well way out on the other side of the county line. It happened before I could even finish."

Lois blinked and studied Chloe's face for any type of reaction. Chloe just continued to look back at Lois, a thoughtful expression crossing over her face.

"Come on, with all of your weird theories, surely you have some idea what happened," Lois said. "You've been delving into the weird and mysterious ever since you knew what the Internet was."

Chloe couldn't exactly deny that. She turned towards Lois and a wide grin crossed over the perky little blonde's face.

' _Oh, say it, please don't say it,'_ Lois mentally pleaded.

"Maybe you have a guardian angel."

Lois groaned. She said it, Chloe just had to say the one thing which Lois didn't want her to say. She just had to say it, and now Lois shook her head in response. She turned towards Chloe who had one of those facial expressions where a person was struggling to break out into laughter. She fought against it every step of the way until Lois's scowl deepened.

"You just had to go with the guardian angel thing!" Lois yelled. "They don't…exist."

"Well, there are stories around Smallville of a mysterious savior, and I've….been pulled out of a really dangerous situation by someone mysterious," Chloe said. "Almost as mysterious as a guardian angel."

"What are you smoking, and where can I get some?" Lois asked. "Because, seriously…..I can use some."

Despite her flippant reaction to Chloe's commentary about Guardian Angels, Lois did have her ideas about what was going on. Sometimes she wondered about all of the oddness. She buried certain thoughts into her mind because they wrestled with her preconceived notions.

' _Now you're just being absurd.'_

Lois shoved the thought to the back burner. She decided to go with the fact she was very lucky to get out of here alive.

* * *

Helena Sandsmark paced around her museum and frowned. She picked up a piece of rubble which dropped upon the ground. Nothing of value, at least not anymore, the statues coming to life and trashing her museum proved about as much. The dark haired, curvy woman, adjusted her glasses before they slid off of the bridge of her nose and dropped down to the ground.

She waited for her guests to arrive. They had questions, and come to think of it, so did Helena. She crossed her arms and surveyed the damage.

' _To think, I thought I was going to avoid this when moving my work out of Gotham and into Metropolis,'_ Helena thought. _'Guess, I'm either a magnet for trouble, or it's just something that can't really be avoided. Despite my best efforts to avoid it.'_

Helena smiled and stood back to allow the janitor's their room to tidy up the museum. She leaned against a solid glass case and waited for her guests to arrive.

Diana was the first to go through the door. She dressed her work attire. It had been quite the interesting experience to have an Amazon Princess working for her. The fact her daughter, Cassandra, worshipped Diana caused her amusement.

"Helena, are you okay?" Diana asked. "I'm….I'd like to extend my apologizes on behalf of the Amazons and the sisterhood for putting you in danger. I'd like to promise it wouldn't happen again, but….."

Helena's finger pushed out and placed a finger on Diana's lips. This silenced the Amazon from speaking any further. Helena's glasses shifted down and caught Diana's gaze in a rather crystal clear look.

"Your efforts saved hundreds of lives, if not thousands," Helena said. "I heard on the news, they turned their attention to Smallville. What was there of all places?"

Helena's curiosity had been piqued regarding Smallville, and the numerous secrets it held. The latest meteor shower held even more rumors. Something crashed down, and many people whispered about the item crashing down being some kind of alien ship.

She was both terrified and excited about the prospect. How many of these amazing artifacts she came across which couldn't be explained had some kind of extra-terrestrial origin? The thought of it enticed her. Helena Sandsmark always had been excited by the mysterious, ever since she was a young girl.

"It's a very long story," Diana said.

Helena's lips curled into a knowing smile and placed a hand on Diana's wrist.

"Aren't they are?"

Helena's attention turned. She noticed the girl who wanted to meet her before all of the chaos happened earlier, Kara, walk in. She was tall, blonde, and beautiful. Helena found herself studying the attractive woman in front of her, but not as much as she kept her eye on the young man in front of her. He was the product of hard farm labor, not that there was anything wrong.

"This is Clark Kent," Diana said. "And this is his cousin, Kara."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Sandsmark," Clark said.

Helena greeted them with a warm smile and moved over to shake their hands.

"Oh, any friends of Diana are more than welcomed," Helena said. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you, and I understand you have some questions."

"Yes, if you don't mind," Clark said.

"Not at all," Helena said with a smile. "Why don't the four of us head up to my office? It's one of the few parts of the museum which aren't completely trashed."

Diana shook her head in slight bemusement. She was pretty glad to see Doctor Sandsmark took this entire situation in pretty good stride. She lead the way, with Kara following, and Clark bringing up the rear. They had a short walk where Doctor Sandsmark.

"Well, there's a bit of clutter, but given the property damage elsewhere in the museum….."

Clark shook his head and Helena cleared off a spot on her desk. Several chairs sat around the office for Clark, Diana, and Kara to take their positions in. Clark sat down in the center chair, across from Helena's desk, Kara sat down to Clark's right, and Diana sank down in the chair directly down to Clark's left.

"I have some pictures of the tablet, so you can take a closer look at it," Helena said. She scattered the photos down on the desk. "And if you can make something of it, all that much the better."

"No one's able to translate it?" Clark asked.

"Not since we found it about five years back. It was buried in one of the less used areas in Egypt."

Clark frowned when thinking about it. To think, there was a piece of his Kryptonian heritage this close by, and he had no idea. Then again, given Clark's lack of passion about his heritage in the past, it was pretty much just as well.

"Many of the most brilliant minds looked at it," Diana said.

"Maybe mine can take a crack?"

Helena answered with a shrug.

"If you want to take a look at it, then by all means. I'm quite frankly stumped."

The images came up underneath Clark's nose. He studied it. Kara pressed against his shoulder and the two of them spent a couple of moments looking over it before Kara pointed out something.

"Look, it's…an image of a Nightwing," Kara said. "It's a creature of Kryptonian mythology which represents a dragon, of sorts."

"Well, that's fairly interesting," Helena said, sounding fairly sincere when she said her statement.

Clark closed his eyes for a couple of moments. He opened them up with a more clear mind to try and translate the item in front of him.

"Her salvation will be your reward."

Needless to say, despite coming up with a rough translation, some rather interesting questions had been raised. Questions which Clark would have preferred to have the answers to above everything else. They would just have to see what they could do next.

Just when they thought they had all of the answers, someone kept changing all the questions.

* * *

Kara returned to the Fortress for further study. Diana decided to lead Clark for a trip to her apartment. The Amazon gave him a smile, dripping with a small amount of mischief when they arrived.

"You know, we never did finish that coffee," Diana said. "And I think it would be a lot easier if we went and had it in my apartment."

Diana's car took a sharp turn. She drove it the short distance in between the museum and the apartment at a pretty breakneck pace which had Clark's lips curling into a smile.

"There's less of a chance of us getting attacked by some vengeful god at your apartment….."

Diana shook her head in response and pulled the car through the entrance into the parking garbage. She made her way towards a space and parked it. She turned, resting her hand on Clark's thigh when staring him straight in the eye.

"There should be less of a chance in theory, yes," Diana said. She smiled and smacked her lips together to make them wetter. "Let's hope there's less of a chance anyway."

Murphy was a force even an Amazon did not want to tempt.

Diana opened up the door and Clark got out. The two of them walked over towards a doorway leading up to a set of stairs.

"The elevator in this place never works," Diana said. "You don't mind walking up the stairs, do you?"

"No, not at all," Clark said.

Clark viewed Diana's ass encased in a pretty tight skirt when she sauntered up the steps towards her apartment. It was hard to take his eyes off of it, even though practiced moderation. Diana had a body which demanded attention, even from the most restrained man. And Clark found himself appreciating the female form more these days.

The Amazon Princess noticed his burning gaze, but didn't say anything. She reached into her purse for her keys and opened up the door without missing a beat. The door clicked open and Diana slipped inside the apartment, grabbing Clark around the hand to pull him inside.

"Sit down," Diana said invitingly.

Clark sat down on the couch, and Diana's leg brushed against his as he turned around. She sauntered over towards the counter and reached in to grab her coffee maker to fix a cup of coffee. Clark got a good look at her ass in that tight skirt, and her stocking clad legs. It was hard to keep himself at bay.

Still, he managed to hold back himself from delving into sweet, glorious temptation.

Kara did warn him this might happen to him when he embraced more of himself, he just didn't take her seriously.

Diana walked across the edge of the desk and leaned over to allow Clark a view down the front of her blouse. The Amazon Princess picked up something strong from him and her hormones, which had been restrained up until now, were just begging to join with Kal-El.

If she listened hard enough, Diana could have sworn she heard some giggling goddesses egging her on. The Amazon turned around and walked over towards the couch. She kicked her shoes off and sat down on the couch. She reclined back on the couch.

Clark realized Diana's bare stocking clad feet rested nearly upon his lap. She came just precious inches from touching.

"Here's the coffee, as promised," Diana said. "Hope it's to your liking."

Clark took a moment to drink the coffee.

"It's pretty good," Clark said.

"It's a drink worthy of the gods themselves, but then again, I might just be a slight bit biased," Diana said. She looked down at Clark, licking her lips. "But…you deserve thanks even more from what you did today. You saved many, and you stopped Ares from putting many more in the crossfire."

"I just did what anyone would do."

Diana raised a gentle hand and stopped Clark. Modesty was a virtue, but it could be annoying when it prevented people from accept credit where credit was due.

"No, you did what only a select few would do," Diana said. "Artemis can be stubborn about many things, but she's right. This wasn't your fight, but you fought it and you should be commended."

' _Hera, if you don't want me to do this, then tell me, but otherwise, I'm going for this.'_

Diana received a nudge, almost like some invisible force shoved her down into Clark's arms when she rose up from her knees on the couch. She straddled his lap with a smile.

"You're going to meet my mother soon enough," Diana said. "But, for now, you're going to be intimately involved with me."

Diana grabbed Clark by his shirt and kissed the ever living daylights out of it. Her kiss was of the lip bruising quality, at least for a normal man.

Clark returned the hot and heavy kiss. His hand strayed up Diana's skirt, rolling down her stocking clad thigh. Her thigh felt so good and strong, he couldn't wait to have them wrapped around them.

Diana's tongue sought entrance into Clark's mouth and she rolled her hands down, to explore his physique. There had been one part of the male antimony that she had been curious about and just had to explore.

* * *

Clark's throbbing hard penis slipped out of his pants. Diana eyed it with interest. She never eyed one of them up close in her life and she had been blown away by the sheer girth of this young man. She wrapped a hand around Clark's hard cock and stroked him a tiny bit. The massive prick swelled up between her fingers when she rubbed him.

"Diana," Clark groaned.

Diana clenched him to properly pump up and make him well. She couldn't quite tell what the groans coming from him meant.

"Does that feel good?" Diana asked. "I know of the theory, but I've never had any practical application. But, I guess you have to start somewhere."

"Yes, you do," Clark groaned.

Diana bent down and licked Clark's head. She tested to see what pleasure she could bring him. Her own pleasure doubled when Clark's cock rose in her hand, sliding up and down grasped in her fist. Diana kept up licking and sucking at his hard cock.

Clark groaned every time the wet and willing tongue of the Amazon Princess swirled around him. She coated his entire cock in salvia. The wet tongue made tingles go down Clark's body.

Then Diana stopped licking him. She put her warm, moist mouth around the head of his cock and gave him a suck. She rested one hand at the base of Clark's cock and the other hand at the balls. She worked him over before slipping more of his manhood deeper into her mouth.

The warm heaven surrounding his cock felt amazing. Diana gave him a few sucks. She stimulated the nerve endings all over his manhood and made Clark jump up.

Diana felt like she was being eased along by the power of Aphrodite herself when she pleasured this marvel of a man. The hero would have his own reward, and it would be within her mouth when she was done with him. She kicked up a rather intense little tempo, swirling her tongue all about Clark's massive prick. She hungered for more of him, and would get even more of him by the end of the day.

Clark looked down at her. She left the glasses on when bobbing up and down on his cock and she looked so hot.

"Mmm," Diana said. She pulled off of his cock, and left it well coated with her salvia. "We really don't want to waste a single drop of that, do we?"

"No," Clark groaned. "We don't."

Diana smiled and gave Clark's cock a nice little squeeze before pumping him. She reached up and unbuttoned the blouse she was wearing. Her large, first, breasts held up nicely in a lace bra. Clark's eyes followed the progress of these tanned globes when they had been revealed to them. She reached behind her and unclipped the bra.

Two large breasts bounced out. Clark caught them in his hand and felt them up. Those large breasts were wonderful in his hands. He could not get enough of them, he would not get enough of them.

Diana breathed heavily. Clark really treated her breasts with reverence, pleasuring them at all of the points. She slipped her skirt down to reveal a pair of panties. Clark pulled one of his hands from her and cupped her womanhood underneath her panties. The combination of rubbing her pussy and tits almost caused Diana to lose herself in pleasure.

"Yes, that's the spot, right there!" Diana breathed.

"I want to be inside you."

Diana shredded her panties and revealed her dripping moist womanhood. It had been smooth other than one small strip of black hair added for pleasure. She held her tanned thighs apart and sat down upon Clark's knees. Her breasts smacked him into place.

Her pussy called for him and made Clark groan in frustration.

His hard cock had been trapped between their warm, toned, bodies. Diana grasped it in her hand and squeezed him. A few more pumps hardened it.

"Well, all of your dreams are going to come true," Diana said. She licked her lips hard and fast. "I hope you're ready….because I know I am."

Diana rose up from Clark's hips and positioned him over her entrance. She slipped her moist lips around his hard, throbbing manhood and shoved him inside her, one inch at a time.

Clark groaned when feeling the warmth of Diana's dripping pussy slide down his manhood and ease him carefully inside of her. The throbbing manhood pushed hard inside Diana's wet pussy. She clamped down onto him when squeezing him.

"YES!" Diana hissed through her teeth. "Give me that big cock."

She bounced up, large breasts bouncing into his face. Clark's hands found their way on top of Diana's firm breasts and squeezed them. She smacked her wet flesh down onto his iron pole when working into her.

"You want my cock, well you're going to take it," Clark said. He grabbed her hips and pushed himself up against her.

Diana's wet pussy squeezed Clark when going all the way down on him. Her warm vice wrapped around him, squeezing him. Clark's hands rested on her hips when pushing further into her. They met each other with their bodies melding in between each other.

The structural integrity of Diana's couch had been put to the test. She slid down all the way to the base and clamped down onto the base of the young man's cock. Diana's pussy moistened him from the tip all the way to the base.

Their heated loins smacked together every time Diana rose up and came down. Clark groaned, burying himself into her. He ran his hands all over her body, greedily taking in those curves. Judging by the moans of pleasure Diana made, she enjoyed his hands, just as much as his hands enjoyed her.

"This feels so good!" Clark groaned.

"Oh, I know it does, and I live to make you feel good," Diana said. "Anything you want, that's what someone like you deserves."

Diana's orgasm hit her hard. It had been the first one she received with a male cock rammed firmly inside her body and made her tingle all the way. She rode him for everything he was worth, like the prime stallion she saw him as. Their wet skin kept slapping together when Diana kept going down.

Clark's groans continued. Diana's warm, toned body pressing against his made it amazing. Her breasts, her toned stomach, her hips, her legs, her pussy, everything was perfect. Oh, and he couldn't neglect her ass which he squeezed in his hands.

Diana's orgasm hit her one more time. She saturated Clark's cock from the tip all the way down to the base, tensing up around him.

"So good!" Clark groaned. "Fuck!"

The word coming out of Clark's mouth surprised Diana, because he didn't seem to be the type. Still, it made her loins throb.

Diana's wet pussy drove all the way down onto his manhood and tensed around the base of his cock. She wanted him deeper inside of her. So deep she would be screaming for more for days.

"Yes, that's what we're doing, Clark," Diana breathed in his ear. "And soon you're going to cum inside me. But, it won't be the last time."

Diana squeezed him tightly with her vaginal muscles. She said it in such a matter of fact matter Clark couldn't help himself. The pleasure churned up his balls.

The Amazon Princess smacked her thighs down onto the hot Kryptonian. His face rested between her breasts and worshipped them. Diana rewarded him by squeezing his cock, milking it for everything it was worth. She could feel it twitch inside of her. The thought of the rush of hot, milky, seed rushing into her body made Diana explode again with lust.

"Yes, right here," Diana breathed. "Cum for me, Kal-El."

Kal groaned when feeling his balls tense up. He was going to explode whether or not he wanted to or not. Diana would make sure of that. Tense thighs slapped against her body. Clark's hands rested on her muscular lower back and he had no choice.

"It's your fault," Clark groaned. "It can't help myself. I'm going to cum inside your wet, perfect pussy."

Diana came one more time at the thought of the heavy rush those big balls would load. Her entire body sized up with pleasure. She rode her own orgasm and his out with a furious vigor. Her wet thighs continued to slap up against her lover.

"Oh, God!" Clark groaned.

He sent a rush of cum splattering inside Diana's body. Diana smiled and pushed down onto him, milking every single last drop of seed from him.

Diana pulled off of him, smiling and turning around from him. The droplets of cum splattered against the apartment floor.

"I'm pretty sure we're not done."

Diana grabbed Clark's cock in a reverse hold while stroking him. She bent over the coffee table to show Clark her tight ass and dripping slit.

"No, we're not," Clark said. His cock grew painfully hard in Diana's grip.

Diana smiled. She always enjoyed some tension relief after a battle, although this was a chance of pace after doing it with her sisters for so often. A male perspective made things a bit more interesting.

He sank his cock against her and the mutual pleasuring returned anew.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 6** **th** **, 2016.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: No Man's Land.**

* * *

Queen Hippolyta of the Amazons stepped out of the pavilion of the goddesses. No matter how long she oversaw her sisters on Themyscira, the majesty of the island increased with every single moment there. The Queen of the Amazons stepped out further. She could see some Amazons. Some of them relaxed after an intense day of training, others had continued to train. Others were about ready to go in with more training after a short break.

Never a dull island on the island, hidden away from the rest of the world, as they had a culture all of their own. Some of it was very fascinating, more so than Hippolyta could even describe. She had some regrets over the years, but it went with the territory.

Now it was time for Hippolyta to address the followers.

The Queen of the Amazons stepped into the line of sight of the woman. No sooner did she come into the line of sight of these particular women, all of them looked towards her. They blinked. Say what you want about the Queen of the Amazons, she always knew how to make an impact and to catch the attention of pretty much every person on the island.

"My queen?" Artemis asked.

"Yes," Hippolyta said. "Are the younger ones finished with their lessons for the day?"

"Yes," Artemis said. "Do you want to see them?"

Hippolyta smiled and motioned for Artemis to do so. She suspected all of the Amazons should have been here to talk about this particular situation. She leaned back a fraction of an inch and waited for the other Amazons to turn up.

The small group of Amazons walked in, two at a two time. Hippolyta spied her youngest daughter, Donna, among the rest of the group. She caught her daughter's eye and nodded. Donna looked about ready to ask a million questions. She was always full of life, and full of intrigue, even though she could be a handful sometimes. Much to the embarrassment of her older sister sometimes.

Hippolyta thought Diana had a very romanticized recollection about how she was as a young child. Boy, was Diana ever a handful, even though she matured over the years. They all had those periods of youth.

Rumors passed through the island of beautiful women just like any other places on Earth. Hippolyta heard the absurd rumors, and hoped to put them all to rest. It was simple nature to be honest. Hippolyta walked closer towards them and smiled.

"Have a seat," Hippolyta said. "Everything will be explained in due time."

The young Amazons settled down on the benches in front of them on the island. Hippolyta stepped in front of them and shifted over them with a smile. Artemis leaned off to the side and motioned for several of the members of the Royal Army to join them.

All of the heard the rumors, but out of the respect for her Queen, Artemis didn't clarify anything. She figured it would have been best left to the Queen of the Amazons. It would be best if Hippolyta explained it to them, because the Queen of the Amazons ruled with a more level head and a more level hand.

The Amazons muttered, talking in rumors. Artemis frowned, such behavior was not becoming for an army of Amazon warriors.

"Everyone listen to our queen!" Artemis yelled. "She has some important news for you, and she will clarify some rumors which have reached this island."

Artemis didn't really have the first clue as to who started the rumors about what happened in Man's World. All she knew was once she found out what one of her troops mentioned the encounter, they would have been worked hard in practice.

"Thank you," Hippolyta said. "As you know, my daughter, your princess, Diana, she has been sent to Man's World on an Excursion."

"Nothing has happened to her, has it?" one of the Amazons asked. "If one of them have….."

The mutterings of the Amazons made Hippolyta very tense. There had already been a split where rogue Amazons left the island, led by Hippolyta's sister, Antiope, a thought which plagued her to his very day.

"Nothing has happened to your princess," Hippolyta said. "Nothing she cannot handle at any rate."

Hippolyta thought the rumors riled them up a sufficient amount and the lack of information was going to rile them up even more. She looked upon the heavens to prey to the gods. In time, Hippolyta intended to dispel all of the frustrated notions they have all received. She knew even with the blessing of the goddesses, the rumors of the latest arrival would stir them up.

' _It's always a fine line to walk.'_

"My daughter has met a remarkable young man, and yes, I know some of you have had less than appealing encounters with men,' Hippolyta said. "Be that as it may, I trust all of you to be on your best and most respectable behaviors when Diana's new companion returns to her with this island."

One of the Amazons blurted out. "A man is coming to the island?"

There had never been talk of such a thing. Men had been forbidden to come to this island. Many of the women on the island had suffered hardships from men in past lives, where they had been reborn, reforged. Hippolyta suffered her own share of bad experiences with men. The thoughts of past encounters with the likes of Ares, Hades, Hercules, and many others turned her stomach.

Still, she was inclined to give anyone a benefit of the doubt. Judging either gender by the actions of a few would be bad.

"Yes, he is, Hera has decreed it," Hippolyta said. "Both our island and the world of men owe him a great deal of gratitude."

The skepticism spread through the army of Amazons. They wondered how any man could potentially have earned their gratitude. A second passed when the Amazons started to look at each other and some of their mutterings grew rather dark.

"You'll find we owe him, even though he will be valiant enough not to demand payment," Artemis said. "Ares and his latest campaign have been foiled."

The news caused the Amazons to descend down into a horrified round of mumblings. It happened, at least until the moment where Hippolyta cleared her throat a second or so later.

"Remain calm," Hippolyta said. "And he won't give you any reason to doubt his intentions. And I trust my sisters will not give him any reason to think less than highly of us."

The other Amazons looked away. Some of them had allowed their attitudes on men to be soured, and some had left the island because Hippolyta decided not to declare war on them. The Amazons all descended into rapid fire murmuring with each other.

"And if I haven't missed my guess," Hippolyta said. "He should have been arriving right about now…."

A flash of light appeared to announce the arrival. The Amazons stepped back to get a better look. Their Princess arrived first. All of the Amazons looked on in awe when Diana marched out of the portal with the usual poise one expected from the Amazon Princess. She continued her march forward with a light smile on her face.

An attractive blonde followed out of the portal. She was tall, beautiful, and could fit in with the Amazons just as well. Some of the women looked on in awe, with a younger Princess staring at her for a long moment and offering a smile.

Last, but certainly not least, the young man known as Kal-El stepped out. He dressed in a black shirt and a pair of tight black pants. The Amazons followed his progress. He had been built like a God, and a couple of them thought about reconsidering their thoughts about men.

"Kal-El," Hippolyta said. "It's an honor to meet the man who has captured my daughter's eye."

The young man smiled and inclined his head in a very respectful manner towards the Queen.

"The honor is all mine, Queen Hippolyta."

* * *

Clark Kent took in the surroundings around him. The architecture was something which he had not seen outside of textbooks which talked about the exploits of the various Greek Gods. He turned towards Diana, to make this particular observation.

"Well, it appears the inspiration was pretty much on point," Diana said. "The buildings are built to last because there are chances for attacks every day."

Both of the Kryptonians looked a tad bit nervous. Especially given Clark's nature where he got dragged into some pretty bad situations, and where the most dangerous attacks.

"How often does an attack occur?" Kara asked.

Diana turned around, keeping her arm locked upon Clark's. She shook her head to think about it.

"Well, it's not like an attack happens every day," Diana said. "Some people consider this particular island to be a challenge though. They want to be the ones to break the Amazons, to tame them."

"Well, you're not easily tamed," Clark said with a knowing smile.

Diana offered him a smile back. She could see some of the Amazons, the younger ones especially, given Clark the eye. Some of them had been rescued from villages which had been ravaged. They had been too young to know some of the cruelties of the world.

The Princess preyed they never found out the worst things in the world, even though ignorance could not be a shield forever. She just hoped they learned of the wonders of the world before the honors.

It was the hope of Diana, Hippolyta, Artemis, and several others, they could get hardened from the cruelties of the world and strengthened. Some of them had the potential to be valiant warriors.

Occasionally, Amazons took excursions to Man's World to check up on the progress of how it well. One could argue how the outside world had gone through many changes in recent past where they had matured a fair bit, although they still had a long way to go before they were free of flaws.

Diana sighed, some unfortunately had allowed the training to their heads. They looked flawless, but the Amazons were no strangers to ignorance. It was one of the reasons because of the break, even though Diana was too young to remember it, and her mother and Artemis had been reluctant to discuss it.

"So, did you get lost in your thoughts?" Clark asked.

"No, I'm just thinking about how both of our cultures have a lot to learn from each other," Diana said. "But, we remain isolated."

"Being ignorant of the world outside of you never ends well, no matter what the people," Kara said. "Not to mention there's a wide universe out there."

"A mistake from Krypton?" Diana asked.

Kara answered with a sigh. It wasn't just Krypton's mistake, it was Krypton's undoing.

"Yes, our government unfortunately didn't listen to some glaring warning signs until it's much too late," Kara said. "I know your sisters are prideful and stubborn, but I think being in isolation for so long isn't healthy. What if Ares had decided to come straight to the island?"

Diana sighed.

"You have a point."

Kara did have a point, even though her sisters were a bit fixed in their ways. They claimed because of the fact they had the divine blessing of Hera and the rest of the goddesses, there are trouble.

"You do have a point," Hippolyta said. She walked up next to them. "And I fear….we've been living in ignorance for too long."

"Do you intend to do something about it, Mother?" Diana asked.

Hippolyta looked in her daughter's soft blue eyes. As battle hardened as Diana was, there were still challenges which the Amazon Princess needed to overcome. And one day, she would overcome each and every one of them.

"Let's focus on our celebration, and I'll deal with the nasty matter of politics later," Hippolyta said. She turned her attention towards the young man in front of her. "Let me know if there's anything you can do to make your stay a bit more enjoyable, Kal-El?"

"The honor of visiting your beautiful home is it's own reward," Clark said.

"I'm glad our hospitality is appreciated," Hippolyta said. "And I do hope you haven't taken offense to how my sisters may act. Many have never lain eyes upon a man in a non-hostile setting."

Hippolyta smiled. She could see what her daughter had seen in him. She turned around and walked off which left Clark, Kara, and Diana.

"Well, it looks like you've caught the eye of the Queen," Kara said.

"Are you serious…my mother…she's….." Diana said. She started to stammer.

Thinking about her mother being with Clark was a bit too much for Diana to bare right now.

"Relax, I'm pretty sure it's not going to happen for a while," Kara said. "If it ever does, but…..your mother looks very interested, and she isn't the only one."

Kara turned around and saw the smiling Amazon who had been peering at the bushes. She grew red around the ears when realizing Kara had looked directly at her. She jumped up with an unfortunate little yelp and scrambled over, almost tripping over her feet.

"Hello," Kara said with a smile. "Donna, right?"

Diana put her hands on her hips and gave Donna the "big sister glare of doom."

"Donna, you shouldn't be rude," Diana said. "Say hello to Kal and Kara."

"Hey, it's…well it's an honor to meet you," Donna said. "So, you fought alongside Diana against Ares and his nasty, evil army, didn't you?"

Kara could have cracked a grin at the way she said it. She leaned closer towards Donna.

"It was an amazing battle," Kara said.

"I really wish I would have been there to see it," Donna said.

Diana looked towards Donna a few seconds later. Donna shrunk underneath the empowering gaze of her sister. She noticed Kara with a knowing smile on her face. The taller blonde mouthed the word "busted" out of the corner of her mouth.

"I think I had enough trouble as it is," Diana said. "I would have hated to have pulled you out of the fire when you got a bit too overzealous for your own good."

Donna's look of protest made things pretty amusing all things considered. Diana turned away from her sister, and took Kal by the arm.

"So, are you ready to continue your tour of the island? There's a nice stream a bit away from here where we can relax."

* * *

Hippolyta positioned herself on her throne for a couple of moments. She had put herself in deep thought like she had during many instances in the past. The Queen of the Amazon's arched her head towards the direction of the opened door and frowned the second when doors opened.

"Mother?"

The Queen addressed her daughter.

"Yes, Diana," Hippolyta said. "I apologize for running off prematurely, but….it's been a long day, and I have a feeling things are going to get tougher now."

"It is, isn't it?" Diana asked. She stepped closer towards her mother, closing the gap in between the two of them. "Kara and Clark are exploring on their own. They're a couple of ancient runes….they want to take a look at….not sure if it has anything to do with their heritage."

"It's worth a look," Hippolyta said. "They haven't had any trouble with any of our sisters, have they?"

Diana shook her head in negative.

"They asked a few questions, but beyond that, nothing much. They have kept themselves respectful."

Hippolyta rose to a standing position and turned around. Diana frowned and followed the progress of her mother who looked out the highest window and frowned in response. She was in deep thought.

"There's been discontent," Hippolyta said. "It hasn't just been from this island's shore, but beyond…there's a storm coming. Ares might have just been the tip of it….we're going to either stand taller than ever before, or we're going to fall separately."

"Mother?" Diana asked.

Hippolyta turned towards her daughter and placed a hand on them.

"I'm going to have to talk in depth with the goddesses," Hippolyta said. "They say they cannot say what's going on though."

Diana frowned when she thought about what her mother said? Did the goddesses refuse to answer Hippolyta's questions because they thought she should stand on her own two feet? Or perhaps, because they honestly didn't know the answer to her inquiries, regardless though, either way sounded like it would be a fit.

"I've made my decision," Diana said. "I'm going to spend time at Metropolis University this fall, with Clark and Kara."

"If that's what you want," Hippolyta said. Diana responded with a swift nod. "And that's what you need to do. To be honest, I'm glad you've made this decision on your own."

Hippolyta remembered the day Diana came into existence. She had grown into that young, mostly innocent, cute little girl into a rather beautiful young woman. It took a very long time for Hippolyta to realize she needed to loosen the chains on Diana.

The door had been halfway open. Clark peered in for a moment.

"I'm not interrupting anything private, am I?" Clark asked.

"No, as a matter of fact, we were just about to walk down to dinner," Hippolyta said. "Would you do the honor of leading us down to the head table?"

"It would be an honor."

With the Queen on one arm, and the Princess on another arm, Clark escorted them towards the table. A generous feast already been set out and the aroma of the food caused Clark to smile when approaching the area at the end of the table.

Kara smiled at Clark and she joined the four of them. Donna walked behind Kara.

"So, do you think Donna might be able to join you?" Clark asked Diana.

Hippolyta decided to jump in and answer the question for her daughter.

"Should Donna do well on her studies her on the island within the next few months, I see no reason why she can't attend school on the main land," Hippolyta said.

Donna almost squealed in response. Hippolyta turned towards her daughter who had fell back into line.

"Such behavior is unbecoming from a Princess," Diana said.

"Need I remind you how you acted when you earned the right to wear your armor," Hippolyta said.

Diana shut up in an instant. The look on her face resembled someone who had her favorite toy taken away from her in a flurry. It almost was very amusing, actually no almost about it, it was very, very amusing to see that particular look on her face.

Everyone dug into the fast, ready for the speech being given by their Queen. Hippolyta waited for them to eat enough.

' _This speech would be easier to digest with a sufficient amount food,'_ Hippolyta thought to herself, a brief smile spreading over her face. _'Much easier, as it seems.'_

"My sisters, hear me," Hippolyta said. All of their eyes locked onto the Queen of the Amazons. "You've heard by now the results of Princess Diana's adventure. And a very real danger has been brought to our attention. Our seclusion protected us for a time, but it nearly cost us everything."

Hippolyta drew in her breath and then leaned closer towards the edge of the table.

"Had my daughter not been present, everything would have ended differently," Hippolyta said. "We need to be prepared for the threats which visit us at home, but the threats everywhere should be acknowledge. It is no longer a problem with the outside world, with Man's World, it is a problem with our entire world."

Hippolyta looked at her sisters and their intense mumbling.

"Therefore, my daughter will be making an extended excursion to the outside world, and she may not be the other one," Hippolyta said. "Diplomacy is the future of our sisterhood. We cannot wait for them to change. We must be a shining example and inspire peace, rather than incite conflict."

Many of the Amazons looked thoughtful, while others looked doubtful this was going to work. Still, Hippolyta had her mind made up. She would lead them forward.

"I know it is a rough and very challenging road for many of us to lead," Hippolyta added. "However, I'm confident if we can take this road together than there is nothing we can't accomplish."

The words of the Amazon Queen hit them very hard. It was obvious she had a plan and things were going to be a lot different around here. Whether it would be different for the better, or different the worse.

"She most certainly commands a presence," Kara murmured out of the corner of her mouth to Diana.

Diana smiled.

"That she does, that she does."

* * *

Lex Luthor recovered from the latest attack on the mansion. He wanted an excuse to do some slight remodeling for a long time, although really nothing like this.

A meteor mutant attack seemed to be the most likely culprit. They always seemed to be in the center of everything. The meteor shower happened to always be the center of everything strange which went on the town.

' _And with a second meteor shower, there's going to be a fresh bash coming up in the next several months,'_ Lex thought. _'It may be intriguing to study them fresh.'_

Lex scratched his chin. Another thought had visited the young man. Perhaps it had been foolish to think such a thing, but he had these ideas.

' _Could it not have been a meteor mutant afterall?'_ Lex thought, more to himself than anyone else. _'Is it at all possible something extremely supernatural could have been afoot?'_

Lex considered the option. He passed the workmen who had gone down the stairs to repair the door which he ended up going through. A trip to the doctor yielded no results, not even a concussion.

' _Time to retire for a bit.'_

Lex reached the entrance of his study and opened up the door. No sooner did he get inside, he came across none other than Milton Fine. Fine, who had disappeared several weeks back, saw it fit to reappear in the study. He reclined on Lex's favorite chair and casually read a book.

"For a classic, this doesn't have the quality I assumed it would," Fine said. He flipped through a couple more pages. "It's a bit of a disappointment if I had to say so myself. Shakespeare seems to age poorly, especially when you stack him up against a wider spectrum of literature."

"Well, Doctor Fine," Lex said. "May I interest you in a glass of brandy? Because it seems as if you've made yourself at home."

Fine flipped the book shut and dropped it onto the table. He rose to his full height and stared down Lex.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't call security?" Lex asked.

"You haven't because you won't, because deep down you want to know why I'm here," Fine said. He continued to look the young man straight in the eye. "You and I, we do have a fair amount in common, namely the fact you weren't really allowed in on Lionel's secrets. He knew all about what you've been trying to find out for some time, even though he dismissed through thoughts as childish delusions."

Lex's eyes remained burned onto Fine's face. The man gave Lex no real reason to trust him.

"The man may have had his reasons, I don't know them," Fine said. "But, just think, the potential which had been squandered…..I believe we have much to learn from each other."

"What are you talking about?" Lex asked.

"How would you like to enlighten yourself beyond all humans and help save the world?" Fine asked.

Lex wasn't going to lie, it seemed like an intriguing proposition. Fine wasn't finished proposing though.

"And how would it be if answers you sought had been under your nose this entire time?"

Now Lex's intrigue increased tenfold. Curiosity hit him hard and fast.

"Tell me more."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 13** **th** **, 2016.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: Reboot.**

* * *

Lana's face screwed up in frustration when she tried as she might to lug a heavy box off of the ground. She had no idea if anything practical at all was in these boxes, but it was giving her quite a struggle to hold them up. The fact she had to haul these out of the basement and up a set of stairs was a rather daunting task to be honest, and Lana wasn't a weakling by any means.

The box's heavy weight made it very hard for her to hold it up even longer.

' _Figures I should have cracked these open when I was downstairs in the first place, instead of lugging them all the way up the stairs,'_ Lana thought to herself. Her knees jiggled when she attempted to hold herself up. A deep breath came from her body.

Lana almost had her weight come from underneath her. That would be just her luck. After everything she had narrowly escaped dying from, being crushed by the boxes left behind by the former tenants of the house would be something really awful.

A pair of strong hands reached in and grabbed the boxes to prevent them from falling back, and Lana from falling back. She looked up to see Clark who had balanced at the top of the steps.

Lana took a few seconds to catch her breath and turn towards the man who helped her.

"Oh, hey, Clark," Lana said.

"Chloe said I might find you here," Clark said. "And you know, you should have waited for me to get back in town, I could have helped you lug those boxes up the stairs."

Lana shook her head and smiled, despite the strain. Her muscles ached from making the attempt herself, even though Clark was now helping her.

The two of them working together made this entire endeavor much more manageable.

"I thought a bunch of boxes weren't going to be a problem….little did I know the family who stayed her packed all of their rubbish very tightly," Lana said. "Guess they wanted to be economical or something, with less boxes, and more space but that's hell trying to lift them up the stairs."

She wiped a brow of sweat from her face.

"Are they coming back for anything?" Clark asked.

"Don't really know," Lana said, rolling back her shoulders with a shrug. "Nell said to give them ninety days before pitching anything, but I figure I should move it upstairs into one of the spare bedrooms at least. So it's out of the way…the basement is in need of a cleaning."

Clark joined her all the way downstairs to grab some more boxes. The heavy choking clouds of dust made it very obvious what Lana was talking about. The people who briefly owned the Potter House last, well, they weren't big fans of dusting.

"You should know Lex is asking a lot of questions," Lana said. "And he's well informed a lot of things that he shouldn't be well informed."

"You've been talking to him?" Clark asked in a wary voice.

The sense of weariness in Clark's voice could be very obvious. Lana could see why, and she tried to appease the situation the best she could.

"Well, he's been talking to me, more likely," Lana said in the most delicate manner possible. "He's still extremely obsessed with that alien ship he found."

Clark tried not to hide his intrigue. He knew such curiosity should not be indulged, especially what happened the last time he tried to touch that particular ship. Regardless though, he could not help himself. That alien ship was a piece of Kryptonian history.

"I'm not really sure what to do with all of this space," Lana said.

"Well, if you have many more boxes, I'm sure you have plenty of room to spread them out," Clark said.

The heavy box had been pushed into Clark's grasp while Lana took one of the smaller boxes.

"Guess, I'm going to have to be creative about it," Lana said. "Thank you for helping me clean things out a bit."

Lana took a moment to settle at the top of the stairs.

"There was a clause in the last contract, where the house defaulted back to Nell because the occupants couldn't carry on with the upkeep," Lana said. "So she decided to give it to me, to do with what I wish, as a graduation present."

"Wow, that's pretty generous of her," Clark said.

"Yeah, generous might not be the exact word I use if I were to be perfectly honest," Lana said. "So, I can either sell the house, or fix it up and use it on my own…and I have to deal with the junk the last occupants left behind. Lucky me."

"Well, you have to take the bad with the good."

Lana smiled, and shook her head. Leave it to Clark to come up with a statement like that.

The two descended down the steps and the last set of boxes were on the way. And these looked rather unremarkable so Lana couldn't help, but get those herself.

"Lana, I don't think I've never seen this portrait before," Clark said.

Lana blinked, come to think of it, she had not seen the portrait on the wall either. A beautiful, it not eerie, young woman with haunting green eyes looked forward at her on the wall. Her dark hair hung down towards her back and she dressed in elegant robes.

Clark had to blink twice. He noticed a small symbol on her robes, it was the same one he found in the museum on the tablet.

"She must be another one of my ancestors," Lana said with a shrug. "Hopefully she won't try and possess me from beyond the grave."

Clark turned his attention towards Lana, with a slight little role of his eyes. Lana broke out into the sheepish grin to end all sheepish grins.

"Lana, you know….."

"Oh, that was a bit too soon, wasn't it?" Lana asked.

Clark gave a wordless nod in response. Yes, that was much too soon, and it hit home much too hard. Regardless, he was glad for the most part Lana seemed to be in fairly good spirits, which meant there was hope things would end for the better with her.

The two of them joined at the top of the stairs. Lana frowned, making a decision.

"Thank you for everything, and always being there…even though I can be a pain sometimes," Lana said.

"You're not that bad," Clark said.

"But, I can be," Lana said. "It's just….everything that's happened, it just seems by trying to make sense of it, made it worse."

Clark looked at her, and Lana smiled. It was now or never, and if she didn't take this moment, she might never get another opportunity. Some invisible hand pushed her into Clark's arms.

The two of them engulfed each other in a tender embrace and leaned forward with a kiss towards each other. Clark gripped the back of Lana's head and kissed the hell out of her, surprising her with the forcefulness and passion of the kiss.

Clark had dreamed about one of the scenarios like this. Lana pushed him back against the wall and started to unbutton his shirt, smiling heavily at what she was about ready to do. She slowly worked her way down south towards Clark. She didn't think it would go this far, but Lana was happy it was going that way.

The cell phone started to ring, and Lana had been snapped back into reality. Something stopped her from going even further, and she thanked the phone ringing from snapping her back to life.

"You better get that," Lana said. "Um, I'll see you around Clark."

Clark wondered what that was all about, but he answered the phone. A distorted voice came on through the other line.

"The Time is coming. Lex and the BrainInteractive Construct have made contact. And your joining may lead to your demise."

Now, Clark had ben beyond confused.

* * *

The moment Clark received that particular phone call, he was on his way back to the Fortress. He arrived at the edge of the entrance, and no sooner did he arrive, Lara greeted him when stopping off at the Fortress.

Kara walked over towards Clark and immediately, she noticed something was not right. She motioned for him to join them inside of the Fortress, so he did, walking forward with a wordless expression on his face.

"Something happened to put you in such a state," Kara said. "Tell us what it is."

Clark really didn't know how to say it, fascinating, given how straight forward it was.

"I've gotten a really weird phone call," Clark said. "Not sure who…but, they warned me Lex and Brainiac have joined up, and they would have a union which would mean my demise."

Lara closed her eyes. The more she learned about this Lex Luthor character, the less she liked. Lex and her son were friends, but that particular friendship flew off of the rails. Lara strongly considered taking decisive action towards Lex, and he may have to force her hand.

It wasn't exactly what she had to do, as this action would be very final. However, Lara intended to protect her son in any way.

"Are you sure it wasn't Brainiac himself playing mind games?" Kara asked.

Clark paused, he didn't even consider that, but at the same time his gut feeling was that it wasn't Brainiac somehow. He couldn't really explain exactly why be didn't believe the call to be a trick. He just believed it to be real.

"Maybe," Clark said. "I just have a feeling something is happening. There's someone who has been supplying me for information."

"Yes, maybe," Kara agreed. "The last time they supplied you with information, it lead you to the alien ship, and we both remember how well that turned out."

"I don't know," Clark said. He shifted a smile towards her. "I don't think that ended too poorly all things considered."

Kara answered with a very prominent sigh. That really wasn't the point and he knew it. She tried to hold back her own obvious frustration with the situation. Her tone softened ever so slightly.

"Okay, fine, there's someone in LuthorCorp who is genuinely helping you," Kara said. "If there's someone who is in LuthorCorp….then who is it?"

Clark shook his head in negative. He really couldn't answer that question if he was to be honest. He didn't really know too much about the ins and outs of LuthorCorp.

"I doubt it's Lionel because he's currently in a drooling and babbling state, and he wouldn't be fit to tell anyone anything," Clark said.

"We can thank my husband for that one," Lara said while typing on the computer. "And yes, I'm trying to find a way to track Brainiac Prime to the source. But it's not going too well. He's very hidden, and even the power of the Fortress can't find him."

"Is he even on Earth?" Clark asked.

Lara took that particular theory in consideration. She figured Clark might have been onto something with his theory about Brainiac not being on Earth. She shifted to see if the Fortress's relay was powered out.

"There's a way to scan further than Earth, but it's very dangerous," Lara said. "And we don't want to draw any attention unless absolutely necessary."

"So, that's a no go," Clark said.

Clark turned around and decided to walk a little bit away. He made his way into the Fortress. There was still a very bland quality to the Fortress left over from when Jor-El constructed it, even though it looked much better than it really did.

A punching bag dropped from the ceiling. Clark arched his fist back and hammered the bag with all of the force he could master. The bag was created to sustain the heaviest punches which was why it was a bit of surprise when it sent flying.

Kara walked over and put a hand on Clark's shoulder and steered him around.

"Sorry, I'm just frustrated, that's all."

"I know you're worried," Kara said. "We're all worried….especially with Lex being Brainiac's unknowing puppet."

Clark could imagine the look on Lex's face when he realized Brainiac duped him. He figured that would happen just seconds before Brainiac decided Lex outlived his usefulness.

"This Genesis Protocol, it's bad news," Clark said.

"It's a better idea on paper than it is in practice," Kara said. "I won't say it doesn't have merit."

The problem is, for all of the merit the Genesis Protocol had, it also had a number of really bad drawbacks.

"What does Brainiac intend to really do?" Clark asked.

"Serve the whims of his master," Kara said. "The man who reprogrammed him….he was supposed to be an agent to preserve the best interests of Krypton. And in the end….he's fulfilling those objectives in a very twisted way."

"The best interests of Krypton is now the best interests of Zod," Clark said.

Kara sighed. He hit the nail on the head.

"He was warped towards the end," Kara said. "Krypton was doomed for years, no one saw the signs…despite being warned."

People could have been very ignorant when they chose to be, Clark guessed. He turned towards his mother, who tried to feverishly make headway. They were running out of time, which wasn't a good place to be in.

Something had to be done, before it was too late. The problem was where to begin.

* * *

Lana had been in a daze ever since making the decision to kiss Clark, one where she almost regretted. She wondered if the fact their relationship failed to make any headway was all on her. Clark had his own issues, and Lana came to accept that even more, for reasons why she couldn't put her finger on.

' _Even the most simple things can be the most complicated for you, can't they, Lana Lang?'_

But, she wasn't one without issues. Life wasn't exactly perfect for Lana Lang. She looked out, the cup of coffee almost spilling on the table before Chloe reached across the table and grabbed her hand.

"You're kind of spaced out," Chloe said. "It's like your body is in here, but your mind is out there."

Chloe pointed outside the window in the most casual manner possible. Lana returned her gaze towards Chloe and really didn't know what to say. Her throat didn't really work as she wanted it to work these days.

"So, what's up?" Chloe asked. "Because seriously spaced out isn't a really good look on you."

Lana tried not to smile. She had been a bit preoccupied.

"I kissed Clark," Lana said.

A second passed. Chloe wasn't really surprised.

"Oh," Chloe said with a raised eyebrow.

"And then before it could get too far, I pulled back," Lana said. "I just….I don't know why."

"You don't know why you kissed him, or why you pulled back?" Chloe asked.

"Why I kissed him is obvious, but I regretted doing it for some reason," Lana said. "It just seems like every time I get close enough for him, I put some more distance between us."

Chloe tried not to lose her patience with this entire situation. It was a very hard thing not to do. Matters of the heart tended to be extremely frustrated even in the best of times and now, with how agitated Lana was, she would have to jump in here very carefully.

"You're the one putting some distance between yourself and Clark," Chloe said. "Is it because you don't want to get hurt, or you don't want to hurt him?"

Lana pondered Chloe's statement for a few seconds.

"A little bit of both, really," Lana said.

"You know, I think it would be best if we left the high school drama where it belongs," Chloe said. "You want to take charge of your life…do it. If you want to be with Clark, then do it…..but this indecisive act doesn't do anyone any good. It hurts you a lot and it hurts Clark even more."

Lana looked down at the end of Chloe's wagging finger. It was almost like she had been reprimanded and something fierce as well.

"The last thing Clark needs at this point is indecision, and it's the last thing you need," Chloe said. "After last year, you need stability…or you might fall into the wrong crowd. And I don't think you want to be dragged down a dark path again."

Lana had made some rather questionable decisions over the past year, she would be the first to admit that. She had no idea how to go about what she was doing next.

' _Should I,'_ Lana thought.

"I thought you and Clark…well you seemed to be a bit closer together lately," Lana said. "Even more so than usual….so I was wondering, well if the two of you…well you know….."

"Yes, we're sleeping together," Chloe said. "But, you're just fishing for excuses now."

Lana blinked and more confusion just rang through her voice when she managed to muster up the confidence to respond to Chloe.

"If the two of you are together, then that means Clark is off the table, and I'm really sorry," Lana said. "I'm really….."

Chloe reached in and shoved one hand over Lana's mouth. Lana's apologies, as ill-conceived as they were, became muffled underneath Chloe's hand. The dark-haired girl gasped.

"I'm going to remove my hand and when I do, you're going to listen to me very carefully," Chloe said. She shifted her hand away from Lana and allowed her to lean forward. "It's true, I'm with Clark, but so are a couple other girls….Kara and Diana for starters….and we'd happily let you in, if you're fine with sharing him."

Lana wondered how anyone could be fine with this. She pushed her values aside for a moment and thought about this. A man who was able to satisfy most women at the same time, it was exciting to her.

"With everything, Clark needs support, and I think you do," Chloe said. "Besides, it's not like we haven't talked about this…all of those late nights…wondering what would happen if we decided to share Clark."

"Yeah, but we weren't….that was just us up late at night, with a few drinks in us," Lana said. "You were being serious, weren't you?"

Chloe smiled.

"There are things in life worth sharing," Chloe said. "And I think you're being too hard on yourself if you think you're not worthy of this relationship."

Sudden realization hit Lana. Something else hit her, with Chloe leaning in closer towards her and the two girls meeting lip to lip with a kiss.

Being a cheerleader, this wasn't the first time Lana kissed a girl, although the other times had been on a drunken dare. This time it was something she was conscious of and enjoyed. Chloe mapped out a path inside of her mouth and stuck her tongue down her throat.

After the initial shock, Lana returned the kiss. Chloe really knew how to kiss a girl, and Lana had been visited with a very naughty thought, wondering if her and Lois had practiced the act. Granted, Lana never kissed Lois, so she didn't have anything to gauge with.

The two of them parted away, and Chloe smiled.

"We all care for Clark in our own ways," Chloe said. "Someone like him….it's not like men like him drop from the sky every day."

Lana frowned. A theory which she had formed had been somewhat eluded to by Chloe, perhaps accidentally. It would explain so very much about how Clark seemed to be the nexus point of a lot of the weirdness in Smallville.

"Just think about it," Chloe said. "But, remember, either you're in all the way, and out the other way. If you hurt Clark, there will be consequences, and the line forms behind me."

Lana had no intention to doing so, threat or not. Chloe would make her life hell if she did anything wrong, and that was enough to make Lana just woman up and do what needed to be done.

* * *

Lex Luthor prided himself of having intellect which had been several shades behind the normal man. He found himself working every part of his brain in an attempt to keep up with Milton Fine.

"Yes, it's very experimental science, but if we can use it properly, it can chance this world," Fine said. "It can bring about a new evolution…this counter agent will do its purpose."

"It can strengthen the immunity of people to be able to sustain more pain and to be able to fight every disease on the planet," Lex said. "And it will replicate counteragents to combat diseases which will be unknown."

"Yes, no longer will any civilizations perish once more," Fine said. "We will lead to a new revolution, the likes of which the world had never seen. But why stop at a few test subjects?"

"I think the proof is right here."

Lex took out the photos of the first round of test subjects. They resembled elderly man who were on the edge of death. They sat on the bed, cross eyed and drooling.

"This was taken yesterday, and by tomorrow, they will be dead," Lex said. "Not everyone can survive the counter agent….but there might be a silver lining to every cloud."

"There were two groups of test subjects," Fine informed him. "This was Group A, but you haven't shown me Group B just yet."

Lex smiled and pulled out another set of pictures.

"These were the second group of test subjects," Lex said. "I think we can both agree they were a bit more successful. They were very tired yesterday, but after being given three square meals, they are on the road to recovery."

Fine looked very pleased at the results of the tests on Group B.

"There are different variables within the test subjects," Fine said.

"Yes," Lex said. "The first group came from outside of Smallville. The second group on the other hand, they lived in Smallville when either the first or second meteor shower occurred."

Lex thought Fine should have been excited by such a variable being unlocked. He just remained as stoic and calm as normal before.

"All men ranged from their mid-twenties and early thirties," Lex said. "As you can see from these pictures, the group of people outside of Smallville aged when they had been ravaged. Their internal organs aren't in good shape either. The second group, after some initial fatigue, they're better."

"So, the meteors are the common link between whether or not someone will survive," Fine said. "Yes, this is most interesting."

Fine took a second to look at Lex. He now knew what a lab rat in a cage felt like when he was being studied for an experiment.

"You were at ground zero during the first meteor shower," Fine said. "And when is the last time you have gotten sick?"

"I can't recall," Lex said.

"This counter agent could evolve you into something else beyond humanity and beyond all comprehension," Fine said. "The two of us will be able to build a brand new world. Why look beyond to the stars when there's a blank slate to be built on?"

Lex had to admit, Fine talked a pretty good game. He paused with a frown and noticed something. He grabbed Lex's arm.

"What the….."

"You've been bugged," Fine said. He pulled a small object off of Lex's cufflink. "Someone has been spying on us…although no longer."

Lex had been caught off guard. He tried to rack his brain to figure out who would have gotten close enough.

"We better find them, before they leak the details of what we're doing," Fine said. "If the details of this counteragent leak out, terrorists could engineer it into a potent weapon and bring about new biological warfare."

Lex now looked over his shoulder.

"We best get on with the next stage of the experiment before this person realizes they've been compromised," Lex said.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 20** **th** **, 2016.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen: On the Inside.**

* * *

Lana leaned against the wall of the Potter house. Now that pretty much everything had been cleared out of the basement, it had given her plenty of time to think. She supposed she could back out just about now, but it would be hard to do so right now.

' _Really, either you're going to do it now, or you're never going to have a chance to do it again. What's it going to be Lana? Are you woman enough?'_

It would be unfair to herself is she backed out right now. But, it would also be unfair to Clark if she didn't give this a chance. She leaned back against the wall and allowed a sigh to pass through her body. They had been doing some kind of dance of drama for about the past five years, and she thought everything was going to work out for the best.

Nothing could be that simple. Lana just resolved to make things a fair bit less complicated. She would give it an honest attempt to make it work. And if it didn't work, at least she knew.

Clark would be arriving any second now. Lana chewed her lip, leaving a slight indent on it. Frustration swam through the eyes of the dark haired woman. She had dreamed of this moment for a very long time, but at the same time, she dreaded what would happen if it went wrong.

' _Okay, no problem, you can get through this.'_

A knock on the door brought Lana out of her thoughts. Now was the moment, whether do or die. Lana made her way down the landing, managing to gracefully descend the stairs. Every step seemed like an eternity when she descended.

Lana dropped down onto the front steps a second later. She could hear Clark on the other side of the door. Lana's heart started racing to a greater fever pitch. Her palms got sweaty.

' _Just do it,'_ Lana thought.

The voice was pretty forceful and Lana had almost been taken aback. She reached towards the door and swung it open. Clark stood on the other end of the door. Lana sucked her lower lip and frown.

' _Just do it,'_ Lana said, her internal voice more persistent than ever.

"Thanks for coming," Lana said. She gripped Clark by the wrist and caused him to walk inside. "I know you must have a lot on your mind."

"Well, you wanted me here, and here I am," Clark said. "So, what's the deal?"

"It's….well I'm interested in seeing if we can pursue a relationship," Lana said. "But, I know it won't be that simple. Chloe said if I'm not one hundred percent sure, I shouldn't go for it."

Clark frowned. So Chloe said that to her. He had no idea where he stood with Lana right now. They were friends, although Clark had been too busy to figure out what more than friends. They had their ups and downs, with an emotional roller coaster over the years.

Still, maybe there was no time like the present to find out.

"So, Chloe told you not to….."

"She told me not to give you unnecessary grief if I could help it," Lana said. She shifted a precious inch closer to Clark. "And you know something, she's right. I don't want to do that….not if I can help it. I thought we almost figured this out a long time ago."

Clark wondered where this one was going. It was hard to really read the expression on Lana's face right about now. Her frown deepened.

"If you want to look me in the eye, and tell me how this won't work out, fine, I understand," Lana said. She pushed one finger against Clark's lips as if to stop him. "Maybe we were doomed from the start, but…..I'm not willing to give this up as a hopeless thing, just yet."

"I'm not either," Clark said.

At least they were on the same page at this point, that was progress. Lana gained a bit of hope they could do this.

"And even if all of the gods conspire against us, I want to give this a shot," Lana said. She eased closer towards him. "Just one shot, please….."

"Lana, you have to understand something," Clark said. "There's things about me that…"

"Whatever it is, we'll figure it out," Lana said. "There's nothing you can tell me which will make me want you any less."

"I'm not from Earth."

A second passed with Lana looking Clark directly in the eye. She frowned when he said that statement.

"So, did that stop you?" Clark asked. "Hey, Lana, are you still there?"

Lana slowly nodded. Everything was beginning to click in her mind and suddenly, life made so much more sense.

"Okay, that slowed me down just a little bit," Lana said. "But, you know, so much of my life makes a lot of sense right now…..and how you seem to be always in the middle of everything. At first, it seems like rotten luck…"

Lana paused for a second when looking at Clark. Everything clicked in her mind very slowly. She grabbed his hand and escorted him in the direction of her bedroom, never once breaking the momentum of what she was planning to do.

"I came down with the meteor shower," Clark said. "I was found by my parents, or I found them, rather and…."

Lana pressed one finger to Clark's lips. She knew where this was going, and neither wanted to go down this road, the road of self-doubt. She found it best to nip things in the bud.

"I don't blame you for anything," Lana said. "That would be stupid…you were sent here….I'm sure by your birth parents. There's no way you could have known what would happen."

"I'm not sure they intended for half of the planet to come down with me," Clark said. "Your parents…"

Lana sighed, she did miss them. But was she really going to let herself be defined by what happened o that day for the rest of her life?

"That's the past, I prove to move on with the present," Lana said. "I know you're sleeping with Chloe…and I'm sure you're also sleeping with Kara as well. And I'm half sure Lois is going to get in on the fun, once she stops being stubborn."

Clark smiled at the nonchalant way Lana laid down her opinion.

"That might be a long time," Clark said.

"Yes, because you have room to talk," Lana said. She smiled and made sure he was back in her bedroom. "So, are you ready to try this at the least? I'm sure you know what to do…I'm….I'm not sure, but I think it will be fun to try….."

Clark wouldn't have tried this a long time ago. Now he had control over his powers, he could be as gentle or as forceful as he wished, which worked out well for women with varying degrees of durable. Lana moved his hands so they cupped her ass and she leaned in to kiss him on the lips.

Lana slowly worked open the buttons of his shirt and pulled it off to explore Clark's muscular chest. She was getting more and more excited.

Clark's hand moved around and slipped underneath her skirt. Lana shifted her hips to the pleasure, her panties the only barrier for them properly meeting. Not for long, however.

' _About time,'_ Lana thought. _'Thought I was going to grow old waiting. Although, that's as much on me as anyone else.'_

* * *

Lana bit down on her lip when Clark parted the final barrier leading among them. One of his fingers brushed her. Lana edged closer so he could push a finger inside her deeper.

"You've wanted this, don't you?" Clark asked. "For a long time?"

Lana answered with a swift nod. Clark pushed another finger deeper inside Lana, making her warm up with the pleasure of what she was feeling. He situated two of those fingers deep inside her and pumped her dripping cunt with a few thrusts.

Clark gained momentum when working his fingers in and out of Lana's heated core. He kept working deeper inside of her. She pushed her hips forward towards her. Lana clutched onto his probing fingers and breathed when the pleasure came through her body.

"Yes," Lana said. "Oh, that feels so good!"

Clark smiled. He was glad it did. He pulled his fingers out of her and allowed Lana to slump back against the way. He lifted up the soaked digits and pushed them towards Lana's lips. She sucked her juices from Clark's finger.

Lana smiled and rose back up to kiss Clark one more time. She eased him back to the bed. He sat down and allowed her full access. Lana made quick work of his pants.

"Well, this is nice," Lana said.

A huge meaty cock stuck out for her to play with. Lana gripped it with both hands and stroked it up and down hard. She licked his leg, the taste coming from it made her tingle. She could not wait to have that prime piece of meat inside her.

"Soon enough," Clark said. "Wait until it gets nice and wet."

Lana got to work quickly. She licked him, starting at the head. Lana moved closer down to his base and then worked all over him. She covered his cock with her saliva. Lana rose up, hand wrapped around the base and lips wrapped around him. She looked up at Clark with a smile when working him between those lips.

Clark held Lana's head steady so she could slide him into her mouth. What did not fit into her mouth, Lana pumped him with her hand. She worked his head and shaft. Clark enjoyed the dark haired vixen pushing all the way down on him.

Lana anticipated the eruption which was to come. She slid her hand down the base and squeezed Clark's big swollen balls. She blew him heavily but started to get a bit tired. Clark lasted the distance quite nicely.

Clark's stamina and resistance stretched the fullest. Lana's continuous bobbing up and down made it very hard to hold back. He managed to hold back as much as possible. Hands rested on the back of Lana's head when working further down his thick pole.

"Good, good, keep it up," Clark groaned. "If you need to stop…"

Lana sucked him a few more times and left his cock saturated with her. She pulled up and pulled her skirt off the rest of the way to reveal her swollen pussy lips.

"I want your big cock inside me," Lana said. She pressed the head of him against her lips. Already electricity tingled through Lana's body.

Clark tightened his hold around her. Lana's soft legs found their way wrapped around his hips. She rose up and positioned her dripping slit closer towards the edge of his throbbing manhood. Clark closed his eyes and waited for Lana to lower herself down upon him.

Lana slid down onto him. The first few inches of Clark's cock broke through her walls. Clark pulled her shirt off and then her bra. He rubbed her supple breasts and Lana gasped in response. Another few inches and Lana had been stretched apart.

"I've waited way too long for this!" Lana moaned. She inched down on him. "Just think, I could have had this inside me the whole time….but I just waited…..I waited way too long."

Clark smiled when Lana moved down onto him. She really edged her wet pussy all the way down Clark's hard, throbbing pole. The tightness of her wrapped around him when bouncing up and down on him.

Lana leaned in so Clark could explore her body without restraint. Every inch of her tight body filled with the throbbing hard cock of her lover. She pushed almost up and drove herself down.

Clark watched Lana descend and get about as much of himself inside her as possible. He relaxed her with a smile, running a finger down her leg. Lana locked onto his waist.

"Soooo good!" Lana yelled.

Lana steadied herself down onto him. The first orgasm she felt with Clark's cock inside her was good. She had dreams like this, but reality ended up being better than any single dream. Lana pushed her walls down onto Clark.

Clark wrapped his hands around Lana and pushed her hip down onto him. He leaned in and buried his face in her chest. He only made the juices trickling down her legs flow even further and even faster.

"Don't hold back," Clark said.

Lana was not about to do so. Her walls squeezed him with such passion it was even tighter than ever before. She pumped sticky juices down Clark's probing pole.

She burned with greater anticipation. She kept bouncing higher and higher, to force more of this thick rod inside of her. The coating coming from her pussy made it an easier descent. Every time Lana dropped down, she could feel more of Clark's above-average length inside of her.

It hit her again, another orgasm. Lana heated up from the passion. Clark worked her with his hands and mouth while penetrating her over and over again. Flesh slapped upon flesh.

Clark enjoyed the warmth surrounding Lana when she drove down onto him. Her tanned body pushed down onto him repeatedly to ride out the latest orgasm. Clark just hoped Lana would not burn herself out before it was finished.

"It's fine," Clark informed her. "Just keep riding me. Keep your own pace"

Lana smiled when holding onto him. She buried her face into Clark's shoulder, for a second. Then another orgasm spiraled through her. The passion spiraled out of control the further Lana brought herself down onto Clark. Those thick balls threatened to have their way with her.

Every time Lana came down onto him, her scorching slit massaged his manhood. Clark hung onto her and maneuvered every corner of her body. That firm toned flesh bouncing down on him. Clark squeezed Lana's ass and in response, she clenched down onto him.

"Almost there," Lana murmured hopefully.

Clark picked up the pace as much as he could be allowed. His balls swelled up and would soon deposit their load inside Lana.

"Yes, close, do you think you can hang on for a little bit longer?"

Lana used every amount of energy she possessed to bring herself down onto Clark. Their thighs slapped together when she continued the riding. Clark groped her chest and it only spurred Lana further to go on further. She would make it worth it for him.

She slid down the throbbing hard pole, more juices dripping down Clark when she rose and fell down onto him. The end would be coming soon, Clark could feel it. He held onto Lana when she pushed down and up, driving as much cock into her as she could take.

Lana clutched his arm and moaned out with the latest orgasm struck her hard. Clark pushed into her, balls throbbing.

The two of them met in the middle. The next time Lana came, Clark came along with her. He emptied a sticky load inside Lana.

Lana was so glad she could hang on for a few more minutes, long enough to enjoy Clark spilling his thick seed into her. It invigorated her despite her body being sore.

* * *

Clark shook his head. That happened, and boy he didn't regret it happening either. He left Lana to recover from their little encounter. He thought about what else he had to do today, now that he finished doing Lana.

Diana was going to join him back in town after spending some time in Paradise, no doubt fine tuning her skills. Clark smiled and allowed himself to enjoy the fresh air of Smallville. He smelled the home cooking, the corn fields, and just heard the birds chirping. Everything made Clark feel at ease, and everything made him feel at home.

A dull ringing going through his ear caused Clark to pause for a second. The more he stepped forward, the ringing had increased.

Clark wondered where it was coming from. He jumped over the fence and decided to take a closer look.

The ringing brought him in the direction of a park. There were a couple of children who were at play, but for the most part, it was oddly calm. The ringing had gotten more and more intense. Clark stepped forward into the park and wondered where it was coming from.

He came to the conclusion it was only he could hear the ringing. Clark used his X-Ray vision to take a closer look at the ground.

"Are you okay, Mister?"

Clark looked towards a little kid, of about three or four years old, looking at him with the sort of innocent curiosity many children had. They didn't know the troubles in the world.

"I'm looking for my phone, I lost it in the park," Clark said.

The child went back to his play which allowed Clark to continue skimming through the grass in an attempt to find his cell phone. Seconds passed before he scooped up the cell phone in triumph.

Clark held the phone to his ear and the ringing got even more prominent. The only way to stop it is to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"Good, you've gotten my message," a distorted voice over the end of the phone said. "I don't have much time, the veil has been removed, and it's only a matter of time they're onto me. And that means trouble for both of us."

"Who are you?"

"Not over here, the line is not completely secure," distorted voice on the other end of the phone said. "I've been giving you information, but I'm afraid Lex and Brainiac have found the bugs, and now it's only a matter of time before they trace them back to the source, that being me."

"You?" Clark asked.

"Yes, it's only a matter of time," the distorted voice on the other end of the phone said. "It's important, they're working together, the two of them. I've managed to find out Brainiac intends to enact the Genesis Protocol."

Clark knew only very few people who knew of that, and the fact this person, whoever they were, knew this, put Clark on the edge and made him very suspicious. Perhaps he jumped to conclusions, but Clark wasn't going to take this one without any thought.

"What do you know of the Genesis Protocol?" Clark asked.

A long pause followed, and Clark wondered if he lost the connection to them.

"It doesn't matter, all that matters is, Lex is being used as a puppet for Brainiac," the voice on the other end of the phone said.

Clark tried to lose his patience, especially when there were people close by. He gnashed his teeth in frustrated though and turned around the corner. The phone had a lot of static on it, and he wasn't certain how long it would be before the person on the other end gave up the ghost.

"Are you still there?"

"Yes," Clark answered in his most cool voice.

"Lex is about ready to undergo some kind of change, and I fear it could have some kind of consequences which could doom the world."

It really didn't give Clark all that much to go on, if he was perfectly honest. His frown deepened.

"How about you meet me at the Kawatchee Caves? And I'll give you everything I need to know in person."

"The caves?" Clark asked. "And how I am supposed to trust you?"

A beat followed, and Clark could almost hear the person on the other line drawing their breath in.

"You can't you're just going to have to figure out whether or not you should listen to your gut," his contact said. "If nothing else, you need to understand whether your instincts should be listened to or not."

Curiosity visited Clark in a sudden burst. He figured he should give this person, whoever they were, the benefit of the doubt. Hopefully, it would not end up burning him later on. All he could do was wait and see what was coming around the corner next.

"I'll meet you, in one hour," Clark said. "If this is a double cross…"

"I'll give you a reason to trust me more than my word," the contact said. "And if you decided not to meet you, could you do me a favor and destroy the phone? It really isn't anything extravagant anyway?"

Clark lifted the phone up in the palm of his hand and crushed it beneath his fingers. It did wonders in easing up his burden. He felt a little bit now that he crushed something.

"Mother, there's something," Clark said, switching to the ear piece which connected to the Fortress. "My contact at LuthorCorp will be revealing themselves….whoever it is, Brainiac compromised them."

"Well, don't go into that situation alone," Lara said. "They might be a sleeper for Brainiac, and not even know it."

Clark didn't want to think the worst, but he knew Lara was one hundred percent right. It did seem like something Brainiac would do.

* * *

"Well, Lana's finally decided to get a piece of what she's missing," Chloe said. "I never thought there would be too much of a good thing but…"

"She'll get used to it, eventually," Kara said with a smile.

Kara had a sense there was something unsettling going on here. She couldn't really put her finger on what it was, though. Chloe grabbed her by the hand and prevented Kara from walking through a fence.

"Thanks, I…I've been a bit off today," Kara said.

"You okay?" Chloe asked. "No offense, but you're almost walking through fences. You might not get hurt, but I don't think the people here would appreciate the property damage."

"I don't know," Kara said. She did dial back the attempt to walk through the gate. "There's just something which is distracting me. And I don't know what."

Kara cupped her ear and clutched it tight. There was a ringing which escalated through her ear and it was rather hard for her to concentrate no matter what her best efforts were.

"Oh, shit."

Kara jumped up at the conversation. She could see Chloe's eyes follow the image of Milton Fine, Brainiac's human disguise, as he casually stood at the end of the cornfield.

Chloe frowned. Her last encounter with Fine didn't go all too well, and she would have hated to repeat it a second time. Kara crossed the field and edge closer in Fine's general direction.

"Stand back."

Chloe stood about a fraction of a step back. She didn't jump in to assist Kara, not yet anyway. Kara leaned closer towards Fine and used her X-Ray vision. No outline on him which made Kara realize one thing.

"You're a holographic projection," Kara said.

"Very good," Fine said. "Given the results of our last encounter, I think we can both agree it would not be advised for me to be out in the open and put this body in the direct line of fire from a hot-tempered Kryptonian."

Kara clenched her fist so hard knuckles began to turn white. It was very hard to keep calm and not to just punch something. And really, it would just be the air she was punching.

"I don't care what you're going to do, we're going to put an end to you," Kara said. "I'm going to stop you, you're not going to bring Earth down like you've brought Krypton down."

Chloe watched the two of them. Brainiac must have had some pretty long range on his holographic projector given how he must have been an entirely different location. At least, Chloe couldn't tell where he was projecting from.

"Once again, your ignorance appears at the worst possible instant," Brainiac said. "I can assure you, I am not the destroyer of Krypton. I have led to its salvation."

Kara almost shifted her eyes back and clenched her fist. He really was deluded.

"Krypton needed to be purged, and Earth…..will not be squandered by primitive beings," Brainiac said. "Therefore, the Genesis Protocol's next phase will commence. And since I can't thank your mother, I should thank you for her in your stead. This wouldn't have been possible without you."

"I'm going to find you and…"

"Soon, you're going to have to make a decision of where your loyalties truly lie," Brainiac said. "If you will choose to be branded a pariah like your mother, then you will burn like one."

Chloe watched the interplay between the two of them. The burning expression in Kara's eyes made Chloe feel rather fortunate she was not on the wrong side of the girl.

"You speak of what you don't understand."

"But, yet, you don't fully understand it," Brainiac said. "And I could waste time enlightening you, but you will refuse to listen. You cannot deny who you are deep down for too long. You are one of the few abled bodied Kryptonian survivors left….you will be perfect for this new world. If you allow yourself to embrace your true self."

Kara forgot herself for one moment and blasted the ground with heat vision. While Brainiac's hologram flickered out into the distance, the fact she used him for target practice made it feel really good. Her breathing continued to get higher, more prominent.

"Hey."

Chloe placed a hand on Kara's shoulder. She did it in a fairly tentative manner, not wanting to upset anything. Kara turned all the way around to face her.

"I'm fine," Kara answered.

"Really?" Chloe asked. "Okay, I'll believe you, but what exactly was he on about?"

"Just more rhetoric and mind games," Kara said. "He's just trying to screw with my head."

Chloe thought Kara looked very rattled for someone who was just trying to screw with her mind.

"We better find Clark though…because he's pretty much told us it's happening."

Chloe had a feeling Kara swiftly sidestepped the conversation with all the well-practiced sophistication of a politician, but she had a point. They had to find Clark.

"We just had an encounter with Brainiac," Kara said. "He's still planning to enact the Genesis Protocol. Is there any luck on your end in finding out what he's up to?"

"No, not yet, although I'm doubling up my efforts," Lara said. "If there's something out there, I'll find it. Try not to worry."

Kara tried her very hardest not to worry.

"Clark received contact from his person on the inside of LuthorCorp," Lara said. "They want to meet him at the caves, and I was wondering if you wanted to head with them…"

"Is there really any question?" Kara asked. She curled into a smile. "Of course, I'll go there….right away….will he meet me there?"

She needed to have a quick work with Clark anyway. The only thing left was Chloe. Kara wrapped her arm around Chloe's waist.

"Keep an eye on Lana," Kara said. "I wouldn't be surprised if Lex, especially now that he's involved with Brainiac, might use her as a pawn."

Chloe didn't really argue with that one. Lana was the one who came up with the shift. Kara sped Chloe to the front door before going off to meet up with Clark.

* * *

In their darkest, most frustrating time, Kara and Clark stood together. The area around the caves had been quiet, which made them think whoever it was, they were already here when they made the call to Clark. Both Kryptonians entered the caves and had a very nerve-racking feeling when they did so.

"I don't like having so many blind spots," Kara said, slightly shuddering.

Clark drew his arm around Kara and pulled her in close. He would have to agree with her. The two Kryptonian survivors stepped inside the cave, their enhanced vision allowing them a quick look around.

One of the keystones of his training was being able to master all of his surroundings. He could hear a heartbeat, faint as it might. Whoever it was tried to keep themselves calm to avoid early detection. Yet, you couldn't completely have a heartbeat stop.

Clark motioned behind him for Kara to keep in the shadows. This person was close by, and Clark would have liked to have an ace up his sleeve should push came to shove.

"Come out," Clark said. "Come out, or I'll drag you out."

A strikingly beautiful redheaded woman attired in a black button up blouse and a black skirt coming down past her knees to show the few hints of stocking clad legs. She wore a pair of boots which were more able for climbing.

"Clark," she said.

Clark looked at the woman for a few seconds. Something about her demeanor indicated familiarity towards him, but Clark had not seen the woman before in his lift.

"Have we met?" Clark asked.

"Not officially," she responded. "It's pretty complicated how we know each other."

"Hmmm," Clark said. "I've heard that a lot."

The redhead woman looked back at him with a shifty smile. She thought this was a fair enough assessment all things considered.

"My name is Tess Mercer," Tess said. "But, that's really not important right now. What's important is what Brainiac is prepping Lex for."

Clark almost stood up straight. Perhaps he had lost all sense, but he was pretty sure being prepped for something was not a good thing. Tess looked at the look on his face and responded with a swift little nod.

"Lex believes Brainiac is working on something which will strengthen the immunity of your average human being, and Lex is an ideal test subject due to his heightened immune system," Tess said. "But he's only being strengthened enough for something dangerous, with Brainiac feeding lies and misinformation to him all of the way."

Clark realized what had been warned about. Only one word went from his mouth.

"Zod."

Tess answered in the form of a firm nod. This put Clark on high alert. How did she know about all of this? How did she know about Zod? Clark was beginning to be bombarded with way too many questions, and not enough answers to be honest.

"Brainiac sees Lex as a means to an end, then," Clark said. "A means to establish his primary directive."

"It begins a series of events which could lead to the ruin of the world," Tess said. "If we can avoid it, that would be great."

Clark moved his fingers up to the bridge of his nose to give a good and solid pinch to it. Something told him there was a lot more to this situation than met the eye.

"It is unfortunate history has a nasty way of repeating itself," Tess said. "Time is persistent, one of the very things we cannot fully control. But given the alternative, not trying is the worst thing."

Everything clicked in Clark's mind. He could hardly believe it, and yet at the same time, it made all of the sense in the world.

"So, you're a time traveler," Clark said.

"In a sense, I am," Tess responded.

Tess thought it would be hard to explain. She walked forward and placed an arm on Clark's. Edging closer towards him, she smiled.

"When I come from, you are a symbol of hope, even when all hope has been lost to the darkness," Tess said. "But, we don't want to even start that road if we can help it."

"So it is beginning."

Tess turned around and came face to face with a familiar face. She smiled.

Kara and Tess went face to face with each other. Tess nodded in recognition, and Kara frowned. Should she know this woman?

"Yes, it is beginning; the road to the end."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 27** **th** **, 2016.**


	17. Chapter 17

_The annual 2016 story of the year poll is up, linked to all of the profiles you are reading this. Voting closes on December 31st.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Seventeen: Stand Together.**

Anticipation hit one Lex Luthor hard. His new partner, Milton Fine, assured him this would change the world. He would believe it when he saw it and believed everything when he experienced it firsthand. The moment when he received this procedure and only the moment he received this procedure, he would be under the assumption talk would be cheap. Until then, he would only wait, watch, and ponder to see what he would do.

There were many different ways where this could go, and he couldn't wait to see what could be accomplished.

He drummed his fingers against the edge of the chair. Lex leaned back a couple of inches and then bounced up. Patience had been born in him a long time ago. Even the most patient of men suffered for their art under many occasions. Lex shifted his neck a half of an inch back and the frown just deepened. He snapped a gaze back towards the front of the room.

The doors opened and Milton Fine approached him. The man always walked in a slow and meticulous manner with no wasted movement. He stepped even closer towards the man in question. Fine slowly looked up to look Lex directly in the eyes.

"It's time."

"I'm glad," Lex said. "This procedure, I don't want anyone else to be put through it.""

"I beg your pardon?" Fine asked.

Lex thought his point had been made perfectly clear, but maybe it wasn't exactly completely clear. He took a step closer to look into Fine. Those eyes lacked any kind of being, any kind of soul. They unnerved Lex more than they should.

"I don't want anyone else to be put through a procedure I'm not willing and ready to go through on my own," Lex said. "Do you not agree this is fair?"

Several ticks of the clock passed. Fine only walked backward a step and motioned Lex to go through the doorway. For a second, Lex thought he was being ignorance and a full three minutes passed before he said something.

"If you must," Fine said. "The procedure is almost perfected. All it is needed for someone with the strength to survive."

Lex figured he was in a no-lose situation. The procedure would work, and he would experience sensations beyond his wildest imagination. An entire world lingered in front of him, just waiting to be opened up. Lex anticipated what might happen next and excitement just brimmed through him. He could see beyond the wildest dreams of man.

There was another alternative. The other outcome would be where this procedure would not work. Lex put this as far away out of his mind as possible. He was convinced and confident it would work. Regardless, he was in a no-lose situation.

Fine looked towards him, the unasked question of whether or not Lex was sure not being asked.

"Let's do this," Lex said. "You seem to be confident this particular procedure will go through as intended."

"Yes, although there might be some pain when your body assimilates," Fine said.

Fine understood Lex could be perfect. His human mind might be shredded, but it was honestly a small inconvenience Fine would have to deal with.

"Then it's time for me to become something else entirely," Lex said. "Get me ready."

"Remove your shirt and your pants and we can prepare you to become something else," Fine said.

Lex made certain the door had been secured. He most certainly did not want anyone to barge in on this. Especially if there was a chance the experiment could be corrupted. Lex stripped his clothes off and walked over towards the table. The equipment Fine set up most certainly had been set up as state of the art. The man knew what he was doing.

The businessman traced one finger down the edge of the table and the frown deepened. He most certainly had a pretty good idea what was in store for him.

"I've checked into your security," Fine said. "There should be no interruptions."

"Never assume any security to be fool proof," Lex said. He crawled onto the edge of the table and laid back. "It's obvious you know what you're doing, so go ahead and doing it."

"You may feel a slight stinging sensation."

A syringe slipped into Fine's hand. The man walked over and inserted something into the side of Lex's neck. An inflammatory feeling exploded through the body of the bald young man. His hips thrashed, rising and falling in an attempt to get a hold of himself.

"Settle yourself, relax," Fine answered. He stepped back and allowed Lex to thrash in and out. The beeping on the equipment to the side showed Fine so far the procedure was working as intended. "Just block out everything else around you. Take a deep breath and calm down. Just focus on what you're becoming as I prepare you for the next stage."

Another beeping sound not coming from the equipment scanning Lex brought Fine's attention away from the man. It had to do with the security network. Fine frowned. Someone managed to breach the first gates outside. It could pose a problem if they had gotten inside. They positioned themselves in the center of the lab. Fine pressed a couple of buttons to ensure they would be delayed even further.

"Now, it's the moment of truth," Fine said. "Your realization will be at hand."

More chemicals pumped into Lex's body. Fine observed his body changing at the cellular level. He kept thrashing up and down against the straps. Had he not been restrained, this could be a problem. The man's heart started beating even faster, rejecting what his body was becoming.

"Stay with me," Fine said, pressing down onto Lex's temple. "Stay with me, do not fail me, not now, not ever….just keep breathing. Feel the changes, feel your body turning into something else."

A small splatter of blood flew from Lex's mouth when he trashed up and down. His vitals went all over the face before they flat lined for a moment.

Fine stepped back, calm and collected, not certain what would come next to him. A long moment passed as Fine reached over and pressed a button. More energy surrounded Lex. His body gave off a glow which would blind any human.

The machine stood back, barely avoiding the glow from hitting his eyes. He waited and watched, to see if it would work.

"It is time to wake up," Fine said. "Time to be prepared for the true Kryptonian, for my master. It's time, I hope you're ready."

Lex flashed open and nearly shot up out of bed. The straps broke from the bed and flew over. They smashed into the wall and dented it from the force he rocketed them off.

Then, Lex could see beyond the comprehension of mortal man. He could hear, he could smell, and he was certain he could taste and feel beyond what all men were capable of.

"I see everything!"

* * *

Tess hoped they would buy her explanation. She could see Kara looking from her to Clark and back again. They were making their way to the facility. They didn't have much time to stop him.

Kara, in particular, was mentally working overtime. She didn't know how, she didn't know why, but there was something about Tess which seemed familiar. There were some scattered thoughts in the back of her mind. Tess explaining she was, at least mentally speaking, from the future, seemed absurd.

Yet, somehow, it made a whole lot of sense. And she didn't know why.

"So, what do you think?" Kara asked.

"I don't know," Clark said. "It makes a lot of sense when you really think about it."

"It makes perfect sense," Tess said. "I know you're wondering if I'm just leading you on. The ship…..I wasn't certain it would do that when provoked. Brainiac is pretty savvy even when you have foreknowledge. He was programmed to adapt, which he received from the source programming."

"Yes, before he got corrupted," Kara said.

Tess turned her attention to Clark, who had been frowning. She could tell right away he was really thinking about it. The three of them crossed over towards the front gate. The lack of physical security guards gave Tess a fair amount of pause.

Something really was really curious about this.

"Security at the first gate shouldn't be too hard," she remarked. She pulled out the key card she borrowed from a catatonic Lionel Luthor and swiped it through the gate entrance.

"It's what's beyond that gate which worries me," Kara said.

Clark noticed Kara remained composed most of the time. Now, something was very different. She was a bit off today, and Clark wondered what was bothering her so much. He turned towards her and was about to answer a question. The question never left his mouth due to the loud whirling echoing above the young man's head. The whirling continued to grow above the young man's head.

Three drones appeared in the sky from a concealed set of bushes. They were armed to fire and ready to go.

Tess touched hands to hips and frowned when looking towards the drones hovering above her head. Clark took a half of a step to Tess's side, locked onto the drones stalking her, and fired a blast of heat vision. The heat vision caught the drone. The drone went up like a Roman candle high across the sky.

Appearances looked to be extremely deceiving when the drone lingered in the sky. It blasted Clark in the chest. Clark cupped his hand and blocked the second blast before jumping high into the air. He put his hand through the drone and ripped out the circuits from one of it.

Kara climbed up to face the drone. The drone fired a missile towards her. Kara lifted a hand to block the attack, spin around, and fire the missile directly back at the offending object. The drone knocked back several feet and crashed down onto the ground with a solid thud.

The Girl of Steel had no time to waste and even fewer chances to wait. Two more hidden drones locked onto her. They fired cables to wrap around Kara by the neck, the arms, and the legs. The wires proved to be hard to break even using her Kryptonian strength.

Must have been Brainiac's input, at least Kara figured.

Tess reached into her pocket and pulled out a portable device. She pushed a couple of buttons on the top of it.

The drones released Kara. Kara dropped down to the ground. Tess turned around and started to press into the security around them. The drones turned their attention towards her and started to fire.

Kara caught the cables from one of the drones and swung it like a baseball bat. The drones crashed together and exploded. She pulled back and realized how much attention it would draw. Kara dropped down onto the ground. Tess walked over to check on her.

"Now we're even," Kara said.

"No, we can never be even after all you've done for me," Tess said. "A lot of it, you don't really remember."

"Should I?" Kara asked.

No time to answer that particular question. Clark hopped on top of one of the drones. The drone sent energy through him and caused him to land on the ground with a huge thump. The Kryptonian survivor dropped firmly to a standing position and ripped a large chunk of rock out of the ground. Clark pushed the rock towards the offending drone to block the laser fire. His muscles rippled the further the rock pushed into the drone's firing sequence.

"Get me inside that terminal right there," Tess said. "I can get the security shot down….at least most of it. Fine's just trying to buy time now."

"Which means the procedure has already begun," Kara said. She dropped down, and then bounced back up. One of the red orbs which fell off the drone launched at the speed of light.

Kara launched a super powered fastball to an army of drones. She wondered how many LuthorCorp had, and they had been weaponized to take down meteor mutants, and likely they could do the same against Kryptonians. Kara found an electrified net almost wrapped around her. She blocked it, hands sizzling before she hurled the net up and ensnared two of the drones.

Clark scooped Tess underneath his arm. "Keep your head down."

Tess didn't have to be told twice what to do. Clark maneuvered them around the drones with Kara providing them further cover. The two of them dropped down and the door pushed open.

"I don't know how much time you have, so you better make it fast.."

Tess had plenty of time to regain her bearings when they were out of the woods. Well, at least when they were out of the woods about this particular thing. She put something down and hooked it into the computer.

"I need to establish a remote link to my hacker, she knows a thing or two about Brainiac's core programming, it's a shame we can't get close enough to shut him down completely," Tess said. "That would require finding the master copy and Brainiac is savvy enough not to put that in any place convenient."

She rifled through her shirt pocket and pulled out a crystal object. Tess pressed it against Clark's palm.

"When you encounter Brainiac, this should do the trick in disrupting him," Tess said. "And when you encounter Lex, do what you have to do to stop him!"

"What are you going to do?" Clark asked.

Tess paused for a minute, biting down on her lip before answering the question.

"I'm going to keep at shutting down everything in the building," Tess said. "And I need to block the satellites from receiving upload links, that's important. So, if I end up dying again…"

Tess forcefully grabbed Clark by the face and planted a kiss on his lips. She had wanted to do a whole lot more, but that would have to wait for a more convenient moment.

Clark pulled back for a second, her brazen move having surprised them. Especially given this was someone who just he just met earlier today.

"You have no idea how long I waited for that," Tess said. "Stop Brainiac, stop Lex, and save the world."

Clark rejoined Kara outside. The remaining drones had been stopped. The two Kryptonian survivors met eye to eye with each other, wondering what their next play was.

"We have a situation," Lara said.

"Yes?" Clark asked.

"There's a weird signal coming up, and it's trying to access several major computer systems around the world," Lara said. "It hasn't locked in, not yet, but it's sending feelings."

"It has to be Brainiac," Kara said.

"Yes, you have to find him," Lara said.

"Tess mentioned he would be in the center of the base," Kara said.

"And then that's where we're going."

Clark turned around and zoomed off with Kara close behind him. Both of them knew what was at stake and they most importantly knew the risks. All risks were worth taking when the world was on the line.

There would be an even greater risk for them doing nothing.

* * *

Lex took a moment to just look around the room. He had an entirely new sense of being which could have overwhelmed someone who was of lesser intelligence. Lex prided himself on opening his mind to new experiences and new pleasures. And these new experiences and new pleasures were marvelous as possible.

This particular moment took the cake, though. Lex closed his eyes and it just allowed him to see something on an entirely new level. He opened them back up. Everything was different shapes, different colors, differences which could not be perceived by standard human eyes. He flexed his fingers.

"I can see everything," Lex said. "I can hear everything. I can smell everything."

Lex tilted his head back to take it all in. His fingers touched the air and brushed something in the air. The tingling spread down his extremities and Lex absorbed the world far different than any other human could have done so.

"I can touch everything," Lex said. "I can taste everything."

The young millionaire's lips smacked together several times for emphasis. Fine didn't share his jubilation or even show any amusement. He just nodded in a mechanical manner.

"You were the perfect one to receive this experiment," Fine said. "And despite the fact, you nearly died, so I'm not certain if you have obtained perfection as much as you thought."

"Oh, I disagree," Lex said. "I think we both agree I have gone far beyond perfection. So far beyond perfection."

Lex found it quite peculiar the one thing he could not hear was Milton Fine's heartbeat. He could hear the heartbeats of himself, and several other people down the hallway. Lex frowned, his heart sounded a bit different, stronger even.

It just proved how much he evolved.

"We have a saying you may have heard of," Lex said. He rose to his feet and realized he was hovering above the ground. "Interesting...I feel like I'm lighter than air."

"You are more than that," Fine said. A small amount of emotion crept into the face of the otherwise emotionless man. "You are now faster than a speeding bullet. More powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap entire buildings in one single bound."

"Fascinating," Lex said.

Fine hurled a ball from one part of the lab to the next with a surprising amount of speed and force. Lex sped into position to catch it. It was a catch he could not have made if he was not human.

' _Too good to be true,'_ Fine said. _'The son of Jor-El would have made the ideal vessel, and the perfect revenge. But Lex Luthor will work just fine. Soon the one true Kryptonian will be free, and he will have a body which to rule and bring back Krypton.'_

"The Genesis Protocol's first step is a success," Lex said. "You should be congratulated upon that. Not many could have pulled off such a lofty assignment."

"I have you to thank, Mr. Luthor," Fine said. "The two of us should work together in the future. You never know what kind of strides we will make when becoming one."

Lex wondered if he even needed Fine given his own amplifying brain power. Signs he should have seen a long time ago, especially regarding a young farm boy from Kansas, came to light. Lex thought he should have known.

' _The secret is right underneath your nose,'_ Lex said. _'Something else other than meteors fell from the sky on that October afternoon, didn't it?'_

Lex ran hands across the top of his head. His own baldness had always been, unfortunately, but it was a gift in some ways. Lex extended his neck towards Fine.

"I believe we can proceed with the next phase of the Genesis Protocol if there is another one," Lex said. "While I doubt you can improve on perfection, there are test subjects ready now I've verified the process works."

Fine nodded in response. The best of them all would be inside Lex. Fine still needed to prepare the other vessels for the General's loyal troops and there was still some work to be done.

"Phase three is upon us," Fine said. "A certain Mr. Kent appears to be overstepping his bounds. Why don't you have a discussion with him?"

Lex sensed Clark approaching closer. A discussion between himself and Clark was long overdue. After all of the lies, all of the deception Clark maliciously did over the years, Lex needed to make him pay, make him kneel, make him see the world through the eyes of someone who was far weaker.

* * *

Clark crossed his fingers. They made it down three hallways without any incident. Kara stopped and looked towards Clark.

"Why don't I go around that way, and you go this way?" Kara asked. "We can surround him from two sides."

Kara turned around to look down the tunnel and then disappear, leaving her cousin to go the other way. Clark listened for something. All he heard was the same dull hum which surrounded the building. Brainiac must have been using some kind of frequency to block his super senses which proved to be some pretty bad news.

The only thing Clark could do right now was play this by ear and hope he could find his way around the building. The sound grew even more annoying and even more prominent.

A scream pierced through the air and almost knocked Clark back. Clark staggered for a second.

"Where are you?" Clark asked.

Nothing happened. Clark pushed open the door to the lab. He expected something, perhaps an ambush, or something along those lines. What he got destroyed all of those expectations. Clark stepped into the middle of a dimly lit and very empty room.

The lights all kicked on and Clark stood up straight. A blur zipped in front of him and the moment the blur stopped, Clark could see him. It was Lex, standing right in front of him.

"Hello, Clark," Lex said. "Fancy meeting you here. But, it seems like you're always in a place some humble farm boy shouldn't be."

Clark could see something in Lex's eyes. They were unblinking, and it unnerved Clark greatly.

"You're not well….."

"Thanks for your concern," Lex said. "Allow me to correct you, though. You couldn't be more wrong. I'm very well. I'm very grand. Life is great."

Lex zipped across the room and crushed an iron bar into his hand just to show how well he was.

"I know how you feel when you do it," Lex said. "It feels so good to have this kind of power."

"The human mind can't withstand the kind of power Brainiac gave you," Clark said.

Clark did not want to fight him, even though Tess warned him about the fact it was inevitable he would have to do so. Both of them locked eye to eye.

"Oh, I'm human, therefore I can't withstand your type of power," Lex said. "I see."

For a second, Clark assumed Lex was just going to lash out and take him down.

"I am surprised someone with the power of the god would lower themselves to your level," Lex said. "The values your parents gave you, they must have been strong. They made you a good person, a noble young man. And they also made you afraid of who you are, and what you could really do. And you fear what you're capable of."

Lex stepped closer towards him.

"Deep down, I think I always knew over the past five years," Lex said. "You have the power of a God. Your mind is someone who is more down to Earth and you lack something very vital. The proper perspective on how to use your power. For I've always had a powerful mind, and finally, my body is stronger than ever before."

"You're sick, Lex, you're not strong, you're sick," Clark said.

"Oh, I suppose I'm supposed to see someone who can fix my mind and erase the parts of myself which are inconvenient to you," Lex said. "You and Lionel have much more in common than I thought you did."

Lex drew in a breath and stood to his full height. His gaze went down to Clark, locking eye to eye with him.

"You have three choices," Lex said. "You can either stand beside me, stand aside from me, or be annihilated."

Clark rushed in and tried to nail Lex. Lex caught his arm with one punch and hoisted Clark above his head before hurling him outside.

"I think you may need some fresh air."

Lex hovered above Clark when he laid on a pile of broken glass. Brainiac found a way to strengthen Lex.

' _Fine, you want to do this.'_

Clark was done playing soft. It was time to get to work. He stared down at Lex and charged at him with Lex doing the same.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on 12/4/2016.**

* * *

 **Business picks up as we go to the final chapter of 2016 next week.  
**


	18. Chapter 18

_And now, the final chapter of 2016._

* * *

 **Chapter Eighteen: Sacrifice.**

Everything remained silent in the most unbearable way. Time crept by and one of the Survivors of Krypton slowly passed around the corner.

Kara hoped she could make her way around the other side to get the jump on Lex and on Brainiac. The lack of sounds coming from around her was more than alarming. She intended to get around this corner without any pressing incident. The blonde swung her arms to pick up speed and moved around the corner in a blink of an eye.

A scream pierced the air and resulted in Kara jumping back. She hit the ceiling and came back down to a standing position. A louder and more agonizing scream continued. Kara pressed both hands on the door and leaned in to shove it open.

The door gave a very tiny amount of resistance. Kara summoned up every ounce of strength she could to drive the door open. The door swung back and landed with a sickening thud against the wall. The Girl of Steel stepped into the room and peered around the corner. What she saw, it caused a sickening feeling to fill her body.

She came face to face with Milton Fine who was in the process of injecting a man with something. The decayed form of a second man on the ground showed Kara the depraved depths of where he would go. Kara charged him.

Not exactly the smartest strategy, but emotions ran very high, and Kara needed to protect this poor man who was in agonizing pain.

The intended punch bounced off of an energy barrier and rocked Kara back to the ground. Kara dropped down onto her knees, the air being driven from her lungs. Cables retracting from the ground prevented Kara from getting back to her feet. The Girl of Steel thrashed and struggled against the cables. No matter how much she squirmed or thrashed, the cables remained in place.

"I'm going to save you the breath. There is a high statistical probability I will be getting away with this."

Heated gaze went towards Brainiac

"I was wondering when you would interfere in my plans," Brainiac said. He shook his head. "You should really learn your place."

"Yeah, well your place is in the scrap heap."

Kara put power behind those these words by tearing the cables from the ground and flinging them off to the side. The Girl of Steel freed herself and moved to try and disable the force field protecting Brainiac from retribution.

"The anger going through your eyes amuses me," Brainiac said. "If I were capable of such emotions as amusement. You know deep down you're as much of a fool as your mother was with her plans to stop Krypton's destruction. She had the best intentions in mind, but history judges her as a failure. She deserved everything all of the pain which came with the end of her exile."

Brainiac hoisted a hand up and fired an energy blast at Kara. A white-hot blast of energy flared through the dodged the attack. The computer returned to working on powering up his monsters. He smiled when one of them rose up.

The man rose to a standing position with glowing eyes and clawed hands. His entire skin shined with very angry red. He stormed over at Kara's general direction, a snarl crossing over his face.

"That pain you feel, I can fix it, make it stop," Brainiac said. "All you need to do is destroy her."

Brainiac extended one very long finger towards Kara to point the enraged, and agonized, man forward. The Meteor Mutant opened his mouth and screamed. An energy blast fired at her. Kara dipped underneath the attack before it nailed her in the side of the head. The Girl of Steel popped up with a huge punch to the head and knocked him down.

A second Meteor Mutant rushed her from behind. A blast of red energy nailed her. Kara dodged the attack and fired a blast of heat vision in response. The creature answered her attack by extending a hand back and smacking Kara hard in the face.

She flipped over onto the ground and skidded to a stop, landing knee first onto the ground. Kara rose up to a standing position and the meteor mutant continued to pour on the assault. Red energy blast after red energy blast stopped inches away from connecting with her face.

' _Can't let them hit me. Need all the strength I have to stop Brainiac.'_

These energy blasts did not come even close to clipping her. The Girl of Steel avoided the attack before she had been taken down. She pushed back the attack and nailed her pursuer as hard as she could.

' _Why am I so weak?'_ she managed. It hit her suddenly with all of the subtle nature of a punch to the face. _'He can transmute red solar energy. Of course!'_

The first monster grabbed Kara around the throat and tightened the grip around him. Kara squirmed and tried to break free when her body became weaker and her feet dragged upon the ground. His beefy hands pushed down onto the side of her neck in an attempt to strangle every burst of life out of her. Kara summoned the resolve to break free and kick him up against the wall.

One meteor freak ascended high into the air and crashed down onto the other one. Kara pulled herself up to a standing position and picked up the gurney. She propelled it at the creature with an amazing force. The creature with the energy blasts caught the metal in the stomach and fell down.

Kara collapsed to one knee. Brainiac lifted her up by the neck and hurled her back against the wall.

"Soon, you're going to witness the return of a true Krypton," Brainiac said. "Do you not remember? Let me give you the incentive to."

Brainiac bombarded Kara's mind with a heavy blast. A rush of memories rushed, suppressed for various reasons. She screamed when the mind numbing force hit her.

She broke free from the mind probe and nailed Brainiac with all of the force. She realized when connecting it was a drone she was dealing with and not the real deal.

Kara collapsed to the ground, blood spurting from her nose from the headache she received. Everything came back to her, in the worst possible way, at the worst possible time.

' _Sweet merciful Rao!'_ Kara thought, revelations she blocked away having hit her entirely.

* * *

Lex had been waiting for an opportunity to show true power. He would have to ensure Clark respected what he had to deliver. Clark rushed towards him. Lex could see his hesitation in his movements. He would not have the same amount of hesitation. Not if he wanted to change the world for the better.

' _I admire your virtue, I really do,'_ Lex thought.

Lex blocked Clark and hooked his arm. It was a powerful grip which Clark could block if he did not have the instincts burned into his body to not hurt them. The Kents brought him up right, never to use his powers to hurt another too badly.

The Kents and their values worked well for Lex tonight. Clark hesitated and still thought Lex was the sick one, the deranged one, the delusion one, even if it was obvious.

"You will be better on your knees before a superior!"

He tried to push Clark down to the ground to his knees. Clark broke free and sent Lex spiraling back a couple of inches. Lex returned fire, blasting Clark with heat vision. It was unrefined, at least for a moment.

"You hid your secrets well!" Lex yelled. "You lied to me. I offered you friendship, and you were no better than my father. To you, I was your pawn!"

"Lex, it wasn't….."

"A Luthor is no one's pawn!"

Clark rushed Lex one more time and returned fire with a punch to the midsection. He grabbed Lex by the shirt and hoisted him up before throwing him down to the ground. Lex crashed against the fence and bounced back up a second later.

The wind had knocked out of Lex. He smiled.

"Maybe you do have a fight in you after all. Good, if you rolled over and let me defeat you, I would be disappointed."

Lex approached Clark, barely with a scratch on him. Clark charged Lex one more time and tried for a punch. Lex blocked the attack and nailed Clark with a couple of elbow strikes to the side of the neck. Clark staggered a few inches back.

"I'm getting stronger," Lex said. "And you're not….you really don't know what to do with all of that great power, do you?"

Clark blocked Lex before he smashed a rock down upon his head. The two former friends struggled over the rock. Clark fired a heat vision blast through the rocks which crumbled in Lex's hand. Clark popped up and started to swing for the fences with a multitude of punches.

"Brainiac is controlling you, he's setting you up, you're going to be a vessel."

"Oh, you think I need help," Lex said. "Keep pounding that drum, Clark. And keep thinking you're the virtuous one who has done nothing wrong."

Lex nailed Clark as hard as he could. The throat crushing punch caused Clark to fall over. He breathed heavily. The yellow sunlight healed the damage but it was hard to breathe in the meantime. Clark rolled up to standing position and staggered over.

Heat vision burned off Clark's shirt when Lex nailed him with the beams.

"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Lex said. He stepped back. "Burning feeling is annoying, but I'll deal with it later."

Clark distracted Lex with a very loud clap of his hands. The young man's ears had been rattled by Clark's attack.

"Going to have to get used to the super senses," Clark said.

Lex tried to block out the throbbing in his head. He would adapt, he would always adapt. He was a Luthor, adaptability was bred in them from a very early age. Seconds passed before Clark rushed behind Lex. He hooked the young man's arm and pushed him against the wall.

"You don't understand this, do you?" Lex asked. "I'm extraordinary, and now…"

Clark grabbed Lex around the side of the neck and put pressure a point which he knew would take him out. Lex slumped against the ground and Clark continued to bring him down.

It was time for Clark to keep Lex down. His heart beat a bit faster while holding Lex down across the ground.

A burning blast of acid caught Clark in the back. He dropped down to a kneeling position on the ground. A meteor mutant stepped forward, arms swinging. One look into this meteor infected man's eyes told Clark all he needed to know.

' _The lights are on, nobody's home.'_

Another one retracted long fingernails and lunged towards Clark with an intention to slice into him. Clark burned the nails off with his heat vision. The man staggered back in agony, before growing his fingernails back to the same size and retracting them like whips.

Clark avoided the razor-sharp whips from slicing into his body. He blocked the fingernails and kicked back. The meteor infected dropped to the ground for the count, at least for now.

The scratches and cuts on Clark's body began to heal.

' _No rest for the wicked.'_

Clark avoided the punch from the meteor mutant. The two of them engaged in a battle. The meteor mutant opened his mouth and spit acid at Clark. Clark evaded and returned fire by nailing him in the shoulder with a headbutt.

A third man slumped into the shadows. He scooped up Lex and the two of them faded into a shadow of mist, disappearing into the night.

Clark could not give chase, not that he knew where they went. The Meteor Mutants surrounded Clark and pulled rank close around him.

Kara sped towards the battle, blood dripping down her nose and mouth. She nailed the acid spitting meteor mutant in the chest and caused him to drop down to the ground.

She dropped down, and Clark looked concerned at the look on Kara's face. She should not have to bleed for this long. But, it wasn't the blood which concerned Clark. It was the haunted look in Kara's eyes. She had the look of finding out something.

"Kara…."

"This didn't go as we expected."

"What's wrong?" Clark asked.

"If Lex is gone, that's what's wrong," Kara said.

* * *

Clark really barely had a chance to regroup or anything before the two Kryptonians moved off to hunt Lex down. His ears were still ringing. So close to having Lex down and keeping him down, but the meteor mutant slipped off into the night with Lex, and without another world.

"Tess has vanished," Clark said. "I really hope something didn't happen to her."

"Tess can handle herself," Kara said.

Clark looked at Kara, something was really wrong. She was in a funny mood.

All of those repressed memories flooding back to her, they jarred Kara. She tried to say it was just an attempt by Brainiac to screw with her mind. The deeper she pushed them, though, the more she realized how far they had been suppressed.

' _Don't worry now, Kal needs your help,'_ Kara thought. _'Deal with Brainiac and Lex first, stop Zod from being brought here…..then figure out from there.'_

The two of them looked over towards Metropolis. The city had been lit up given how it was night, at least for a second.

"There's another lab that Brainiac is using here," Kara said. "It's the only lab he can be using that even has close to the facilities to pull off the Genesis Protocol."

Clark didn't know how she knew that but appreciated she did. The two locked hand to hand with each other when continuing their forward movement.

"He's still on that one," Clark said. "You're okay. You don't look very well."

"One of the meteor mutants can simulate Krypton's red sun," Kara said. "So, it depleted my reserves. And considering its night they aren't replenishing as fast as they could."

Kara rubbed the top of her head. Clark accepted her response at face value, for now at least. It was the trust they held which allowed him to do so, and Kara hated for it to be destroyed by telling him the truth.

' _The truth is a difficult thing,'_ she thought to herself. _'How can I tell it to him when I can barely process it myself?'_

She had been running from the truth so long it had been an alarming prospect. Kara tried to be reasonable to herself and remember the fact it was information which had been suppressed by someone in her mind. It would take a long time to assimilate these memories.

' _Now is not the time or the place.'_

A jolt of energy erupted high up top in Metropolis. The buildings around them lit up and started to flicker. Some of them blacked completely out. Half of downtown Metropolis was blacked completely out.

"Mother, there's a power surge in Metropolis," Clark said.

"Yes, my sensors have the Fortress have picked it up as well," Lara said. "There's an extraordinary amount of energy….but for what Zod is doing, it's obvious. He needs all of the power he can to charge the crystals, now that the Fortress has been locked down."

"If he charges the crystals he can…"

Kara allowed the other part of her statement to be lost to all time. No one needed for her to finish her sentence because it was completely obvious where this one was going.

"Yes, if he charges the crystals, he will be able to open up a portal to the Phantom Zone," Lara concluded.

"He intends to retrieve Zod, "Clark muttered.

The meteor mutant dragged off Lex, therefore whatever plan Brainiac had was still in play. Lex might have suffered minor injuries in the battle.

"If he opens up the portal and can't control it, Zod is going to be the least of our worries, I'm afraid," Lara said. "It's of utmost importance you shut down the portal."

"We'll do it if we can find him," Clark said.

"I believe it's in the center of Metropolis," Lara said.

Clark craned his neck and his enhanced eyesight followed the progress of the glowing energy. Sure enough, Lara was correct; it was in the center of the city. Zod put a huge blinking beacon for them to follow. It was almost like an invitation.

"So, are you ready to do this?" Kara asked.

"Not being ready is a luxury we can't afford to have," Clark said. He stood up with pride and wished everything would go on smoothly. "Let's go out and stop Brainiac, save the world….this time for good."

Kara liked Clark's optimism in a situation like this. She had her doubts they could stop him in time. Still, not attempting would cement Brainiac successfully pulling this one off.

"Before we go, I need to tell you something, it's…well, it's very important," Kara said. "It's…"

Kara trailed off. Clark looked at her curiously for a second. One point, he wanted to know what she wanted to tell him. On the other hand, he had only one question to ask her.

"Do you think it can wait until after we take care of Brainiac?"

Kara paused, considered, and slowly nodded. She almost kicked herself for overcomplicating things.

"Nothing is more important than saving the world," Kara said.

"Oh, I think anything you have to say is important," Clark said. "But, I think we shouldn't be distracted from this."

Little did Clark know, Kara's mind already worked a mile a minute.

' _Much too late for that,'_ Kara thought.

Kara focused on what was ahead and put the past behind her. Clark took the lead and she followed something which rarely happened. Brainiac's mind probe did a number on her confidence. And made here question everything she ever knew about life and herself.

* * *

Brainiac positioned himself over the fallen body of Lex. He studied the young man. Despite having an intense battle with the son of Jor-El, Lex barely had a scratch on him. This much boded quite well for Brainiac's plans. He leaned down closer towards the young man sprawled out on the table.

"So far, all of the tests are a success," Brainiac said. "You will wake up as a new man, Mr. Luthor. And you will be a much better man, just as the General's forces are brought to Earth."

He might not have been able to banish all of humanity, but it was only a small inconvenience. Brainiac checked the energy signatures to ensure they were properly calibrated. When he verified they were, a smug little smirk crossed over the face of the android.

"Nothing can stop me, Earth's destiny is to kneel before Zod!"

"You want to bet on that?"

Brainiac turned his attention towards the Son of Jor-El. The machine didn't fear anything this young man could do against him.

"You can't stop this, no matter how much you try to do so," Brainiac said. "You see, I've learned one thing about you."

Clark stopped. Kara grabbed his arm and held him back. They needed to be in the perfect position to do so.

"You will never harm an innocent human life, and this…..meat bag on the table, is an innocent human life in your eyes," Brainiac said. "Despite the cruelty, he's capable of, you seek to redeem him because you think you can fix the entire world's problems. An idealist fool like your father. The only way to fix a planet's problem is through conquest."

Contempt flashed through Clark's eyes.

"You're wrong," Clark said.

"A typical response from a foolish organic," Brainiac said. "Smashing the crystals will do nothing. Lex Luthor is the nexus point to the Phantom Zone. You want to shut down the portal; you're going to have to kill him. And I don't think you have it in you to do that."

Clark's bluff had been called by Brainiac. Killing Lex would force him to cross a line. But not killing him would lead to Brainiac's plan succeeding. He put Clark in a corner and knew it.

Kara stood, looking from Lex to Clark. Her entire world had been spun upside down, but if Lex lived and Zod had been brought to Earth, things could get very ugly.

"The Phantom Zone will be unleashed, as will Zod!" Brainiac yelled. "It's unfortunate you don't get to live to see that."

Tears streamed in Kara's eyes. She had been sent here to protect Kal, ensure he remains of a pure heart. And she knew what had to be done now, to ensure he stayed this way.

' _Forgive me, Kal."_

Kara was a second away from snapping Lex's neck. Clark jumped in front of her and for a second, she thought he was going to be the one to put Lex out of his misery.

Instead, Clark dove over the table and impaled a power crystal through Brainiac's chest. The energy shot through the chest plate of the former Master Computer of Krypton. Arms and legs swung in every direction with Brainiac trying his hardest to keep his systems intact.

"You can't stop me, nothing can be stopped!" Brainiac howled. The agony spread through his entire system.

The crystal started to feed coding to Brainiac prime which also disrupted and corrupted his system. The drone fell to the ground, melting into a pile of silver goop on the ground.

"He's done, but the portal is still activated," Kara said. "We're going to have to do it."

Kara's hands shook, but Clark stopped her.

"Wait, look," Clark said.

The energy orb in the center of the room started swirling around and collecting an ample amount of energy above Lex's sprawled out body. Clark and Kara locked eyes with each other.

"We can shut it down, can't we?" Clark asked.

"Maybe," Kara said. "If we redirect the portal….we can stop what's going to come out….create a loop…but something has to go into the Phantom Zone for it to work."

Clark charged through the orb and placed his hand on it. The energy almost rocked his entire body when touching the orb. The vibration came through his body.

Kara grabbed onto Clark to pull him away before it was too late. A blinding bright light filled the room. Both Kryptonians disappeared in a flash of light.

Lex stirred and his eyes shot open, bloodshot and glowing.

* * *

Clark dropped down face first onto the ground. Dust kicked into the air and almost staggered him. The broken orb rolled over and slid off of the edge of a large floating rock fragment. He dropped into parts unknown. Clark watched its descent.

The whispers of something unsettling visited Clark. Where he was, he had a funny feeling it was not a good place for him to be. Clark adjusted to the different atmosphere, different to what was used for on Earth. The dust made his eyes water.

"Kara?"

Even his voice sounded very different and unsettling to his own ear. Clark stepped forward. The mist surrounding him made it very difficult to concentrate.

Something wrapped in a billowy red robe slipped closer into the shadows. Clark reached down and tried to speed towards it. He dropped down onto the ground.

It was almost like someone sucked all of the energy out of him.

"Clark."

Kara staggered over to grip him. She looked as fatigued as Clark felt. An extended hand helped Clark up to his feet. He almost collapsed when Kara pulled him out of the sight of this robed figure.

"Just keep calm, we'll find a way out of here somehow," Kara said. "We're going to have to keep moving before they come."

Clark noticed the fear in her voice and realized something extremely strange was going on. The two of them made their way over a cave.

"It feels like it's been a few seconds since we left, but it's been a longer time, hasn't it?" Clark asked.

"Time doesn't work here the same way….."

Kara yanked Clark deep into the cave. Several dark wraiths flew past them, not once looking at them. Time passed when the two captive Kryptonians waited. They couldn't even breathe because any signs of life would enrage them.

"Thankfully, no blood was spilled," Kara said. "They would be after us and there would be no stopping them."

Clark realized something in an instant. He could not believe it.

"We were sent into the Phantom Zone," Clark said.

"Well, remember how I told you something needed to be sent through for the portal to be closed properly," Kara said. Clark answered with a nod. "That something is us."

Clark could barely even stand. He collapsed down on the rocks.

The Phantom Zone was created for some of the most hardened criminals in the known galaxies, and was something even dangerous men feared. They were here with no powers, and potentially no hope of escape.

No way out. How were they going to last?

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 8** **th** **, 2017.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen: Long Way From Home.**

* * *

Kara never wanted to step into the Phantom Zone for the rest of her life. She heard more than enough stories about one of the worst places in the universe. She stood, and put herself between Clark and the exit from the cave. Her heart started to beat heavier when she looked out into the mist. The whispers which came from the area around the Fortress made Kara clench her fist. She summoned all of the courage she could.

' _Not good, not good at all,'_ Kara thought. _'Going to have to keep your wits about you.'_

Everything looked redefined torment. Some prisoners were destroyed when being sent in the Phantom Zone. Those who did not destroy found a way to thrive despite the harsh elements. This made them extremely dangerous and made Kara on edge. She stepped outside to look around.

' _The coast seems clear,'_ Kara thought. _'But, I don't know. There's just something…..I don't know what's happening. It's really awful.'_

Kara responded with another shudder. The shudder spread down her spine and she doubted it was because of the dropped temperatures in the Phantom Zone. She turned around to look at Clark who slumped against the wall. She was about ready to ask if Clark was okay. One thing stopped her from talking to him. She took a look at the reflection of the wall and the horror dancing through her eyes. She was terrified beyond all belief and for good reason.

"This is an awful place," Clark said.

Kara nodded in response at the rather frank way he spoke. She held her hand up and grabbed Clark around the shoulder. He pulled Kara in closer towards him even though he was rather shaken himself. Clark closed his eyes a second later and sensed something. He could almost see Earth. The only problem was there was a large wall surrounding them.

"Yeah, it redefines awful," Kara said. "And neither of us are welcomed here."

' _No one is welcomed here, they are sent here to perish,'_ Kara thought.

Clark raised an eyebrow and Kara decided to elaborate on what she had to say.

"The House of El put half of the prisoners here in the Phantom Zone, and they would like nothing better than to kill us," Kara said. A second passed when she craned her ear. She didn't have her enhanced hearing or any powers.

Everything was in the dark. They would only have maybe a matter of seconds before something attacked them to react. They had to keep moving. Staying in one place for more than a few seconds was not a really good thing.

"Yes, I figured out about that much," Clark said. "Did you mention there was a way out?"

Kara didn't answer straight away. She let Clark rest a hand on her shoulder a second later. Kara took a half of a second to answer.

"There's a way out, like I said," Kara said. "My mother built an exit portal just in case….I had been forced into the Phantom Zone. It was a last ditch effort. She never intended me to use it."

Clark sensed there was a "but" in the air. He leaned closer towards Kara and touched a hand to her shoulder. Kara almost jumped into the air before Clark held her in tight. Kara nodded, trying to take a deep breath.

"Relax, everything is going to be fine," Clark said.

Kara shook her head. She adored Kal-El for trying to keep things pretty calm. She just wished she had it within her to accept his confidence and appreciate it. The problem was realism dropped down.

' _There's no easy way out of this,'_ Kara thought. She set her jaw and frowned before taking another step closer towards the edge. She leaned closer towards the edge.

"There is a way out," Kara repeated for herself. "The problem is, the exit is on the other end of the Fortress. And it's past all of them."

Kara empathized her statement by extending her hand out. A black cloud appeared in the distance and laughter echoed. The sickening groans mixed in with the laughter. They noticed a ragged looking prisoner running through the Fortress. He tripped over the rock and landed.

Clark made a step over to save the man. Kara grabbed him, shoved him back, and held him against the wall.

"You can't."

What happened next was rather horrifying. The prisoner tried to reach for the knife which slid out of his hand. The creature grabbed the prisoner by the throat and ripped him apart. The other Phantoms fought over the scraps. The goon was trying to struggle against their grip, screaming and begging for mercy.

"God," Clark muttered.

"Yes," Kara said. "They're leaving…"

Several dusty bones rested on the ground which once belonged to a flesh and blood prisoner. Other Phantoms would be along to feast on whatever meat the first pack of Phantoms left on the bones. It was a disgusting fate, but inevitable.

"Each day they survive is a milestone," Kara said.

"The emergency exit point is all the way over there?" Clark asked.

"Yes," Kara said. "And the moment they see us, we're dead for sure."

"We can't stay here forever," Clark said.

Kara cupped a hand underneath her chin and answered with a sigh. She realized they could not, no, not for a moment. She took another deep breath.

"We're going to have to find a way out," Kara said. "When the light is the brightest, we need to go."

"Wouldn't the darkness make it easier for us?" Clark asked.

Kara responded with a frustrated shake of her head.

"The darkness would doom us, they will rip us apart before we even see their faces," Kara said. "I'm not saying the light is much better."

Kara spotted a sword in the cave. Two of them in fact and she handed one of them to Clark. She didn't know how well they would serve them against the Phantoms, but it was something.

' _It's better than nothing. It's far better than nothing.'_

* * *

Lex Luthor's body rolled over and allowed a groan to escape his body. He had been fastened down on the table. The bright light flashed through his eyes. Lex's mind slipped further in, and the second party located in his body took control of his body. He slowly started to show signs of life.

The eyes flashed open, and it was obvious by anyone who took a nice and close look that Lex was not in the driver's seat. The head started to pound when memories started to turn back. Lex's arm pushed and caused the metal strap to be risen up. The strap snapped back one more time.

Lex lifted his head up. He lurched forward and tested the weight on his knees.

' _Finally, I'm out of the Phantom Zone,'_ he thought.

No longer did Lex Luthor hold control of the body in question. Someone else grabbed control of this body.

General Zod made his way to Earth. He felt around the body. It was somewhat durable, but not as durable as he wanted to. The bald man was not who he wanted to be inside. Zod walked over and took a longer look at the man. He raised his hands and smashed the wall leaving a dent in it.

"Brainiac!" Zod yelled. "BRAINIAC!"

No answer and Zod needed to have a word with him. Zod spent the next few minutes to walk around and test out his new body.

' _It's not Kryptonian, but it's enhanced,'_ Zod thought. _'It will have to do for now.'_

A light glow illuminated the room. He walked over towards the orb and placed a hand on it. A flash erupted around Zod's hand and something tried to rip his soul from this new body. Zod ripped his vessel's hand away from the orb. Sparks showered the room around him, and Zod had one answer.

"I'm still anchored to the Phantom Zone," Zod said to himself. "I'm not completely out….all someone will need to do is open up a portal and they can put me back into the Phantom Zone."

Zod searched around for what he wanted to look for. He found a black box on the ground with an upside triangle symbol on it. He scooped up the box and frowned.

"So, this is all of what remains of you, Brainiac?" Zod asked him. "I can't say I'm disappointed. It serves you right for your ability to properly extract me from the Phantom Zone."

Zod placed Brainiac's remains on the shelf and stepped back into the lab. It still took him some getting used to this new body. It looked like a Kryptonian even though it did not feel like a Kryptonian. Brainiac failed to put him inside the Son of Jor-El where he could bring new power to a brand new Krypton.

' _Useless,'_ Zod thought. _'But, it's going to have to do.'_

Zod punched his way through the metal door. The door smashed over with Zod walking into the room. He saw a group of six gentlemen in cages. Another two strapped to the wall and tried to pull themselves away from their restraints.

"So, this is what Brainiac intended to use as my army," Zod said. He lifted a hand and smashed one of the captive meteor mutants.

"Thank you," the man said.

Zod's cold eyes looked upon the men who shuddered. They tried to stand up straight, but he gave them one look which put them back into line.

"You can thank me by swearing your loyalty to me," Zod said.

"Swear our loyalty to you?" one of the captive prisoners asked. "You and your business partner capture us, torture us, and now you want us to serve you?"

Zod was not used to being contradicted. He looked over at the meteor mutants. One of them swallowed. Zod reached over towards the man's cage and summoned him forward.

"You're going to be part of an uprising bigger than anything you imagine," Zod said. "And you have two choices, and I suggest you think hard what you choose before you answer my question."

Zod had them in the palm of his hand. Despite the fact he was in a different body, with a different voice, he still had a presence which demanded respect. The eyes of all of these empowered humans looked towards him. Zod appreciated the look and they would soon appreciate his power.

"You can languish in this place, forgotten by the entire world until it changes," Zod said. He stopped a second later. "Or all of you can join up with me, and kneel before Zod!"

The meteor mutants had no idea why Lex Luthor referred to himself as this "Zod person", but none of them were willing to argue with him. They just all nodded. If he wanted to be this Zod, then he was going to be Zod. There was no question about it.

"So, what is it going to be?"

The man who Zod freed first dropped to his knees. The others, even the man who spoke out followed. The type of power Zod had was obvious. All would yield, and all would kneel before Zod.

One wide grin passed over Zod's head. They were not his loyal soldiers who were still trapped inside of the Phantom Zone, but they will do.

* * *

Lara started to access as much power as she could in the Fortress of Solitude. Nothing had been going right today, nothing at all. Lara bit down on her lip and kept working. Everything happened so fast, and it would be hard for people not to notice what happening.

' _And I can't find them anywhere,'_ Lara thought.

The flashes of energy cascading over the sky told Lara a portal had been open. The last thing she heard was from Kara and Clark as they were heading off to Metropolis to stop Brainiac. Then, they faded off and this was an hour ago. Lara tried to find out where her niece and son went. She frantically worked to reestablish contact.

Nothing, not even a flicker on the screen, and Lara's tension expanded about tenfold. She pushed her fingers against the console and kept attempting to access what she needed to access. Still, nothing and Lara tried not to lose her temper. She liked things under control and when things got out of control.

Some entered the Fortress. Lara spun around and grabbed the figure around the arm before pulling her directly into the Fortress. She relaxed, only slightly, when she realized it was Tess Mercer. Lara pulled back from the attempt to hurl the woman halfway across the Fortress, but at the same time, maintained a light grip against her wrist.

"You should have announced your arrival," Lara said.

"Yes, but….I don't think breaking my arm is going to help with anything."

Despite her enhancements, Lara's strength outstripped Tess, and she was just getting stronger. Tess tried to pull away, but she wasn't going to get let go anytime soon. Lara released Tess's arm and allowed it to drop down to the ground.

"We have a problem," Tess said.

"Yes, I figured," Lara said.

The two women, after that moment of tension, walked off to each other. Tess took one look at the overlay of the Earth which had been flashed on the Fortress. So far, Zod hadn't tried anything yet, but it didn't mean he was going to fail to try anything. They needed to catch him before he had a chance to regain his bearings.

"Lex and Fine have been working on a couple of projects," Tess said. "One of them I found out just now."

Lara motioned for Tess to continue. Tess decided to answer her question.

"Luthorcorp has an array of satellites, spread at certain strategic places on this planet," Tess said. "The satellites have the ability to tap into the communications around Earth…"

Tess trailed off as if trying to figure out what to talk about next. Lara just sat in front of the table and started to type away to access these satellites. She frowned when working on the signal and get some kind of relay.

"Brainiac has already tried to block me," Lara said. "But, I've got a couple of ideas on how to get around what he's doing."

"Maybe I can help," Tess said. "I have someone who can remotely grab onto the satellites and stop them from deploying."

Lara frowned. She did trust a woman, at least to an extent. At the very least, both Clark and Kara vouched for her. Still, Lara would feel a lot more at ease if she took control of the situation, and try and access the satellites. She turned towards Tess.

Tess instantly understood what about Lara was going to say. She reached towards the older woman.

"Look, I understand you're anxious, we don't know where Clark and Kara are, well exactly," Tess said. Lara raised her eyebrow in response.

"Do you have a good idea where they might be?" Lara asked. "They're in the Phantom Zone, aren't they?"

Her worst fears came to life.

Tess nodded in response. She really hated to be the one to bring this news to Lara. The moment this news has been brought out, Lara turned around and looked towards the screen. She looked at the overlay of the Earth map. Lara placed a hand on the edge of the console and took in a deep breath.

"Look, they'll find a way back," Tess said. "You need to have faith."

"I do," Lara said. "What I'm worried about is Zod telling everyone in the Phantom Zone they're coming, and they're waiting for them. Zod still has his followers in the Phantom Zone, and it would be a very easy way to get rid of the two people who could stop Zod."

Tess realized that much. Those phantoms were going to end up ripping anyone apart who got in their way. She took a side trip into the Phantom Zone once and going into the Phantom Zone once was more than enough.

"Let me worry about stopping Zod from getting control of our communication, and you worry about bringing them back."

Lara didn't dare open up a portal to the Phantom Zone. She could bring them back, at least in theory. If she knew where Kara and Clark ended up, though, she could bring that up. Opening up random portals to the Phantom Zone wasn't exactly the best possible idea, to be honest.

"Yes, worry about it," Lara said. "Do, what you need to do….and…..be careful."

After what happened to her in another timeline, Tess was pretty careful. Especially around Lex or Zod, and given she now had to deal with both of them in the same body, she would have to be doubly careful.

* * *

Lana hated the fact her curiosity got the better of her and it got the better of her very often. Just all of the weird stuff going around her made her want to take one last peek at the ship which had dropped down for her. She walked closer towards the back entrance of the LuthorCorp facility where she knew where the Ship was located.

Those dreams she had increased regarding the ship and what it was capable of. At first, it was just paranoia, but they seemed so vivid. Now she overheard Chloe talking about how Clark and Kara went here, it only increased her curiosity. Something bad happened, Lana knew it deep down.

' _Do you have a death wish?'_ Lana thought to herself.

Lana stopped when a voice of sanity entered her body. She brushed the dark strands of hair away from her face and pressed forward. The dark haired woman edged behind the gate and peered inside.

The lack of security there almost put her on edge. She stopped when seeing a couple of guards made their way in the corner.

' _So much for not running into anything….'_

Lana almost jumped into the air and screamed. A hand cupped over her mouth.

The dark-haired girl took a breath and realized she came face to face with Lois Lane of all people. Lois pulled her hand away from Lana's mouth, eyes widened in shock. Both girls locked eyes at each other, neither speaking right away, at least until the guards were out of hearing distance.

"What are you doing here?" Lois asked.

"What are you doing here?" Lana asked.

"You know, I asked you first," Lois said.

Lana closed her eyes. Lois did ask her first. She really didn't have a good reason to be here, other than hoping to run into Clark.

"I think Clark's in trouble," Lana said.

Suddenly, a group of uniformed military men walked in. They caught sight of both of the girls. The leader of the troops walked over and looked at both of the girls.

"You two ladies shouldn't be here," the leader said. "This facility is being seized."

"Why?" Lois asked.

"That's classified," the leader of the troops responded.

Lois Lane responded with a very obvious cross of her arms, sticking her lips out with a frown. Classified, she really hated when they pulled that line out. She knew if something was classified, she meant they were hiding something which could be completely dangerous. She might have bought it without a fight if she was a standard civilian who would easily swallow something like this.

Lana saw Lois's look and she turned a bit more nervous. Lois was about ready to say or do something which would get them both into trouble. Lana tried to grab Lois around the arm to hold her back, but Lois pulled herself away and got into the face.

"My father is General Sam Lane, and he might find it rather odd you're trying to keep this information from people who could be in danger….."

The man stood up in front of Lois and stared down at her with a heated gaze.

"Regardless of who your father is, it doesn't give you the credentials!" the man snapped.

Lana breathed a sigh of relief when hearing the phone going off. Lois answered the phone and walked away from the military guards. They kept their eyes locked on both of the girls but didn't do anything.

"Yes, Chloe?" Lois asked.

"Lois, have you seen Lana?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, she's here with me….snooping around the facility where Lex is keeping his little project," Lois said.

"And what were you doing?" Chloe asked.

Lois threw her hands back and sighed in response.

"Okay, fine, I was snooping around," Lois answered. She folded her arms and stuck out her lip in the obvious pout. "Not like I'm going to find anything right now…the military is here, something classified."

"That's not good," Chloe said. "I need both of you to come back here, I need to talk to both of you."

"Chloe needs to talk to both of us," Lois said.

The compulsion which caused Lana to come here left from her body. The two of them made their way.

"So, should we take your car or mine?" Lois asked.

"Yours, because I walked here," Lana said.

"Why would you walk all the way here?" Lois asked.

"I needed a long walk to clear my mind."

Lois thought there was something Lana did not tell her; then again, she had a feeling sometimes Chloe, Lana, and Clark all at their own weirdness to deal with. Lois just rolled with the punches and just went with the flow.

The two girls left the area. No sooner did they did, Lex Luthor dropped down to the ground in front of the military guards. The guards pointed their weapons at him.

"So, you're the defenders of this planet?" Lex asked.

"Mr. Luthor, you're to come with us," the captain of the army said. "Don't make us use force."

Lex disarmed both of them in a blink of the eye. The officers fell back onto the ground, and Lex turned to the Captain.

"Tell them I'm taking control of this world," Lex said. He hoisted the man on them. "And you might live to see this brand new world."

* * *

Clark and Kara traveled for what seemed like days across the Phantom Zone. Anyone who knew the slightest amount about the Phantom Zone understood how time could be deceptive in the Phantom Zone.

"Keep going, we're almost there," Kara said.

Kara took a moment to mentally cross her fingers. They didn't run into a single Phantom on their way here. She couldn't shake off the fact though something really bad was about to happen.

Three Phantoms popped out from the red sand in front of them. They all broke out in a strangled whisper when approaching the two of them.

"Kal-El, welcome. I'll have to thank General Zod for his gift."

Nam-Ek with several other figures walked forward. The Phantoms backed off from Kara and Clark. The Disciples of Zod approached them.

"You're out of your element," Nam-Ek said. "I've undergone some of the harshest conditions to rise up in the Kryptonian Army. To me, the Phantom Zone is just a little piece of home."

"They're after the cave," one of the Disciples said.

"Yes, the cave, we know what's in there," Nam-Ek said. "Your way out….well there's no way out. Unless you kill everyone here."

Clark and Kara prepared themselves to fight the Disciples of Zod and the other fugitives which had joined them. They had a short way between her and the exit point.

"Kal, go for the cave, I'll deal with them," Kara said.

"No, we're here together."

Kara and Clark stood up against the Phantom Zone fugitives and they rushed in, preparing for an attack. The feral animals rushed towards them.

A figure in a hood on the edge of a mountain looked down at the battle. She caught sight of Kara, and her eyes widened in surprise.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 15** **th** **, 2017.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty: Deep Inside**

* * *

Nam-Ek charged towards the Son of Jor-El with malicious intent in his mind. Revenge would be pretty sweet when he wrapped his hands around the throat of this faux Kryptonian. The Son of Jor-El dodged one of the punches. One of Zod's most loyal disciples would not have been denied his attack so he turned around and charged towards the son of Jor-El once again.

Another one of the attacks had been blocked. Nam-Ek gritted his teeth and ripped his hand back. He punched at his adversary one more time.

Clark stepped back a couple of inches with a punch almost taking his head off. A couple of punches had been blocked. One of the other Phantom Zone Goons rushed him to the side. Clark grabbed the Zoner's arm and flipped him down to the ground. The Phantom Zone hit the ground hard. Clark caught one of them on the backswing and kept hammering away at his adversary. He strung together multiple punches which rocked his enemy.

Kara dodged a blade from one of them. She jumped around to avoid the blade from slicing into her. It came an inch away from connecting with her cheek. Kara caught the Zone Goon's arm, and turned him around, before kicking him in the shoulder and flipping him down to the ground. Another Phantom Zone Guard charged her. Kara avoided the attack from this particular guard and strung together multiple punches to take him down.

"Stand still traitor!" one of them breathed.

Kara refused to acknowledge him at all. It was not really worth her time. The Phantom Zone prisoner tossed a large rock at her head. Kara avoided the attack and rolled over onto the ground. She popped up and caught the opponent with a running shoulder attack. Her adversary flew over the edge into a pit which sucked him up into parts unknown.

One of the goons grabbed Kara around the neck. She elbowed out of his assault and flipped over his head. Despite her lack of powers, Kara exhibited great agility. The goon charged at her.

Nam-Ek slammed into the son of Jor-El with a bone breaking force. He would break this meddlesome fool to his knees.

"You're weak just like your father," Nam-Ek said.

"That's where you're wrong," The Kryptonian Survivor said. He jacked Nam-Ek's jaw with a punch.

Agony spread all the way down the body of the Kryptonian survivor. He didn't have his strength and Nam-Ek had a very firm jaw. The Kryptonian soldier nailed Clark in the side of the arm. He nailed him with another punch which brought Clark down onto his back.

"It's time for you to die!" Nam-Ek yelled.

Nam-Ek hoisted Clark over his head with supreme strength. Even without his powers, he had some super powered strength, thanks to the genetic engineering he had undergone. He growled in a primal manner, holding his trophy high in the air above his head.

A shadow from the edge of the Phantom Zone rushed forward and nailed Nam-Ek in the ribs. It forced him to drop the Son of Jor-El. Said Son of Jor-El fell to the ground. The impact caused the air to rush out of him.

Clark rolled over on his hands and knees, giving a deep and heavy breath. He tried to push up to his hands and knees, but he just couldn't do it. He collapsed down on the ground.

Nam-Ek stepped back when he realized who attacked him. He threw his hands into the air.

"You," Nam-Ek said.

The attacker wasted no time in rushing over and grabbing Nam-Ek around the head. The brute of a man fought his way out of a head and neck hold. She gripped him tight and flipped him over onto the ground. Nam-Ek pulled himself up. The figure reached either side of Nam-Ek's head and snapped his neck back.

Blood poured from the mouth of the Kryptonian soldier. His eyes shifted to the back of his head with his body twitching madly.

Kara watched in shock while struggling with the knife one of the Kryptonian soldiers rushed towards him. The other soldiers turned around. The figure impaled the nearest one with a jagged blade. Blood spilled from the mouth of the prisoner before the figure ripped the blade out and turned around to the next one.

One of the few female soldiers received a tap on the side of the neck which only rendered her unconscious. The male next to her was not so lucky. He had been grabbed around the head. The person found the right spot to squeeze so hard that blood spurted out of the man's eyes, ears, and mouth.

The man with the crushed skull dropped down to the ground. Clark fought his way back up to a standing position. Kara rushed over, still with the blade she claimed as the spoils of battle. The taken knife had been grabbed by her hand.

"I'm fine, just….Nam-Ek packs a punch."

Kara looked at the Disciple of Zod.

"Not anymore," Kara said. "I recognize that fighting style."

A dust storm kicked up into the Phantom Zone. A swarm of alien insects moved towards them and they devoured the corpses of the prisoners when they moved in. One live prison ran from them but had been caught up in the storm.

"No time, this way, hurry!"

* * *

Zod finally was beginning to get used to his new body. It was a bit of a learning curve to adjust to what he was doing. He made his way to one of the LuthorCorp branches and walked into one of the main labs. It had been abandoned which was so much the better.

He couldn't establish the next phase of his plan without the processor. And the process was held here according to the memories of this meat sack he inhabited.

The lights turned up. A redhead woman stood in the midst of a lab and folded her arms. She had a slight smug smile on her face. Zod had been mildly amused by her presence.

"You must have a death wish being here," Zod commented to her without missing a beat.

"I don't seek death," Tess responded. She moved closer to look the General straight in the eye, or rather straight in Lex's eye.

"You knew I was coming," Zod said. "I knew you couldn't be ignorant…..Brainiac mentioned you might get involved…..so tell me, are you suicidal?"

Tess turned herself towards the Lex/Zod hybrid. She would make her move when the time was right and only when the time was right.

"I'm not afraid of dying, even though I don't seek death," Tess said. "And Lex isn't either, deep down. He wouldn't' tamper in such dangerous matters if he was."

"Foolishness runs deep in humanity," Zod said.

Tess looked towards him. Everything was almost in position. She reminded herself of the word "almost", but not quite.

"It's one of our more annoying traits, I'm afraid," Tess said.

"Yet, despite the foolishness of you, there is a certain strength of your body."

Lex's eyes slowly traveled down Tess's body. It didn't matter if it was Zod or Lex in the driver's seat. Tess thought this was the most repulsive thing ever. She only kept herself from throwing up because she needed to stick to the plan.

' _Besides, I pledged myself to one man and one man alone.'_

"You could be my queen," Zod said. He looked towards her with a burning gaze. "The only thing I ask of you is your body."

Tess aimed a gun in response and started to fire. Shot, shot, shot, and all of the shots connected. Bullets laced with Kryptonite riddled Lex's body and almost made him take a step back.

The dust cleared, and Zod stood there, Lex's body mostly unharmed. The General's fierce gaze was more obvious now than ever before. The laughter which followed showed Tess how bent he was. It really did clash with the glare of discontent flashing though the General's eyes.

"You really must have been foolish to think my servant wouldn't find a way to block this weakness," Zod said. "He had many flaws and did not give me the body I wanted. But this body is more of an adequate replacement."

Zod made a decision. He still needed the processor, and while this woman was a rather enticing diversion, she still stood in his way. Zod would have to take steps to have her removed.

"You could have been great," Zod said. "But it appears you've settled for mediocrity."

One swift punch sent Lex's hand through Tess's chest. Only her body flickered. The hard light hologram, capable of holding a gun, was immune to Zod's death blow. He reared his hand back and tried one more time.

"Hologram," Zod growled.

"That's right," Tess said. "You're not the only one who is capable of pulling tricks, you know."

The doors and the windows slammed shut with solid steel. Zod rushed towards the door and slammed his fists thought the steel. No matter how hard or how furiously he pounded on the metal doors, they would not bend.

"What do you hope to accomplish?" Zod asked.

"Oh, I think even those with super powers need to breathe," Tess said.

Gas started to pump in the room, inside Zod's prisoners. The General realized the air, necessary for breathing, was being turned into a poisonous gas. A lack of breathable air, no matter how powerful he was, would make it very difficult for him to breath.

Grim realization dawned upon Zod though. If he died here, his spirit would be forever stuck in a corpse. Zod dropped to his knees and held his breath. He needed to conserve his energy and find a way out of there.

Zod pressed a remote control device in the palm of his hand and waited for one of his loyal servants to answer the call.

* * *

Diana returned after a long visit back home, and Smallville had been in a state of panic. She noticed Chloe waiting at the side of the road, arms folded together. The two girls locked eyes, and Chloe rushed over to meet with Diana.

"So, what happened?" Diana asked.

"Hell broke loose," Chloe said. "There's this exiled Kryptonian General who pulled a grand theft on Lex Luthor. Kara and Clark are missing in action, they're in the same place the General was, the Phantom Zone."

"The Phantom Zone?" Diana asked.

Chloe sighed, she thought she was responsible for a very long and painful explanation.

"Yes, it's a dimension where some of Krypton's worst criminals are exiled," Chloe said. "And Zod, he's created a small faction of meteor mutants to start to run over Smallville. Everything's gone to hell in a hurry and….."

Chloe had a long pause. She knew the military was around, but she didn't have any time to process it into now. She saw her uncle, the one and only General Sam Lane walking down the street. He noticed Chloe at the edge of the street and did a power walk over her.

"You better get out of here," General Lane said. "The President signed an order that Smallville is going to be targeted with an air strike. We're going to take out this General Zod, or whatever that thing is that's inside the Luthor kid's body."

Chloe frowned; she wondered if they could do what they're doing.

"You're going to level Smallville," Chloe said. "You're going to level an entire city full of people."

"I'm not happy about it either," General Lane admitted. "Even you have to admit, this town's been a lightning rod full of trouble for a very long time…"

"There are some good people in this town," Chloe said.

"There are some good people in every town, but the bad outweighs the good in this case," General Lane said. "Where's Lois?"

Chloe didn't have a chance to answer the question. A rather large meteor mutant who glowed walked down the street. He aimed his glowing hands down at the street and fired towards General Lane's men. Most of them had the ability to move out of the way, but a couple of them were not so lucky. The burning, glowing hands caught the men and knocked them down to the ground.

"General, get your men out of here!" Diana yelled. "Chloe, go with them, I'll handle this."

The Amazon Princess rushed off without fear. The Meteor Mutant aimed his glowing hand at her. Diana jumped into battle and grabbed the arm. She pushed it back and launched it into the air which caused a bolt of light to fly harmlessly into the sky. Diana grabbed the goon around the head.

"Should we leave her to it?" one of Sam Lane's men asked when he watched the Amazon Princess battle with this meteor freak in awe.

"We have a job to do, get as many people out of this town….."

Another meteor mutant stepped in front of them. This man looked like a normal man, at least the start. The eerie shade of silver dancing from his eyes showed the man was not all normal. The troops pointed their weapons at the man.

Everyone in Sam Lane's task force began to see double, and then triple. The meteor mutant laughed.

"You're not going to stop the General's plans!" the meteor mutant yelled. "How can you save the world when you have a splitting headache?"

Diana dodged another attempt of the meteor mutant to cave her head again. She saw the second meteor mutant out of the corner of her eye. She couldn't do anything about him until she dealt with this one. Diana pounded him with more punches before flipping the meteor mutant over to the ground.

Chloe's ears rang harder. The meteor mutant stepped towards her, the others dropping to the ground. Chloe remained upright despite the ear ringing.

"There's something different about you," the meteor mutant said. "No matter, I'll take you out all the same. You won't be able to hold your pretty little head up for long when I'm done with you."

Chloe tried to force herself not to lose it. The meteor mutant stepped closer towards her. She extended her hands out in a defensive stance.

Her hands gripped the chest of the man. Something connected them together. Chloe pulled something glowing and purple out of the man's chest!

Chloe screamed when the bright light engulfed her. She fell back and the energy orb disappeared into a trace of light. For a moment, Chloe saw nothing but blackness despite being awake.

' _Oh, shit, I'm blind.'_

The blurry images slowly gained form, and Chloe never felt more relief as long as she lived. Diana grabbed the shell-shocked mutant and put him down to the ground with one solid punch which rocked him back.

General Lane woke up and noticed the Princess of the Amazons standing over the meteor mutant. She was helping Chloe up to her feet now.

"Thank you for saving us, and my niece, Princess Diana," the General said. "You should get out of there, and oh pick up my daughter and her friend…..they're over there."

Lois and Lana poked their heads of the bushes.

"I should get the three of you out of here," Diana said. "And yes, I know you can handle yourselves, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't play it safe."

Lois almost blinked at Diana plucking the words out of her mouth.

"What about Jonathan and Martha Kent?" Lois asked.

"I'll check up on them when I get you three out of Smallville," Diana said without missing a beat.

Lois took towards Chloe who was looking shell-shocked. The dark haired woman snapped her fingers in front of her cousin's face.

"Sorry, close encounter with a meteor mutant," Chloe said.

' _I just didn't know I could depower them now,'_ Chloe thought.

Lana looked towards Chloe. The two of them would be having a conversation later, and she would need to talk with Clark about this one. Lara as well, come to think about it because she didn't think she had these powers.

* * *

Clark and Kara avoided the swarm of alien insects, but it put them further away from where they needed to go. The two of them walked for miles and miles around.

"We're not going to get out anytime soon at this rate," Kara said.

"Yes, we will," Clark said. He stood firm and grabbed Kara's hand.

Kara was glad that he had more than enough faith for both of them. Things were going to get rough if they spent this much time in the Phantom Zone. She understood why a lot of people ended up losing their minds in the Phantom Zone. Well, if they were lucky enough to live that long that was.

"There's shelter right there."

Clark and Kara stepped towards an area, and they had been surprised to see a makeshift lab. Someone was already here, and already Kara went for the knife.

"Jor-El?"

A pretty blonde woman looking to be in her early to mid-twenties stepped forward. She looked towards the two of them, frowning for a moment. She looked a bit at uneasy around Kara, but she turned to him.

"My name is Kal-El," he said. "I'm Jor-El's son."

The woman nodded, and opened her mouth up, before closing it.

"Yes, I…how did you come to be in the Phantom Zone?" she asked. "My name is Raya, my bloodline has been bred to serve the House of El. It's our purpose."

"Well, nice to meet you, Raya, "Clark said. "I don't mean to be rude, but…..we really need to find a way out of the Phantom Zone. General Zod sent us here, and he's currently on Earth, his phantom possessing the body of an old friend of mine."

"Then your old friend is doomed, as is Earth," Raya said. "Zod will not stop at anything to get what he wanted. Darkness runs through his bloodline."

She paused for a long moment and decided to walk around the lab for a moment. She stopped and looked at Clark before beckoning towards him.

"So you think I can speak with you, in private."

Raya looked pointedly at Kara, and there was mistrust brimming through her eyes. Kara frowned back, she wasn't sure what she expected from Jor-El's lapdog.

' _Then again, I'm damned because of the mistakes of my bloodline,'_ Kara thought.

Clark walked only a half of a step to the side. Raya looked towards him with an insistent look in her eyes.

"Do you know who she is?" Raya asked.

"Yes, she's my cousin, Kara Zor-El."

"Her name is Kara, and she is from Krypton," Raya said. "And yes, you do have a cousin named Kara Zor-El, who had been sent to Earth, but this girl….I'm not certain she's all what she seems to be."

Clark didn't like where this conversation was going. He had just met this woman and didn't like what she was saying.

"Kara's helped me, and she's earned my trust," Clark said. "Which is more than I can say for someone who I've just met."

Raya figured this would be a problem and she only had one option.

"Then it's time for me to earn that trust," Raya said. "There's a way out of the Phantom Zone just outside this lab. Jor-El built this as an emergency exit point."

"Jor-El built it?" Clark asked.

"Yes, he did," Raya confirmed.

"Not sure if I trust it," Clark said.

Raya would have asked questions about why Kal-El had such a negative opinion regarding his father. She did wonder if Kara brainwashed him or if something else had created this negative opinion.

' _Best I deal with it later, and fulfill my obligations to the House of El, to keep an eye on it,'_ Raya thought.

Kara followed the two of them. The two women exchanged a heated gaze, and it was obvious neither trusted the intentions of the other.

"If this gateway works, then you can go first," Kara said. "And then I'll go second, and then once it's clear, Kal can follow us out."

"Kal will need to activate it," Raya explained. "Only a single drop of blood will do as a tribute."

"Here," Kara said, handing Clark the knife.

Clark took a moment to wipe his blood and dripped the blood on the gateway seal. A flash of light engulfed them all and the portal shifted open.

"The portal will close once you pass, though," Raya said.

"Which makes it a good thing we'll going first," Kara said. "After you."

Raya stepped through the portal first. She saw the bright light and fields of the planet Earth. Kara followed through a half of step behind Raya.

Clark stepped though and the moment the Son of Jor-El stepped through the portal, it began to seal shut. It took almost a minute to seal, though.

Long enough for a fourth figure to pop out of the shadows and zip through the gateway before it completely sealed.

* * *

General Zod dropped down to the ground. He escaped his predicament and he would be out for the blood of this Tess Mercer in due time. She would kneel before him in pieces.

He looked towards a sign which said "Kent." The human's memories told him these were the people who were responsible for taking care of Kal-El.

"So, these are the barbarians which Jor-El sent his son to live with," Zod said. "They're going to be the first to die, painfully, and obviously."

The man he recognized as Jonathan Kent stepped outside.

Jonathan always thought there was something dark and sinister lingering behind Lex's dangerous eyes. He never knew how dangerous those eyes were.

"You, you're the one who…"

"Yes, now get out of my way."

Jonathan rushed forward. Zod gripped Jonathan's throat and held him up. He threw the human down to the ground like yesterday's trash. Zod reared back and prepared to attack him.

Breathing heavily, Jonathan struggled to get to his feet. He saw Martha peering out the window, even after telling her to get out of here. Jonathan could barely catch his breath when he exerted himself long enough to get up.

"Time for you to suffer for your crimes."

Zod could not finish the job. Diana came down from the heavens and brought her elbow down onto Lex's head. The attack rocked the General back. Diana flipped him to the ground.

"Go, get out of there!" Diana yelled.

Diana blocked one of Zod's punches. The two of them struggled in battle, both trying to gain the upper hand on the other. The General caught her with a jab to the side of the neck which weakened Diana's knees. She had the mental facilities to block the second event. She grabbed Lex and flipped him down to the ground.

Out of the corner of her eye, Diana saw Martha and Jonathan making their way to the truck. They drove out of there, out of the way. Zod tried to go after them. Diana grabbed his ankle sand slammed him back down to the ground with a solid impact.

The General rolled himself to a standing position. His breathing continued and anger flared through his eyes. He lifted up a tractor and hurled it towards this Amazon Woman. The Amazon responded by punching the tractor and reducing it to nothing but a glorified paperweight.

The portal popped open above his head. Zod looked up and saw the Son of Jor-El flying out. One huge punch rocked him in the head. Zod went flying, and Clark stuck a firm landing on the ground.

"Good to see you back," Diana said.

Clark really wished he had more time for reunions.

"My parents aren't here anymore?" Clark asked.

"Yes, they're gone," Diana said. "Your father tried to fight Zod."

Clark shook his head, of course, he did.

"Please, make sure they're safe," Clark said.

Diana nodded. She stole a brief kiss on the cheek before flying off, following the path of the Kent family truck.

He wondered where Kara and Raya had gotten up to. He knew they made it safely to Earth, although he didn't know where. He really hoped the two girls didn't end up killing each other because there was some hatred there.

Zod rose up from the depths, and eyes glowed red.

"Come to me, Son of Jor-El!" he bellowed. "KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!"

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 22nd** **, 2017.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty-One: Blood Ties.**

* * *

Lex zoomed closer to Clark, hand extended and ready for a throw down. Clark could see by the look in Lex's eyes Zod was truthfully and completely in the driver's seat. He extended one hand out and blocked Lex before Lex could punch his lights out. Both of them struggled against each other.

"You might have more experience mentally," Clark said. "You're not used to this body, though, are you?"

Clark took a moment to hurl Lex a few inches into the air. Lex landed with a thud. Zod situated the body and watched when Clark jumped up to try and secure him. Zod used his new vessel to zip out of Clark's grasp. He went around him and pummeled Clark with a series of rapid-fire punches to the side of the neck. Each punch became more dangerous than the last at dazzling Clark.

"Maybe not," Zod said. "I'll adapt, though."

Zod took Clark down to the arm with an arm throw. He rode on the shoulder and tried to push it behind Clark's back.

"The Son of Jor-El will find his proper face at the feet of…"

Clark flipped back into the air and hurled Lex a few feet into the air with a flip. He took Lex's body high into the air. The two of them flew in mid air. Zod tried to fire heat vision at Clark. Clark responded with a blast of the heat vision of his own. The General hurled back down to the ground and landed down.

Zod pulled his ragged body up a rocky incline. He pulled up and noticed the son of Jor-El coming down from the heavens. Zod blocked his attempt to render him unconscious. Zod held the pathetic Kryptonian's arms back and began to nail him with a series of blows to the side.

"Your human upbringing weakens you," Zod said. "It makes you pathetic. It makes you unable to fight me. It makes you lazy! It makes you nothing, nothing at all, other than pathetic!"

Zod hammered in these words with another punch. Clark reached behind him and hurled a rock at the speed of light. The rock caught Zod in the chest. The oxygen left the lungs of the vessel. Clark pulled him up and threw him head first into the caves where he landed down onto the ground.

"You're going back to the Phantom Zone!" Clark yelled.

"Oh, are you willing to sacrifice this vessel to get me back there?" Zod asked. "Maybe we aren't that different from each other. Maybe I look into your eyes and see a reflection of what could be. Perhaps you are not like Jor-El."

Clark knocked Zod a couple of steps back. Zod flopped down to the ground. Clark still had the crystal. All he needed to do was jab it into Zod and he would be on his way. Yet, there was a moment where he paused.

"Those who hesitate will always lose the battle!"

Zod came back with a huge palm blow to the face. The sound of palm against bone rocked Kal-El back and blood spurted from his nose. Zod kept hammering away at him until the Son of Jor-El blocked another punch. He grabbed Zod and rocked him with a headbutt which caused blood to spurt down to the ground.

Raya slipped in behind in the middle of a fight between Kal-El and the human who had been possessed by Zod. She wondered what Kal-El waited for. Kara dropped down a few inches behind Raya and caused her to jump with a start.

The momentary distraction caused Zod to nail Clark in the side of the neck. Zod grabbed Clark around the neck and peered at Kara with a smile.

"It's good to see my own flesh and blood is loyal to the cause I preach!" Zod yelled. "All you have to do is finish off the House of El!"

Clark broke free from Zod's grip and slammed Lex's body into the cave wall. The human crumpled against the walls of the cave, unable to hold his head up for very long. All he could do was flash a very blood smirk at Clark which he intended to wipe off the face of this man.

"What are you talking about?" Clark demanded.

The bloody smile grew even more prominent. Zod looked to be enjoying this.

"Kara's my daughter, her name isn't Kara Zor-El, and while she's considered family by Lara, she's not Zor-El's daughter. She's mine. Her name is Kara Dru-Zod, and…"

Clark grabbed Zod around the throat and his eyes glowed red.

"You're not going to slander her name like this!" Clark howled at the top of his lungs.

Clark bounced the enemy off of the edge of the cave and smashed him down onto the ground. Zod smashed through the cave walls and landed in a heap. Clark pulled him up and threw him down to the ground once more. He only barely acknowledged it was Zod using Lex's body. The only thing Clark saw through his unbridled rage was Zod. He kept pounding this monster.

"We have to stop him," Kara said. "For his sake."

Raya agreed. She grabbed Clark gently and yanked him off before he slammed the enemy down to the ground.

"This anger solves nothing," Raya said.

"He's…..he's lying," Clark said.

He was lying, wasn't he? Kara turned her attention away from the situation and looked up into the sky with a sigh. Everything came back to her. She didn't acknowledge who her father was, but the fact stared in the face. There were other problems, mostly because Kara's memories had been tampered with and she didn't know where to start.

"You will learn to obey me, all of you!" Zod yelled. His body healed. "My humble servant prepared this one well. But now, I have an entire world to control and build a brand new Krypton."

Clark charged Zod to try and take him down. Zod blocked the attack and hurled Clark down to the ground. He zipped off, with the three other Kryptonians in pursuit.

"Zod must not be allowed to recall the rest of his followers!" Raya yelled.

Clark didn't need to be told twice. He kept flying, as fast as he could after him. There were no two ways about it, he had to catch up and they had to stop Zod before he caused more damage to the world. Damage which could not have been reversed, if Clark's theory was right, and he really hoped they were not.

* * *

Tess did her very best to keep calm despite the very bad situation she dealt with. The attempt to break through Brainiac's encryption put her back to square one. She would have to get the devil, or in this case, the psychotic machine his due. He was more than capable of preventing anyone from getting through his encryption. She sat in front of the computer and managed to get most of the access through the LuthorCorp security grids.

' _Ninety-five percent access just isn't enough,'_ Tess thought. She kept plugging away.

One small misstep would lead to the dangerous protocols being enacted. The world would be bathed in a never-ending nuclear fire. Tess wouldn't allow this to happen because she had done too much to cause the world to be destroyed.

Why would Zod want to destroy a world which he also intended to take over? Tess never really understood how the minds of the deranged work. She guessed, and maybe she was wrong, it was the case of where if he couldn't have the world then no one could have the world.

' _He's pretty arrogant to a fault,'_ Tess thought. _'But, arrogant or not, he covered all of his bases.'_

Tess continued to tear away. She hadn't heard any information regarding what happened with Zod or where he went off to. No news was very bad news in this case. Tess tried not to distract herself from the important things in life, namely trying to hack this system.

A very small misstep would result in everything collapsing. Tess didn't normally leave her mind open for self-doubt. She almost accessed the main control panel, and here it was tricky. There was a very intricate code and if one didn't type it into the letter, it would launch an emergency nuclear sequence.

"Please, step aside."

Tess looked up towards her personal assistant. The red-haired woman stood off, submerged mostly in the shadows. Her indigo eyes shined bright when looking towards Tess.

"Well, if you really want to try and override Brainiac's work, then by all means."

"That inferior sequel?" the personal assistant asked. "If I cannot and truthfully counteract his programming, I might as well be declared obsolete and be shut down once and for all."

Tess didn't want to discourage her assistant. The woman stepped out into the hallway. Everything was quiet, way too quiet to be honest. So quiet, she almost expected another portal to open up and Phantoms to pour out. Tess hated when her expectations veered in this possible direction. Regardless, she needed to focus on getting things done.

' _Time to check in with the Fortress.'_

Tess accessed the control console to patch herself into the Fortress.

"I'm here," Lara said.

"Good, I'm almost into shut down Zod's control on the Earth's communication systems and the nuclear launch sites as well," Tess said. "I've got some very good people working on it, so we should be almost out of the woods in a little bit."

Tess considered crossing her fingers for an added bit of hope. The strong woman discouraged herself from doing so. It would be bad form and would show a lack of confidence which should be discouraged at all costs.

"They're back on Earth," Lara said.

Tess couldn't even try to hide the jubilation in her voice. "They're…back….Clark and Kara…they've found their way back to Earth!"

"Yes," Lara said.

Tess hated herself for doing so, but she needed to ask the other question. She took a moderately deep breath and frowned.

"Now when they came back to Earth, they didn't bring anyone back with them, did they?" Tess asked a few seconds later.

"I don't know," Lara admitted. "I'm working on trying to figure that out, but….we need to get ready. I'll get in touch with them, and hopefully, we can track down Zod…."

"Sacrifice Lex if you need to put Zod away," Tess said.

Tess realized many people would cause her selfish for such an action, but she resolved to protest Clark in anyway possible. If it meant doing some really shady and underhanded things, then so be it.

"Indy, are you close?" Tess asked.

"Almost there," the girl said with a smile. "Just got to clear one more path, and we'll be pretty close to being good to go."

Tess only could smile for the first time today in a long time. Maybe they did have a chance to take the world back and stop Zod from coming back now, or the future. All she could do was wait for Indy to work her magic, and for Clark to do what needed to be done. All of the pieces of an intricate puzzle fell into place. Tess would have liked to say it was by design this happened, and maybe it was.

Or maybe it was just because all of them were way too stubborn to give up when giving up was an obvious thing to do.

* * *

Martha Kent prepared for the very worst but didn't try and betray herself by thinking too negative about the situation. Everything was going to be fine, they were going to find a way to get out of this just fine. Smallville experienced many frustrating attacks over the last several years. It all started with the meteor shower which brought them a gift and brought the people of Smallville many other challenges.

She kept a firm and steady gaze on the road. Every now and then, Martha hit a bump on the road. A car had been knocked off of the road as well which had been a bad omen. Martha drove around the wreckage the best she could. She only had one thing on her mind, and that was getting her husband to safety.

Jonathan would have moved hell and earth for her and Clark. Martha resolved to do the same thing. She stopped at a stop sign and allowed this moment to steal a look at Jonathan. He closed his eyes and looked rather shallow with his breathing. It was hard for him to catch his breath.

"I think this is it," Jonathan muttered. "This is the big one...I can barely…."

"You're too stubborn to give up, and you know it," Martha said.

Jonathan thought stubbornness only got so far. He made the deal with Jor-El years ago which ended up leading to the first heart attack. The damage done to his heart was immense, and it would only be a matter of time before his heart eventually gave out. Jonathan refused to allow a death sentence be put on him, but even then, they had to face facts.

Engaging Lex, or whatever he had become, with these powers, sealed Jonathan's fate. He managed to summon up the strength thanks to the resolve left even though there were only so many beats left in his damaged heart.

"Martha, promise me if someone attacks, you'll get yourself out of there, leave me," Jonathan said.

"I'm not leaving you," Martha said.

"Someone….needs to be there for Clark," Jonathan said. "And I…"

"We'll get there, you'll be fine," Martha said.

Martha turned around and made her way towards the hospital. She pushed open the doors of the pickup truck and swung out before dropping down to the ground.

"My husband, he needs help!" Martha called at the top of her lungs.

The doors of the hospital opened up, and two medics came out, wheeling a gurney. Martha opened the door of the truck and they loaded Jonathan into the gurney. He reached up and squeezed Martha's hand lightly.

"Tell, Clark, how proud I am…of the man he's becoming," Jonathan said. "And the man he will become."

"Jonathan, you'll have a chance to tell him yourself…"

Jonathan closed his eyes when being wheeled into the hospital. Martha could see it had been a chaos because of the attacks. The hospital's staffing problems resulted in some headaches. Martha closed her eyes, trying to think of a more positive spin on this. She could not think the worse.

' _Remain strong.'_

* * *

Clark stopped at the end of the road. He lost Zod, but a plan started to form on how to get him back. Clark walked forward, arms extended out.

"You call yourself the greatest leader in Kryptonian history!" Clark yelled. "But, how great can you be when you keep running from someone who you consider to be a mere child?"

The words flew through the air. So far, Zod didn't answer Clark's attempt to call him out. It was fine, Clark could wait. He looked over his shoulder to see Raya and Kara standing on either side of them. Both girls wondered what Clark was playing out.

"I didn't think after all I've heard you hyped up that the great and powerful Zod was nothing but a coward who is too afraid to face me!" Clark yelled. "Are you scared? Scared to face the son of the man who put you in the Phantom Zone!"

The image of Lex flashed in front of Clark. Zod's fury burned out though Lex's eyes. The young man's hands clutched together tightly as if imagining wrapping said hands around Clark's throat and squeezing the life out of them.

"I don't fear you," Zod said. "I don't fear you. You are nothing but an insect who is little more than to be squashed on the underside of my boot."

Clark answered with a smile. He appreciated Zod finally coming out. He was close, very close to the attack. All he needed was to get Zod in position.

"Well, if you think I'm an insect, then try and crush me!"

Raya turned towards Kara and almost opened her mouth to protest. Kara stepped directly off to Raya's side and stopped her from doing anything to act, anything to protest.

"Don't worry, it will all work out," Kara said. "He's saving the world. Just trust what he's doing."

Raya wondered if what he was doing was a good thing after all. She turned from Kara to Kal to see him standing there in front of Zod. Zod's eyes flared with dangerous intentions she wasn't sure if the last son of the House of El understood about.

"So, be it!"

Zod charged forward and went towards Clark. The punch aimed at his throat to crush his worthless windpipe.

"You're nothing, but a child and you deserve nothing more than to be crushed beneath my feet!" Zod yelled.

Clark blocked Zod's hand before turning him around and hurling him down onto the ground. He was mindful this was Lex, but also at the same time, he couldn't sacrifice many for the needs of one.

' _Whatever happens, I'll deal with it later.'_

The two traded punches with each other. Clark backed Zod off a couple of steps towards where he needed to go. Almost in the perfection position, Clark could put him away.

Zod realized a second later what the spawn of Jor-El did and it was much too late to fight it off. He reached in and grabbed his adversary by the throat. The Son of Jor-El responded by hoisting Zod off of the ground and flying him as far away in the other direction as possible. Both of them smashed through a set of windows.

The glass and dust laid on the ground. Zod pulled up and noticed he was in the same location where Brainiac brought him to this world. He looked down towards the worthless, traitorous vermin. Zod stared down at him.

"You think you can be a man against me?" Zod asked. "You think you can stand up. Your father had to hide behind the council and didn't speak up on my behalf despite all I've done for him. He sent me to the Phantom Zone and betrayed me, betrayed all of Krypton. If it wasn't for his betrayal, Krypton would still be here."

"I'm more of a man than you ever would be!" Clark yelled. "Why don't you ask Kara?"

Zod flew into a rage and went to grab Clark around the throat. It was just the impulsive action he needed. Clark caught him in the chest and whipped out the crystal in one motion.

"NO!" Zod yelled.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Clark responded.

Zod struggled against the current. He had been drawn into the Phantom Zone without any more trouble. The energy of the crystal exploded through his body, sucking him directly back to the Phantom Zone.

Lex's body dropped to the ground like a puppet having its strings snipped. Clark caught the still breathing man from hitting the ground. Kara and Raya stepped over towards him.

"I'm fine," Clark said. "Zod just packs a punch."

'I did tell you how dangerous he was," Raya said. "You saved them all."

Clark needed to get Lex out of here and back to the hospital. He wondered how much Lex would remember when he woke up, well if he ever woke up. Clark had his doubts on that to be perfectly honest.

' _One thing at a time,'_ Clark thought.

* * *

Clark had more than a lot on his mind after the dust settled. He dropped down onto the ground to join Kara. Kara stood at the end of the pathway, arms folded.

"Where's Raya?" Clark asked.

"She went back to the Fortress," Kara said. "Lara insisted she get checked over, to make sure nothing off happened to her. She did spend almost twenty years in the Phantom Zone, so it's best to make sure….there are no side effects."

Kara sounded pretty much distracted in her words. Clark reached over and gripped Kara's shoulder before giving it a gentle squeeze to bring it back into life.

"Are you thinking about what Zod said?" Clark asked.

Clark could tell the other Kryptonian survivor's anxiety hit a new level. The two of them walked up the road to check up on his parents. Diana waited for them at the end of the road, keeping out of the way. There was a lot of problems in Smallville.

"Kal, there's something you should really know," Kara said. "What he said was true….but I didn't know until right before we went into the Phantom Zone."

Clark tensed. He didn't really know what to make of this.

"I swear, I thought I was Kara Zor-El, I believed it, and I had memories which told me that," Kara said. "And maybe I am…but at the same way, I'm not…it's…..I can't even begin to explain it."

"Just do your best," Clark told her.

Kara drew in a deep breath. How did she explain multi-verse interweaving in a way which didn't make everything complex?

"Well, the point is, there's another Kara out there, or there might be, who might be trapped," Kara said. "I hope my memories come back completely because we might have a better idea as to who did this, and why did they do this."

"I hope your memories come back as well."

Clark turned towards her. Kara was looking down on the floor. Clark reached over and gently squeezed her shoulder.

"You know, it doesn't really matter where you come from," Clark said. "It matters where you're going. You're his daughter…what does that matter? You're not him, and no one should blame you for anything he did."

Kara wondered if Jor-El knew and tried to warn Clark about it. Or maybe he didn't. Kara suffered such a crisis of identity.

"You're Kara, that's what matters," Clark said. "We're not defined by our destiny, but by our choices."

"Truer words had never been spoken."

Diana walked up to meet the two of them. She could see Kara was a bit distracted. The older girl led the younger woman closer towards her and pulled her into a warm and gentle embrace.

"Sorry, about….well I'm sure you're going through a lot," Diana said.

Diana knew what Kara went through more than she could hope. For years, Hippolyta told Diana the story about how Hippolyta crafted her by clay and the goddesses gave her life. This was a story to cover Diana's true parentage, or rather her father. It had been a revelation, to be honest.

One could allow herself to be defined by such a revelation. Diana got strength, though.

' _It doesn't mean it's easy to swallow something like that.'_

Clark, Diana, and Kara walked inside the room. The first thing they saw there was Martha sitting there. Her head hung low, hands shaking, and breathing rather shallow. A couple of sobs came from her and the instant Clark saw what was going on with her, he knew.

Martha noticed her son and rushed over to throw her arms around Clark. Clark could feel her tight squeeze around his neck.

"Clark, I'm glad you're safe," Martha said. "But...Jonathan…he…he didn't make it."

Clark could not say anything. Despite his father's medical problems, he didn't see Jonathan Kent ever dying. He held his mother tight as Diana and Kara looked on, misty-eyed as well.

"He's…he's gone," Kara whispered. "Mrs. Kent, I'm sorry."

Martha wished she had been a little bit quicker in getting him medical attention.

"None of this is your fault," Clark said, seeing how uncomfortable she was.

"Neither is it yours," Martha said.

Clark closed his eyes. Today had been a day where his entire life changed. He couldn't help but think what might have been if he was a bit quicker in getting out of the Phantom Zone. His father wouldn't have stood up to Zod, and suffered the beating which strained his heart for the final time.

' _And to think, I wasn't around to say goodbye.'_

Martha detached herself away and sank down, with Diana sitting on the other side.

"Please tell me everything is safe," Martha said.

She just barely choked back a nerve racking sob. Clark looked towards her.

"Zod's gone, but…."

"We should consider ourselves fortunate then," Martha said. "And Jonathan would tell you the same thing, and also tell you how proud he is you managed to…..do what was right again."

Clark wrapped an arm around Martha. The most galling thing was he never had a chance to properly say goodbye.

A dark cloud covered the relief they all felt after Zod's defeat.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 29** **th** **, 2017.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty-Two: The Secrets We Keep.**

* * *

The dark clouds rolled over Smallville days after the arrival of Zod and did not look like they wanted to disappear anytime soon. The people of Smallville were once again trying to put their lives back together after the latest crisis. Many tried to joke in good humor this seemed to be an event which happened every few months. Meteor mutants attacked and most of them had been rounded up.

None of the people in Smallville had any idea how close they were to getting obliterated by a trigger-happy army. Someone called that off, and exactly who it was, well that was not known. Hell, very few people knew it happened in the first place. Some individuals would be blissful in their ignorance and would move on with their lives. Not knowing how soon their lives would have ended in the first place.

One person did see his life end on this day in Smallville. Clark leaned over the freshly dug grave and peered towards the gravestone which indicated Jonathan Kent's death. He died of a fatal heart attack when confronting a Lex who had been possessed by General Zod.

Clark didn't really know what happened to Lex after dropping the young man off at the hospital. All he knew was Tess assured him it would be taken care of. Clark really didn't spend too much time worrying about that, he just spent a lot of time worrying about what to do with the funeral. The inevitability of death hit Clark, and he knew, most of the people around him would meet death.

Jonathan Kent came close to perishing a couple of times. This heart attack had been the big one, the one he couldn't wake up from. No one could return from that, unfortunately.

His mother told Clark that his father thought of what might happen to Martha and Clark after he died. When his very last breath, Jonathan told Martha to tell Clark how proud he was of what he's done and the man Clark has become. The thought made Clark struggle to force tears back.

' _It shouldn't have happened,'_ Clark thought. _'This shouldn't have happened, I should have been here.'_

A gentle hand touched the side of Clark's arm. He turned slowly to see an attractive redhead looking back at him. Clark thought she looked familiar. Still, it would be best if he allowed her to introduce herself properly.

"I'm really sorry for your loss," she said, leaning closer towards him. "I know….I know what you're feeling. I lost my father a few months ago as you know."

Now it clicked in Clark's mind. He looked towards the girl.

"You're Doctor Swann's daughter, aren't you?"

The girl answered with a solemn nod. "Yes, I'm Patricia Swann. And I've wanted to meet you for a long time. It's just….well, I think we both can say it would have been under better circumstances than a funeral."

Patricia buried her father after he died under what the official investigation claimed to be natural causes. She wasn't certain she really believed that. No, her father's death wasn't anything natural, as far as she could tell. Foul play was involved, given some of the projects her father had been involved in.

' _There's really nothing to prove it.'_

"You think you're alone in this world," Patricia said. "But, know that there are always going to be people to help you, to help guide you, no matter what the cause. And when you need a hand, there's always going to be people here to give it to you."

Clark nodded in response. One of the people who he thought was going to be here for a long time left his life pretty quickly. He really didn't know how to take it. All he could do was walk a little bit around the graveyard.

"Your father was a great man," Clark said. "And I can see how he raised a great daughter as well."

Patricia answered with a half-smile. "And I can tell the kind of man your father was by looking at you as well."

She heard stories about the traveler and what he could do. Patricia reminded herself those stories were just that, stories. The truth might have been more extraordinary than any story.

"He would have liked to see what you would have grown into," Patricia said. "But, I think we both agree you're at the crossroads of life. You can go anywhere you want."

Clark answered with a nod. His father's death showed Clark more than anything that there was so much to do. And he was going to do it. It was time to step up and see what he could do.

' _It's time to move forward.'_

Clark turned from one redhead to another. Tess walked over towards him and gave him a smile before leaning into him.

"I'm sorry about your loss," Tess said. "It just seems like some things in life are inevitable, like loss."

"My father told me what doesn't kill us, makes us stronger," Clark said. "And he would have told me to just take what life gives me, and use it to….do what I need to do next."

"Your father was a very wise man," Tess said. "And now, you're at a crossroads. You'll have some interesting decisions to make in the next couple of years."

Clark could not help, but smile. It was a genuine smile as well.

"It's funny; you're the second person to tell me this today."

"Well, it's a matter that needs to be reinforced," Tess said. "I'm sorry to stay long. I need to make sure Lex is where he should be."

Clark understood Tess and where she was coming from. The two shared another nod and a handshake. Tess paused for a second as if considering something. Whatever she considered, she decided against it. Clark watched her retreat from the graveyard.

He noticed a figure standing on the hill, watching the proceedings. The mysterious mourner dressed in a green hood.

Clark blinked and the figure was gone as quick as they arrived. He wondered who showed up to pay their respects, and why they didn't spend a lot of time there doing so.

' _Mysteries to figure out for another time,'_ Clark thought.

* * *

Raya propped herself up on the examination table at the Fortress of Solitude. It never ceased to amaze her out the Fortress was always a marvel of Kryptonian technology. It brought a satisfied smile to her face.

Jor-El's original design had been modified and tweaked. Normally, Raya would be a bit offended by someone modifying such perfection. Another look around cleared those thoughts from her mind. She had to admit how much Lara made it work, and how much she made the Fortress more efficient.

Speaking of Lara, Raya needed to remain perfectly still because of the scan being performed her person. Lara insisted on scanning Raya the second she came home from the trip to the Phantom Zone. Raya wasn't too inclined to argue because it would be a lot easier to do so this way.

Lara's new body took some getting used to, and Raya missed the old one. Not that the new one was bad, it was just familiarity lead to comfort. And Raya had been well acquainted with Lara's old body. In addition to being Jor-El's lab assistant, she also assisted Lara in certain aspects which her husband neglected.

' _I hope this comes clean,'_ Raya thought. _'If it doesn't, then some damage has been done and I don't know what will happen.'_

Kara returned from the Fortress after attending the funeral of Jonathan Kent. She only barely acknowledged Raya's presence when walking inside of the Fortress. Her mind looked to be pretty much all over the place. The girl stumbled forward and walked towards Lara who hung over the console.

"I'm scanning Raya for anything foreign which she might have picked up from the Phantom Zone," Lara said. "So far, there haven't been any clear issues."

"Good," Kara said. "I'm glad there really aren't any problems."

Lara adjusted one more setting. She had to do one more deep scanning to make sure there were no problems. She turned around to look towards Kara who looked frustrated.

"Kal mentioned what you said," Lara said. "And I know you're in shock with what you've found out."

"Shock doesn't even begin to cover it," Kara said. "Why would my memories come back at the worst possible times?"

Lara paused for a moment to try and figure out the best answer. This entire situation was delicate. Kara's parentage had not been surprising, though. Lara didn't really want to destroy her worldview; on the off chance, she was wrong. Plus, Kara recovered the ordeal of losing pretty much anything. Lara had a pretty clear idea how much that affected the person.

"Shock, of the worst kind, tends to jar memories which have been surpassed, or modified," Lara replied. "I couldn't even begin to guess why you were sent back with modified memories."

"Kal's right, though," Kara said. "It doesn't really matter who my parents were….all that matters is who I am right now, and what I become."

Kara intended to be the best possible Kryptonian she could be. It wasn't going to be easy at all, in fact, it might end up being one of the harder things she did. Some people whispered you couldn't fight your inner nature. Kara refused to believe it. She refused to allow herself to be sent down this particular road.

"We have some good news," Lara said. "You are clean after your trip to the Phantom Zone."

Raya took a moment to sigh in relief. She had thought, for a moment, given how long these scans took, Lara would have picked up on her getting something from the Phantom Zone. The fact she had been cleared and ready to go was a tremendous amount off of Raya's shoulders.

"Thank you," Raya said. "And it's good to see you again."

"I hope you understand why we disconnected Jor-El's AI and regulated it to maintaining the Fortress archives and nothing more," Lara said.

"Yes, even though it's a shame it had to end that way," Raya said. "He wanted the best for his son…he wanted the best for Krypton, and every single planet in the universe, Earth included. It's just….using that particular method of AI, disconnecting himself from the emotion, his actions came off as a bit callous."

"The most intelligent of us don't realize how callous we come off," Lara said. "Until it's too late I guess."

Lara reached over and locked her fingers into Raya's. Raya leaned closer towards Lara, smiling when the other woman leaned towards her.

"Do you think I can trust you?" Lara asked.

"Yes," Raya said. "I swear, I'll help Kal-El in any way he wants me to."

Lara smiled; those were the words she wanted to hear. The words she needed to hear, now that Raya was here.

* * *

The funeral passed, and Clark only caught a few glimpses of his mother during the entire proceedings. Martha had been busy with friends of Jonathan, and his remaining relatives. Therefore, it had been hard for Clark to get a reading on exactly what was going through his mother's mind. Something told him she would be fine, but Clark still wanted to check up on her.

Kara returned to the Fortress after paying her respects. Clark understood why she didn't want to stick around. She had more than enough going on in her life and in her mind. It had been a very harsh shock for Kara.

' _A lot of our lives have been turned upside down today,'_ Clark thought. _'And I don't think it's going to stop anytime soon, at least, I don't think it will.'_

Clark made his way over towards the door to knock on it. Before he could do so, the door opened up, Martha opened the door.

"Hello, Clark," Martha said.

Clark could see how tired his mother was, and it was for a very good reason. She had been put through the ringer today at the funeral and didn't really come out the better for it. All he could was reach in and grab her hand to give it a solid squeeze, to tell her he was there for her.

Martha smiled and led her son in with a wave of her hand.

"You should sit down," Clark said. "You've been ran ragged all day."

"I'm fine," Martha said. "Besides, if I keep busy, then it keeps my mind off of….well everything."

Martha really hoped she never had to bury anyone else anytime soon.

"Sit down, though," Clark said. "I don't want my mother to work herself to death as well."

For a moment, Clark thought he had pushed things too far with that statement. Martha looked at him and with good grace, she sat down, while pushing a plate of food and something to drink in front of Clark.

"You've been a long day as well," Martha answered. "And I know deep down you're blaming yourself for what happened to Jonathan."

Clark shifted in the chair. The thing was, he couldn't really deny it with a straight face. Martha would have detected whatever bullshit he tried to give her at a moment's notice. So all he could do was a slump in the chair and respond with a swift nod when looking towards her.

"Yes, I'm blaming myself for this," Clark said. "I should have been there….if I had thought about getting you out first….."

"I know it's hard for you to believe this sometimes," Martha said. "But, sometimes you have to have faith in people who protect themselves…..there are times where you go out there, and do what you do, and….I try and hold a brave face. But despite who you are, and what I know you're capable of, I'm scared to death."

"I don't mean….."

Martha held up one hand to prevent Clark from speaking.

"I know you don't mean to do so. I just have to have faith you can handle yourself. And if it doesn't work out right, then we're going to have to deal with it then."

A second passed with Martha looking thoughtfully.

"Your father didn't have to go out there to face Zod," Martha said. "He did it because he felt he had to. And maybe, he knew there was nothing good coming from it. But the thing is, he wasn't going to just back away and not do what he could to stop Zod from overrunning him."

Clark understood instantly.

"That doesn't mean your help isn't appreciated," Martha said. "Because it is, but if someone gets hurt, it's not your fault."

"This is more than someone getting hurt," Clark said.

Martha leaned in and placed a hand on her son's shoulder and tried to convey to him that nothing which happened was his own fault.

"No one said everything was always going to end up fine all of the time," Martha informed him in the most gentle voice possible. "Still, you can't always be looking over your shoulder. Things happen for a reason, and Jonathan…..I'll miss him, and you will too. But, I think his death happened for a reason."

Clark hated to think this was all part of some grand destiny Jor-El always talked about. The young man looked towards the door where Chloe and Lana stood. The door had been left half open.

"Girls, you should come in," Martha said. "You both should know the door is always open for the two of you."

Lana and Chloe stepped into the Kent home. Clark could tell because of the looks on the girl's faces.

"Sorry, just seemed like a private, mother-son thing, but…really, we didn't mean to eavesdrop on anything," Chloe said.

"We just wanted to come up and check on both of you," Lana said.

"We're managing about as well as can be expected," Martha said. "I won't lie to your face and tell you things are going to be easy because they most certainly aren't going to be easy."

' _Nothing in life ever is easy,'_ Martha thought in despair.

She turned fully towards her son.

"Clark, if I need anything, I'll be in touch," Martha said. "You should get out, get some fresh air."

"Yes, she's right," Lana said.

"You really do need something to keep your mind off of things," Chloe said. "A movie, maybe dinner, something, anything other than…what's been happening."

Lana and Chloe moved over to either side of Clark. Both girls busted out into grins. Clark looked at both of them, and he would have, to be honest, he was smiling as well.

"Well, really, how can I say no?" Clark asked.

"You can't really say no," Chloe admitted to him.

Clark rose to his feet, with Chloe taking one arm and Lana taking the other arm.

"Especially with the two of you double-teaming me, I don't think I have a chance," Clark said.

Chloe and Lana answered with knowing smiles before they lead Clark out the door. It was very hard for Chloe to keep a straight face at this point, even though the girl did manage.

' _Oh, you have no idea the double teaming that's to come, Mr. Kent,'_ Chloe thought.

"Go out there, have fun," Martha said.

Clark's last bit of resistance, not that there was too much left, faded away. Chloe and Lana lead him out of the room, arms interlocked with his and smiles crossing the faces of both of the beautiful young women in question.

* * *

Lex Luthor had been hooked up to a chair. His eyes glazed over, looking a tiny bit bloodshot in the process. The doctors who observed him all muttered in excitement.

"I have to say, it's just a slight bit more responsive than his father was," one of the doctors said.

Lex twitched from his position. The occasional eye twitches were the only movement, other than when he ate three times a day. And he didn't eat any more than needed to survive.

"Yes, this is promising," a crisp, monotone voice said off in the shadows. "Make sure you keep up with the observation. I want to know everything he does know. His mind is an untapped resource."

The doctors had been at this observation for three days. They really didn't have many clues to Lex's insight or mental processes other than these slight, not so subtle movements. The light shined in his eyes when he moved.

"It's…it's…"

These words coming from Lex resulted in the doctors growing for rigid and extremely excited. Finally, the mute young man was going to speak. Some of them put pen to pad and were going to jot down some notes.

A hand reached forward and grabbed the microphone. They were so close to striking gold, he was not going to be denied this particular treat.

"Mr. Luthor, I know you hear me, and I know you understand what I'm saying," the gruff voice said. "I want you to focus on who you are, and tell me what you're thinking. I know that impressive mind of yours hasn't stopped working."

Lex hadn't suffered brain damage which was very surprising given the circumstances. The physical exams showed that much. In fact, his mental processes had been spiked to an inhuman level thanks to the exposure of this entity known as Zod. The poltergeist, for lack of a better term, had been exiled before any of them had a chance to look at it.

"Take your time, we have all day."

The doctor looked at the brain scans. He feared Lex had many complex thoughts that he could not articulate due to his impressive brain power.

' _There's always a chance he's speaking, but humans cannot perceive what he's saying. And we don't have the capacity to understand. And he doesn't have the capacity to dumb it down for lack of a better term.'_

The doctor drummed his pen against the notepad. There had been several notes, but more of the same. Understanding Lex's mind, could enhance the mental processes of many normal people.

"It was so beautiful!" Lex yelled. "I had it!"

Two short sentences were about all they could get from Lex. Lex's eyes bulged out, and he returned to the twitching and slight hand movement.

"A disappointment, but we know he's still capable of speech."

The other doctors turned around as a balding gentleman wearing thick glasses stepped closer into the light. The man, Hugo Strange, studied some of the most fascinating minds in his time. He always was interested in piecing together more about the physical and emotional capabilities of humanity. The human mind had been an enigma for as long as the universe had created life.

"It's the first time he's spoken in sentences," one of the doctors said.

"Yes, it shows whatever trauma he's undergone, he's slowly processing," Strange said. "We will continue with the observation."

So far, it had been most illuminating.

* * *

Clark felt a little bit more relaxed after a night on the town with Lana and Chloe. The two girls slipped away to shop, and they insisted Clark just stick around elsewhere in the mall. Clark didn't really question it. He would rather fight two meteor mutants than two girls shopping.

' _Although come to think of it, Chloe doesn't seem to be the shopping type,'_ Clark thought, as the three had arrived back to the Potter Estate. _'Hell, Lana doesn't really either these days, well not as much as most girls.'_

The two girls had something in those bags, though, and they seemed to be smiling at Clark, almost knowingly. They didn't have X-Ray vision, but Clark was pretty sure they were undressing him with their eyes. He couldn't help but smile at their expressions.

' _You just wait,'_ Clark thought to them.

"So, are you relaxed?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, I got my mind off of everything," Clark said.

"Your girlfriends really do know how to take care of you," Chloe said.

Chloe leaned in and caught Clark with a hungry kiss. She pushed him up against the wall and dug her nails into the side of Clark's face. The kiss was extremely aggressive and exciting. Chloe took the opportunity to suck Clark's face, and also grind up against him.

Lana watched how the most powerful man in the world had been backed off. Then again, Chloe could be pretty feisty when she wanted to be.

"You know, I'm feeling a bit left out," Lana said.

Chloe turned around and the same predatory look spread over her face. Lana had been a bit excited, and also a fair bit scared. Chloe reached over towards her and kissed Lana on the lips with an extremely hungry kiss.

Clark watched the two attractive girls swap saliva with each other. His pants became a bit constricted at the sight. Lana's hands moved around and cupped Chloe's backside. They pushed together in each other, eyes locked onto Clark when they concluded their sloppy make-out session.

"I think we should get you upstairs, and out of those pants," Lana said.

Lana stole a quick kiss from Clark. Her hand reached down and cupped Clark's crotch through his pants. She squeezed his manhood while kissing him.

"Yeah, that looks a bit tight," Chloe said, empathizing her words with a very shameless squeeze of Clark's crotch.

The two of them walked Clark up to the bedroom. Lana opened her door and the lavish bed was there. Lana looked out.

"You know, Clark, if you had a telescope, you could see my house from your loft," Lana said.

"Oh, come on, the boy scout would never do that," Chloe said with a smile.

Clark shifted a little bit. The two girls relieved Clark of his pants and stepped back.

"We're going to slip into something more comfortable," Chloe said. "Just don't get started without us."

Chloe swayed her ass which made Clark throb even more than he did before.

Clark waited. It took every fiber of self-control not to peer through the window.

The surprise had been more than worth it. Chloe sauntered out of the kitchen. She attired in a sheer red bra which covered her breasts. Her flat, toned stomach was on display. A nice red garter belt came down, with some transparent red panties. Clark saw her legs covered in stockings. Chloe turned around to show him the panties were also a thong.

Lana stepped out of the bathroom. She dressed in a black lacy teddy, with a choker collar. A sheer black thong, knee high stockings, and a garter belt added to her body. Clark could feel the blood rushing from his head at the sight of both of the girls.

"Poor baby," Lana said. "Why don't I kiss that and make it feel better?"

* * *

Lana revealed Clark's cock to the entire world. She cupped the young man's balls and squeezed them before leaning in and kissing the length of his manhood. She swirled around his cock, using her warm tongue to pleasure Clark's manhood.

"Hey, you need to share," Chloe protested.

Lana licked the length which allowed Chloe a chance to take on the head. She wrapped a plump set of lips down Clark's head and raked down the length while Lana kissed it. Chloe took her lips down his manhood and kept taking him into her mouth. She bobbed down onto Clark's immense length.

Clark grabbed the back of Chloe's head when she sucked him. He could feel Lana's warm mouth coming down, to suck on his balls. The young man groaned when feeling Lana's mouth on top of him.

"Oooh, "Clark groaned. "Yes!"

The two girls exchanged his cock and balls, switching back and forth. Both of them had the time of their life going down on Clark beneath his belt. A feeling of pleasure coursed through Clark.

Chloe smiled and cupped Clark's balls while Lana bobbed up and down on him. Lana's hair formed a dark curtain around Clark's manhood and tickled the throbbing flesh.

"Nice to see you're nice and full for us," Chloe said. She squeezed him. "Let's hope we can keep that going for the rest of the night."

Clark thought he was going to die. Chloe kissed his balls and licked them. The feeling of those balls made her hunger for more of him, more of his cum. She slurped him, smiling when going down on him all of the way.

Lana took the length of his cock into her warmth. She bobbed down on him, digging into his thighs. She looked up, running her hands up and feeling Clark's rock hard abs. It complimented his rock hard cock quite nicely. Lana slurped him, licking his manhood.

"Damn, I'm going to!"

Both Chloe and Lana joined at the edge of his throbbing manhood. They kissed and sucked him. Their warm tongues batted at his cock before Chloe came down onto his manhood. She took as much of his cock down to her throat.

Lana kissed Clark's sweaty abs, before going down between his thighs. She took Clark's balls and squeezed them. Lana tickled his balls, feeling how sweaty they were.

She pulled down her panties and sat on the bed, making sure Clark could see her pussy. Lana fingered herself in time with Chloe bobbing her head down onto Clark's hard manhood.

"Go ahead, Clark, blow your load down her throat," Lana said. "I'm sure there's going to be more."

Clark held onto the back of Chloe's head. The lovely look on her face made Clark only drill himself into her. Those balls slapped against Chloe's chin. Her beautiful face when going down onto him was quite the sight.

He groaned and shot his load into Chloe's mouth. Chloe kept going down onto him, bringing her mouth down onto him. She stroked his balls, and went down to him, taking the massive prick deeper into her throat.

Clark emptied the contents of himself down onto him. Chloe pulled up and gave his still half-hardened cock.

"Well, help yourself," Chloe said.

She pumped Clark's cock until it stood up into the air. Lana crawled over onto the bed and positioned herself on Clark. Clark could see an unrestricted view of Lana's toned ass. He grabbed the object of his affection when Lana mounted him reverse cowgirl style.

Lana's warmth surrounded him. Clark reached up and ran his hands down her back when she bounced up and down on him. She twisted and turned around on him.

"You two are too much," Clark groaned.

"Well, someone needs to make sure you get everything you deserve," Chloe said. She pushed Lana's hair from her face and kissed the girl when she bounced up and down on her.

Lana put her hands on Chloe's lovely chest and squeezed her breasts. She brushed Chloe's stiff nipple and twisted it, before coming down from her body.

Chloe rocked her hips when Lana parted her thighs. A couple of fingers slipped into Lana's dripping womanhood when she kept bouncing down on Clark from the position.

All Clark could see was Lana's lovely ass slamming down onto his hips when she drove herself down onto him. Clark reached around to her and explored the front of her body. Clark stroked her clit which caused her to moan.

"Yes, that's a good spot, she's really dripping," Chloe said.

"You have room to talk," Lana said.

She twisted a finger inside Chloe's insides. Her wet cunt closed around Lana's probing finger and milked her. Lana pulled out of Chloe and pushed her finger between her lips before sucking it dry. She pushed the finger back inside Chloe and repeated the ritual.

Clark pushed into Lana's tight pussy. She closed in around him and moaned when pushing as much of his cock inside her as she could manage. She contracted around him.

"Damn, you're really…you feel really good," Clark breathed.

"Good as your wet dreams I'm sure," Lana said.

Clark brought her up to a peak. Lana was starting to wobble. She grabbed onto the bed and brought herself down onto Clark's pelvis. She took a few more thrusts onto her.

Chloe anticipated Lana burning herself up, and she would take care of Clark. She watched his swollen rod pass between Lana's thighs which started to come up and down on him.

"Damn, it's…you're not the slightest bit tired are you!" Lana yelled.

Her pussy throbbed with need. She spread her legs and pushed as much into her as possible. Lana rocked herself down to impale him deeper into her. She could feel him stretch her out and it was so good.

"No, I can do this all night," Clark said.

Chloe nibbled Lana's lips and could feel her mad scramble to her body. She cupped Chloe's chest in her hand and squeezed it. Their tongues found a pattern with each other.

One more orgasm put Lana out of commission. Chloe gripped Lana and gave her a long, tongue-centric, kiss before pulling her off.

Chloe crawled on top of Clark, her breasts hanging out of her top. They slapped Clark in the face.

"Squeeze them," Chloe said.

Clark wasn't about ready to turn her down. Every inch of Chloe's flesh burned him up. All he could do was take those supple breasts in his hand and squeeze them. He took a couple of moments feeling their firmness.

Chloe could feel Clark's cock, still dripping from Lana's juices. The beautiful woman spread her legs a few second. Her lips beckoned him.

"It's mine now," Chloe said.

"We should have done this years ago."

"Does it really matter?" Chloe asked. She nibbled his neck when easing her thighs apart. "It matters we're doing now, and we're going to make up for lost time."

Chloe surrounded Clark and pushed all the way down onto him. He grabbed Chloe's delicious rump and squeezed it. The feisty woman pushed down onto him. She drove down onto Clark and pushed him deeper into her. The beautiful woman bounced up and down on him.

Clark found himself surrounded by her. Her pussy was tighter than Lana's, although they were both really tight. Chloe's enhancements gave her a bit more endurance. And speaking of enhancements, Clark reached up to cup her. He took her aching nipples and squeezed them.

"You're just the gift that keeps giving," Chloe breathed.

Clark cupped a breast and sucked on it. Chloe shoved more of her tit down into his mouth. He kept sucking it.

Chloe looked over and saw Lana arching her hips back and up. Clark reached over and finger fucked her at the speed of light. Lana collapsed down onto the bed after the orgasm.

"That's amazing," Chloe said.

She bounced upon Clark's stiff pole. Chloe ached with need and could not have enough of her. He was like a drug, her addiction, and Chloe was going to indulge herself in him.

"Why don't you give it a try? "Clark asked.

Chloe smiled. She slipped her fingers into Lana's nearby pussy, still balancing herself on Clark. She fingered Lana while driving herself down onto Clark.

"Mmm…oooh…you're killing me!" Lana breathed.

Her body reached another excellent peak. The dark haired woman's body came down from the pleasurable spike.

"Then you're going to die happy," Chloe said with a grin.

Clark watched Lana fade out with a blissful smile on her face. Chloe returned to Clark and shoved herself down onto him. She worked herself to the peak.

The two joined each other at the loin. Clark held her breasts and squeezed them. Chloe responded by bringing herself down onto him. Her beautiful moans made his cock throb. The orgasm was really close.

"Fucking cum!" Chloe yelled. "Fucking fill my pussy with your alien seed!"

Clark's muscles tensed up. Chloe's words and latest orgasm sent him over the top. He fired inside her, depositing his seed into her. Chloe clenched and twisted around him to milk the seed out of him.

Chloe finished milking Clark's orgasm, having one more of her own. She pulled off of him when she was done. Some of the dripping cum collected on her fingers.

A wicked grin spread over her face. She bent over Lana and slipped her cum stained fingers into the girl's mouth. Her legs spread apart for Clark one more time.

Clark figured if she wanted more than she would get more. This time he pushed into Chloe and took out his frustration on her pussy.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 5** **th** **, 2017.**


	23. Chapter 23

_Week Five, Year Two Chapter of the Week Voting is Live. The link is at the top of all my profiles. Vote now.  
_

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Three: Lost in Time.**

The Fortress barely became visible for someone who looked for it. Well, it barely was visible for someone without the ability to see through the snow. Clark was able to maneuver through the snow, flying at an immense speed and closing in on the Fortress of Solitude pretty fast. Despite being fast, Clark's mind kept going fast.

It had been about a week since the incident involving Zod, and Clark's entire life had been turned around to put things bluntly. The death of Jonathan Kent forced Clark to come to certain realizations. He already began stepping up for battle, but now, there were other things he needed to do if he wanted to become the hero. Everything started with a single step.

' _Everything is just….one step at a time,'_ Clark mused.

Clark dropped down outside of one of the entrances to the Fortress. The Last Son of Krypton touched the side of the wall. The wall flashed and slid open to reveal an entrance point. Clark stepped on through the wall and made it inside.

The Fortress was a bit more inviting than when it first got put up. Lara worked very carefully with some modifications, some which would serve them well. Clark looked around and noticed a large map on the wall of Earth. Crystals lined up against the wall, and Clark also recognized the crystal drive from Kara's ship on a table. Kara claimed her mother's AI was inside the drive.

"We haven't been able to figure it out. And I doubt anyone other than the person who invented it would be able to determine how it worked."

Clark turned around and saw Raya standing there. Raya dressed in a casual black tank top and a pair of blue jeans. It looked a bit odd to see the woman in Earth clothes. The clothes showed what a nice figure she had, and it was something that Clark appreciated.

"Alura In-Ze had her share of critics," Raya said. "One thing we can't deny is she's a genius."

"Well, it must run in the family," Clark said.

Raya only responded with a smile. There was no denying this older Kara was a genius, but that could lead to some deception. So, Raya kept her head on straight.

"We may be able to figure out how to get the AI working if we track down…your true cousin," Raya said.

Clark responded with one of those looks and leaned forward to grab Raya's hands in a very firm squeeze. Raya almost jumped up, startled at what Clark did. She knew he would be strong, but the Kryptonian assistant had no idea.

"Kara belongs here just as much as anyone else does," Clark said. "Just because of who her father is, it doesn't mean you should condemn her."

"Forgive me," Raya said. "I just am trying to think of the worst possible outcome, and what might happen if….she goes down that dark road. If her mother is who I believe….well, it's obvious why she was able to convincingly pass off as your cousin Kara."

Clark had a pretty good idea who Raya eluded to, and he didn't think that would be out of the realm of possibility. Regardless, Clark tore his eyes away from the beautiful woman and took a moment to look around the area of the Fortress.

"Lara is at work, making sure nothing slipped out of the Phantom Zone," Raya said. "There was a simple margin of error where something could have popped out of the portal."

Clark had thought about that. To be honest, the Kryptonian survivor was more preoccupied with stopping Zod, but now he was back in the Phantom Zone, hopefully forever.

"Wouldn't there be a sign something popped out, though?" Clark asked. "Like murders, or something like that?"

Raya shrugged in response. "It does depend on what came out of the Phantom Zone at that particular time. Some of the prisoners aren't exactly raving lunatic types, although the Zone does change people."

The fact the Phantom Zone changed people reminded Raya she was not immune to these changes as much as the next person. Lara spent a lot of time examining her, both physically and mentally. And Raya only just barely kept out of the line of sight of some of the more dangerous prisoners of the Phantom Zone.

The reasons why Jor-El put her there was understood by Raya. She didn't really question it, well not completely. There were times where Raya almost wondered if Jor-El did the right thing. It turned out to be a perfect thing due to Kal-El, and Kara she supposed, being sent to the Phantom Zone. She was in a position to help them.

Every day, Raya lived in fear, because of the Phantoms potentially finding out her connection with Jor-El. They wouldn't hesitate to get revenge through a proxy.

The two crossed the edge of the room and walked inside. Lara positioned in front of a monitor and frowned. The image of the portal leading out from the Phantom Zone flickered about the screen.

"Hello, Kal," Lara said.

Despite the greetings, Lara didn't remove her gaze from the screen in front. Lara didn't really mean to be rude, at least intentionally rude. The Kryptonian pulled up another screen and slowed down the images on the screen.

"Tell Kara I wasn't intentionally not working on trying to access her mother's AI," Lara said. "Believe me, we could use Alura's brilliant mind right about…"

Lara trailed off when looking at the screen. The woman's mouth turned fairly dry when leaning closer towards the screen. Clark came out of the portal first, followed by Kara and Raya. The portal closed, but the light flickered. A figure, dressed in ragged Kryptonian military garments, exited the portal. The figure's face had been covered.

"So, it's just as you feared then," Raya said.

Lara answered with an unfortunate nod. She peered at the viewscreen and tried to rewind it back one more time. Lara made her attempts to get anything, a distinguishing feature, anything. The prisoner moved fast, to avoid detection.

"That's who saved me and Kara," Clark said. "From Nam-Ek and Zod's other follows in the Phantom Zone."

Raya didn't know what to make of this. Then again, she just regained her bearings here on Earth, so it was hard for her to figure out too much of anything.

Lara frowned. Raya groaned when seeing that look in Lara's eyes. When Lara got obsessed about something, she could get scarily focused about it. It was almost to the point.

"Do you have any idea who it might be?" Clark asked.

Lara frowned and studied the footage as intently as possible. "Yes, I have ideas."

Clark had no idea whether or not this was a good idea or a bad idea. Lara didn't give Clark a chance to clarify.

* * *

The dust finally cleared after the incident involving Zod. And Tess had an entire mountain of paperwork to deal with in the interim. Lionel had been locked away, just like he had ever since the second meteor shower all of those months ago. He talked nonsense. There were times where the man spoke a word or two of coherency, but when buried within all of the nonsense, Tess didn't make heads or tails of what he was saying.

Lex ended up being another matter entirely. She arranged for Lex to be hauled off as well for his own good. Lex wasn't in any position to fight it. The man had grown less than coherent. The man's once brilliant mind had been shredded, in the worst possible way.

Was it possible he faked the incoherence? Naturally, Tess suspected there was a chance Lex played a charade. Which is why she kept him under close observation, both Lex and Lionel, as a matter of act.

The Board of Directors of LuthorCorp tried to swoop in for their piece of the pie. Tess really didn't know why she expected any different from those people. No matter what the timeline, the LuthorCorp board of directors looked to be pretty self-serving. This remained the same no matter what universe, timeline, or whatever, Tess found herself in.

Tess walked into her office and had been greeted with several documents. The massive amount of documents were not was bad as Tess feared, but taking a lunch break would be a luxury Tess could not afford to have for quite some time.

' _Well, here we go.'_

The redhead businesswoman didn't have a chance to settle down properly because a knock on her door broke any concentration, even as narrow as it was.

' _That's right, I almost forgot,'_ Tess thought. _'And given the brain power I have, I really don't have any excuse to forget anything, but here you go.'_

Tess cleared her throat. "Come in."

The door opened and Patricia Swann stepped into the office. The moment she saw stacks of paper on Tess's desk as far as the eye could see, Patricia took a step back towards the door.

"Look, if this is a bad time…"

"I actually could use someone to keep me company while I wade through this mess," Tess said. "I'd offer you a cup of coffee but…."

The door opened up and in a blink of an eye, a tall dark haired woman entered the office. She wore a pair of glasses, a nice button up red blouse, and a jacket, along with a black skirt, and stockings. Patricia found it quite interesting how much she resembled Kara Kent, at least facially speaking, but it could be one of those weird coincidences.

' _Or a shapeshifter, or a clone, or a long lost relative,'_ Patricia thought. _'This is Smallville after all.'_

"Here you go," the girl said. "If there is anything that I can get you, please do not hesitate to tell me….."

"Do you think I can have some more sugar?" Patricia asked. "And maybe a bit of cream?"

Tess's assistant produced both of the items in a blink of the eye. Patricia smiled and moved to put both of the items into the coffee. She tipped it in.

"Thanks," Patricia said.

Tess shifted off some of the clutter. She thumbed through the documents. Various business deals were about ready to go into place. Some of these deals benefited LuthorCorp, while others didn't. Tess shifted the documents into two distinct piles. The documents containing the deals which benefitted LuthorCorp and the pile of the documents were something she needed to go through.

"So, where did you pick her up?" Patricia asked.

Tess looked up from the paper and looked at Patricia with mild curiosity.

"You mean, Indy?" Tess asked. "Oh, I picked her up on my many travels. She was lost, without a purpose, after the latest Crisis. I managed to give her one."

Tess continued to move through the papers. Patricia wondered why the woman acted the way she did a lot of the time. Tess came to her with information, information Patricia doubted even her father knew. It verified something happened in the future.

"Clark's coming along pretty fast," Patricia said. "The question is will he be ready for the challenges?"

"I have to admit, I would have liked to do the time jump much sooner," Tess said. "And once Kara remembers everything she's forgotten, she'll agree. But, I suppose it can't be helped."

Patricia wondered what happened to her in the first timeline. Tess had been a bit reluctant to share these details.

"This isn't the first time you've been back in time, have you?" Patricia asked.

"I've had a couple of trial runs," Tess admitted. "But, there is really nothing like this time jump…..but hey, I'm pretty sure most of my memories are in place."

The methods she and Kara (or Karen as she had been known in her civilian life in the future, or Power Girl as she would be known in her super-powered life), had gone back in time had been drastically different.

"The Orb is missing," Tess said.

"You're kidding me, right?" Patricia asked.

"Yes, it's key to everything that's going to take place over the next couple of years," Tess said. "I tore Luthor Mansion from top to bottom apart, trying to find it….but it's been moved."

Tess wondered if her trip back caused butterfly effects both good and bad. The ripples spreading through time were impressive by all means, and Clark was taking the road to becoming Superman much faster than they could hope. Perhaps not as fast as she would have liked, but maybe if they bumped it up by a couple of years.

"You do realize what will happen if the Orb falls into the wrong hands, don't you?" Tess asked.

"Yes," Patricia added. "It can be a useful asset but….."

"There are other things inside the Orb which could cause problems," Tess said. "And have you had any luck tracking down our elusive Mr. Bloom."

Tess really wanted to nip that problem in the bud before it became one.

"No, he wasn't at the address my friend dug up," Patricia said.

The signed showed Tess how frustrated Patricia had become and she shared the frustration, to be honest.

Changes for the good and bad both happened. The universe had its way of balancing out. Tess frowned when looking at one of the contracts. The Board thought they were being very clever trying to sneak this one through, but this would be a definite one for the "no" pile.

"We're just going to have to keep searching," Tess said. "Both for him, and the other Kara."

Tess wasn't sure this other, younger, Kara existed before the great Crisis. Well, the latest great Crisis, there has been more than a few of them. And the Cosmic shifts caused elements of multiple Earth's to be merged together, and the dust still settled.

"We've got a lot to do," Patricia said. "Has Lex coughed up any information?"

"No, he's not talking," Tess said. "And that can be a huge problem."

* * *

Kara hovered outside of the window of the loft overlooking the entire Kent property. Clark mentioned many times he found herself in this particular spot to think over the various things which happened. Or just be alone with his thoughts. Funny enough, it was his Fortress of Solitude before the Fortress of Solitude.

Thoughts, Kara really needed to be alone with a lot of those right now. She closed her eyes tight and dipped into her thoughts, her mind, and yes, her memories. Those memories didn't really match up. And now, Kara understood why, thinking everything over carefully.

It was all about time travel. Kara could have kicked herself. A deep concentration exercise put together many Kara's past memories, at least in part. It was very hard to do at first, with Kara not trusting her own memories. Memories of her spending time with Alura, thinking of her as her mother and for all intents and purposes, Alura was her mother.

She remembered the younger Kara, her cousin, and the reason why it was so easy for her to think of Alura as her mother. It was for the simple reason Kara was around Alura most of the time.

' _And I made Alura a promise I would protect both of them, no matter what,'_ Kara thought. _'Both Alura and Lara…and I can't help, and I think I've let both of them down for some reason. I don't really know what to do.'_

Kara really didn't know what to do now. Conflict spread over the mind of a girl who was unsure where to go with her life. And this really affected Kara's ability to help Clark, and do the things that he needed to do. Clark really could be one of the greatest heroes the world could see.

The legends of the young man from deep in the future made Kara smiled. The problem was legends were they could be embellished. And yet, reality could be more extraordinary than any legend. Kara clasped the edge of the window and flashed a smile out of the window.

' _What to do now.'_

Kara rested her hand on the edge of the window and leaned further outside. Many thoughts passed through the mind of the younger girl. What to do, what to do indeed.

"I thought I might find you up here."

Clark turned up behind Kara. The Kryptonian moved over and walked up to Clark. The girl threw her arms around Clark's neck and pulled him in close for a tight hug. Kara leaned closer towards Clark, and their lips brushed together for a light kiss before Kara pulled away from him.

"Sorry, if I haven't been….well sorry if it seems like I've been avoiding you," Kara said. "I didn't mean to. But, you know, there comes a time where you have to stop running from who you are. Or you might become that person."

"Your father?" Clark asked. "Or your mother?"

Kara blinked when staring at Clark. A few seconds passed as she mulled that particular question over. It was a pretty good question and one which was hard to consider.

"Both, really," Kara said. "They had a lot for me to live up to. I won't say they were all bad. Zod was a brilliant military leader, but he suffered a few losses. And I don't think he found out I was his daughter until….well towards the end. Maybe the revelation I had been hidden for fourteen years was the thing that broke him."

Kara looked outside. The clouds sure looked beautiful, tranquil either. Clark moved closer towards Kara and squeezed the girl's shoulder.

"So much has changed as well," Kara said. "I guess, a couple of timelines got merged together or something…..I'm going to have to talk to her."

"You're going to have to talk to who?" Clark asked.

"To, Tess," Kara said. Clark looked back towards her. "We made the jump back into time together."

Clark looked at Kara. It was Kara's turn to lean in and put a hand on Clark's shoulder to squeeze it.

"I was sent her to protect you and Kara…the younger one," Kara said. "My aunt and mother liking the same name lead to….well, it led to a little bit of confusion. I decided to adopt the name Karen to…let up on the confusion. In the future, I took up the identity of Karen Starr, Starr coming from Star Labs, you know. And Karen…derived because it was close enough to Kara."

Clark nodded, he understood where the name had come from.

"So, are you going to adopt the name now, in the past?" Clark asked. "Well, the present or…"

Kara laughed and leaned in to place her fingers over Clark's lips to prevent him from talking. Time travel already was pretty confusing without Clark trying to make any sense of it. She knew that more than anyone else.

"Let's just worry about this one step at a time," Kara said. "I do like the name I took on the future, you know when I was a superheroine."

Clark wasn't sure about the entire codename thing, but he was never the less curious.

"Power Girl was my superheroine name," Kara said. "And I was one of the charter members of the Legion of Super-Heroes….don't worry, you'll meet them someday."

Clark wondered if Kara should be telling him the things she did.

"The timeline already is different," Kara said. "It won't be the Legion I knew, but it is going to be a version of the Legion. I know, it's a lot to take in. I just hope we can have a good relationship, even if I wasn't…who you thought you were."

"It doesn't matter where you come from," Clark said. "Your parents…you can't choose them..."

"You can only choose your actions," Kara said. "I feel like we have this conversation….and regardless, we're still linked…..were among the few survivors of Krypton left."

"Us, Lara, the younger Kara wherever she is…and Raya," Clark said.

Kara responded with a nod. She would respectfully keep all opinions on Raya silent. Lara assured Kara she would deal with Raya, so Kara would leave that to her. They would clash on an ideological level.

"Oh, I was at the Fortress, "Clark said. "We aren't the only ones who left the Phantom Zone."

Kara tensed up for a second. Clark grabbed her.

"You could have told me this earlier," Kara said. She didn't mean to sound so sharp, but it just kind of slipped out that way.

Clark's sheepish look made Kara feel kind of bad for snapping at him as well. Kara reached up to wipe his hair from his eyes and reassure him with a smile.

"I know, but….it's not an immediate threat, at least Lara and Raya don't think so," Clark said. "Although, it seems like my mother has a pretty good idea what's going on."

Kara was certain. Some people overlooked Lara's intelligence, their problem to be honest. Kara had her own theories on who broke out and wanted to ask Clark some questions to verify it.

A car pulling into the Kent Driveway caused both of their attentions to be diverted. Clark saw an attractive redhead exit the car and walk up towards the front steps.

"If it's not immediate, it can wait," Kara said.

* * *

"So, you're Virgil Swann's daughter," Martha said. "I'm really sorry to hear about your loss…your father was a very brilliant man."

"Yes, and a bit dedicated to his work," Patricia said. "And I'm sorry to hear about your husband's death as well. It must have been a shock to you."

Martha sat across the table and offered Patricia a cup of coffee. Patricia made sure to secure the case on the table and took another cup of coffee and also a slice of pie.

"I'm here to talk with your son," Patricia said. "My father left a couple of things behind for him, and he would have wanted him to have a look at them."

Martha was about ready to inform Patricia that Clark was out, but suddenly, she spied Clark and Kara walking across the pathway towards the Kent home.

"His ears must have been burning," Martha said.

Patricia answered with a smile. She really did hope to catch Clark here and have a conversation with him. The item resting on the table would answer some questions or maybe raise any more.

The door opened, and Clark walked up towards the redhead who rose to her feet.

"Patricia, what do I owe the pleasure?" Clark asked.

"Well, I was going through some of my father's old boxes, trying to see if I can find anything that could help you," Patricia said. "And I've come across this."

Clark took the box in hand and opened it up. A slightly melted silver orb rested in the box. Kara gasped when looking at it.

"It's a primitive form of the Kryptonian Birthing Matrix," Kara said. "And….the symbol on it, it's from the House of Zod….."

Kara closed her eyes. Her own connection to the House of Zod aside, some very interesting questions had been raised.

"Zod's son had been murdered underneath the siege of Kandor," Kara said. "Along with his first wife…..and this must have been an attempt for him to clone a son."

"An attempt which may have proven to be successful," Patricia said. "At least in certain senses….my father and a group of his associates came across a young boy all of those years ago, on the day of the first Meteor Shower…..and they thought he was the Traveler."

Clark blinked a couple of seconds.

"He wasn't, he was something worse," Kara said.

"If we can find my father's journal, we might be able to shed some further light on this situation," Patricia said. "Why don't we head over to STAR Labs? There's someone over there that I think both of you would want to meet. And my father left a couple of items there which I'm certain only you can access."

Patricia moved to go for the car. Clark smiled and scooped up the woman in his arms, before zipping out of the Kent Farm.

Kara picked up Patricia's shoe which fell to the ground, smiled, and followed the two of them out the door.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 12** **th** **, 2017.**


	24. Chapter 24

_Chapter of the Week Voting Linked To All of the Profiles at the Top of the Page. Voting closes on Saturday, vote for last week's Stronger Together Chapter, or whatever chapter(s) you preferred last week at that link._

* * *

 **Chapter Twenty-Four: Last Will.**

* * *

The amazing nature of the Fortress never ceased to amaze Chloe. She had visited it several times already, but Lara performed some upgrades. She thought a person could only do so much with a Fortress which had been located in the midst of the Arctic. When you were out in the middle of nowhere, it was hard to get a lot done, but Lara proved she could make something out of a whole lot of nothing.

' _Alien technology, it's just amazing sometimes.'_

Now, Chloe found herself sitting inside the Fortress. The last time she had been sitting in the Fortress like this, Lara had been extracted from Chloe and slipped into a brand new body. Now, Chloe entered the Fortress to get scanned. The incident with the meteor mutant caught Lara's attention and rightfully so.

Chloe was initially surprised she had meteor powers of some sort, but at the same time, it wasn't a huge surprise after all. She wasn't at Ground Zero during the first meteor shower, but the second one she was. Plus, she wondered if proximity to those who had been exposed, constantly, many times throughout the years, made Chloe acquire some kind of meteor powers. It would make sense, but how did it happen? And more importantly, how did Chloe trigger a power like this? There had to be some way for her to access it, it couldn't be shut on or off at a whim, could it?

' _Just some really weird things going on here,'_ Chloe thought. _Maybe there are some things which can't be explained by logic, or common sense.'_

Chloe took a second to sigh. The warmth of the crystals flooded over her body. Raya, the woman Clark and Kara liberated from the Phantom Zone, walked over towards her. She studied Chloe for a moment before speaking.

"So, how are you feeling?" Raya asked.

"Well, to be honest, about as good as I normally do," Chloe responded. "Am I supposed to be feeling any different?"

"There are no aches, no pains, no sense of…..well hearing the echoes of the person you absorbed is there?" Raya asked.

Chloe closed her eyes and focused on the thoughts going through her mind. No, no thoughts, other than her own. The spunky blonde opened her eyes up and responded with a very firm shake of the head. Raya surveyed the subject for several minutes and backed off, seemingly pleased with her answer, at least for now.

' _I guess all I have to do is wait,'_ Chloe thought. _'See if there are any consequences.'_

Chloe sat rigidly and waited for the examination to continue. The captive girl wondered where Lara ran off to under all of this. Lara had been distracted, and given what Chloe had found out, she did have a good reason to be distracted.

' _Poor woman has a lot on her mind,'_ Chloe thought. _'Someone escaped from the Phantom Zone, and….well they haven't attacked yet. Which is good. Unless they're plotting an attack, which isn't good. Guess we're going to have to wait.'_

Chloe figured they would find out sooner rather than later and they would find out in one of the most painful ways possible. All the girl could do now is lean back and rest.

' _What a last couple of months this has been,'_ Chloe thought.

The doors opened up and Lara walked in. Chloe watched the Kryptonian walk in. She wore a look which was hard for Chloe to piece together. Chloe didn't know if it was a good look Lara wore or a bad look. Oh well, time to bite the bullet and see what was going on here.

"So," Chloe said. "What's the damage?"

Lara's long gaze hit Chloe. Chloe could feel like something pierced her very mind with those bright blue eyes just staring a hole through her head.

"As you've figured out, you have meteor powers," Lara said. "And I'm not certain how this happened, but I have a few theories."

Chloe leaned in with a smile and motioned for Lara to jump into those theories. She was equal parts curious and a bit intimidated to hear them.

' _Well, it's just better you get them out of the way, because it will be over before you know it if you do,'_ Chloe thought.

"You were near the second meteor shower, therefore the latent metagene you had activated," Lara said. "All of the meteor mutants have meta-genes, or had meta-genes, which activated upon their exposure to the radiation of the chunks of Krypton falling from the sky."

Chloe just nodded, she understood where Lara was coming for with this.

"Or, the proximity to the meteor mutants over the years, caused the residual radiation to cause you to develop your powers," Lara added. "It's just a theory, that's all."

Chloe allowed all of this to sink in and wordlessly nodded.

"No, it's one I had as well," Chloe said. "I don't know if Clark mentioned it to you, but I've had more than my fair share of encounters with your average meteor mutant of the week. Seriously, it was at least once a week, and I'm not really exaggerating either."

Lara answered with a smile. She doubted Chloe was exaggerating given the look in the girl's eye.

"Regardless of the origin of your powers, you can heal, or heal others even," Lara said. "When you extend your healing abilities outside of your body, there lies the trouble. You can heal other meteor mutants of their burden, to an extent."

Chloe realized something, and she looked towards the woman in front of her.

"Wait, do you mean….do you mean I can heal them of their powers?" Chloe asked. "As in removing their powers?"

Lara thought it was a good question. The scans of Chloe she ran showed that there were still some limitations to those powers. And it would be unwise to push Chloe too far too fast.

"It's a temporary fix at best, as far as I can tell," Lara said. "And it will be a great burden on you. I suggest you don't do it unless it's absolutely necessary."

"And it's best to keep this from everyone until we are able to run some more tests, "Raya said. "Naturally, you can tell Kal-El, and I suppose Kara as well….if you must."

Lara could tell there was still some small amount of distrust between Raya and Kara, and she knew of the reasons why. Still, they had to be on the same page. Lara thought about the steps needed to be taken so Raya was complacent and on the same page.

* * *

Lex Luthor found himself in a padded room, leaning back against the wall. The accommodations were not too bad, other than the fact he had been put inside a cell without any way to get out of the cell. His arms were currently tied, certainly for his own protection.

Everything could have been far worse, given how Lex still breathed, and if Lex could still breath he could still act. Now, he tried to reason how to find a way out of here.

' _The real sign of insanity is when you try and rationalize things can be much worse than they are now,'_ Lex thought. He cracked his neck back and tried to offer a smile.

Unless Lex had mistaken the time, it was about time for his daily visitor to show up. The bald young man could hardly wait, why he was practically sitting on pins and needles just waiting to talk to this particular gentleman. Lex wondered if bouncing up and down would be a sign of further insanity. Not that it would matter, given he had been locked up in a padded cell. But, surely it could have just clarified any insanity?

' _Likely so,'_ Lex thought. _'So, I doubt I'll even bother with it."_

The one and only, thankfully, Professor Hugo Strange walked up to prepare for his session with Lex. Lex looked towards the man on the other end of the cell. The balding man offered Lex a smile.

"Mr. Luthor, how are you feeling today?" Strange asked.

"I'm sitting in a cell, talking to someone who is attempting to perform a psycho-analysis on me," Lex said. "One would think someone of your intelligence could figure out exactly how I'm doing."

Strange simply stared at Lex for a moment and the staring just caused Lex's lack of comfort to increase. The doctor studied enough about Lex and his past to understand he would be an extremely difficult one to crack. Strange prepared himself for an interesting conversation.

"And yet, you've made an admirable amount of progress," Strange commented to Lex. "Just a short time ago, you could barely talk, and you are able to form coherent sentences."

Lex hated when people spoke to him in such a way.

"This would be more amazing if I was an infant," Lex said. "Could you please drop the formalities, and skip straight to the point? I'm certain you have better things to do, even if I don't."

Strange answered with one of those smiles with Lex really wished he could reach over and slap off of Strange's face. There were two things preventing it. Lex's hands were tied and there was a rather thick wall in between the two of them, which prevented any escape. Lex found himself between a rock and a hard place.

' _Better make the most of this situation,'_ Lex thought.

"On the contrary, Mr. Luthor, you are in fact the most mentally stimulating part of my day," Strange said. "And I would like to get to know you as much more than a series of medical reports and evaluations."

Lex took a moment. It wasn't like he had a choice. And to be honest, things could be worse. The only thing good thing about Strange being here was it blocked Lex's view from seeing his father across the hallway. Lionel had entered a very sad state.

"So, what do you remember about your adventure?" Strange asked. "You were possessed by some force…..you claimed to be someone called Zod, for a short amount of time. But, you mean to tell me you don't have any memories of being this person, Zod?"

Lex reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. A couple of seconds passed.

"As I told you the first time we talked, I don't remember anything," Lex said. "The last thing I remembered...Milton Fine was going to create a super serum which was going to help make people immune from disease."

"Well, Doctor Fine isn't available for comment, and you're the only person who can tell me anything," Strange said. "If this super serum exists, why hasn't anyone been able to find it?"

Strange arranged for some of his people to take a closer look for the serum should it turn up because he had people who would be more than willing to pay a fortune for it, more than a fortune in fact.

"Well, either someone at LuthorCorp stumbled upon it, or the military confiscated it," Lex said. "Those are your two most basic options, I think."

Lex didn't remember much of anything from a period of about forty-eight hours which he blanked out. Whether or not he should remember was another debate for another time.

"Let's talk about something else since you haven't received your memories back from your ordeal yet," Strange said. "Although, I'm certain they are well within reach, you just need to grasp them."

Lex blinked and frowned at Strange.

"Believe what you wish," Lex told Strange.

"Oh, it doesn't matter what I believe, Mr. Luthor, but rather what your mind still comprehends," Strange answered. "I'd like to talk to you about your relationship with a Mr. Clark Kent."

Lex wondered what Clark had to do with anything, but he was by all means very curious what road Strange was going to take here.

"It's curious how someone of your status made friends with someone like Mr. Kent, a common farm boy," Strange said.

"I don't think you're as ignorant as you pretend to be," Lex said. "And since you aren't, I know you know there's nothing in Smallville which is common."

Strange didn't respond to Lex's comments. He made a couple of notes.

"It seems like you and Mr. Kent are destined to be intertwined, in some cosmic way, almost as if fate decreed it."

"I don't believe in fate," Lex said. "I'm the only one who controls my actions."

Strange thought that didn't jive with the notes he made on Lex. Regardless, he allowed the young man to have his moment, and humor him. The Professor wrote down a few more notes.

"It seems like you are obsessed with him, to beyond basic infatuation."

"What are you implying?" Lex asked.

"Nothing, Alexander, just merely making an observation," Strange said.

"I know you think there's something to with destiny, but I'm in control of my own actions."

"And yet, you feel like you're destined to be greater than anyone, including your own father," Strange said. "And speaking of which, let's have a discussion about him."

Lex only just barely abstained from rolling his eyes. He figured this conversation was coming, it always came back to Lionel Luthor.

"Yes, let's. This should be as painless as a trip to the DMV."

* * *

Patricia's adrenaline pumped when Clark descended down to the ground. The flight had been about as amazing as she thought it was, in her wildest dreams.

"Sorry, the flying's a bit of a work in progress," Clark said.

Patricia answered with a shrug, brushing it off. "No, sweat, really, all that happened was I lost a shoe, that's really no big deal after all…."

Kara flew through the air and dropped down, holding Patricia's shoe in her hand.

"I think you dropped this."

Patricia broke out into a round of laughter at the deadpan nature of Kara's words Then she slipped the shoe she dropped in mid-air on. With both shoes on, Patricia Swann turned over towards Star Labs.

The handsome and tall building towered over many buildings in Metropolis, which really said something. The walls looked pretty sleek and were resistant to weather damage. The doors inside were state of the art as well and scanned Patricia to allow her entrance.

The main part of the building was the state of the art observatory, which archives of information, for over thirty years of work from her father. The archives of the messages which brought together his group of stargazers were somewhere in this building, although Patricia hadn't had a chance to go through much of anything. She spent some time dealing with all of her father's other business ventures.

"Well, this is Star Labs," Patricia commented. She looked towards the two people who mattered the most.

One stolen gaze towards Clark who took in every inch of the building around like a kid in a candy store made Patricia almost break into laughter. Karen smiled when looking around the building. The technology was pretty state of the art, to be honest, and she really wanted to take a look.

"This facility was intended to help the Traveler, which is what my father's group called you before you came to Earth," Patricia said. "They knew, three years before you came…before they received a message from Krypton….and…they prepared….even though the group splintered apart, with varying goals."

Clark wondered what Patricia meant by varying goals. The woman took a second to calm herself before turning towards Clark.

"The Veritas organization split into two factions towards the end, well not cleanly, but they split over whether they wanted to help the Traveler or if they wanted to use the Traveler for their own purposes," Patricia said. "At least, that's what I've been able to figure out by talking to a lot of people."

"So, who was all in Veritas, or do you know?" Clark asked.

"Well, my father, obviously, Lionel Luthor, the Teagues….."

Clark pulled a face at hearing that particular name. Given all of the problems he had with the Teagues, over the stones, he was pretty much glad to see the back of them. That family was nothing, but trouble.

"Then there were the Waynes and Queens, who sided with my father, on the fact they should help the Traveler," Patricia said. "And the heiresses of those two families are in agreement with me….we should help you, and here we are."

Kara walked into the lab and looked towards a screen. She noticed some really weird waves flashing over the screen, so she turned around to Patricia.

"So, what's that picking up?"

"Weird disturbances of energy," Patricia said. "They might be interdimensional irregularities…some people have the theory this Earth isn't the only Earth, rather there are multiple Earths throughout the universe. There are at least fifty-two different versions of Earth."

"How long has this been happening?" Clark asked.

Another sigh and Patricia answered.

"It's been happening on and off ever since the second meteor shower," Patricia said. "And it's getting worse ever since the portal to the Phantom Zone had been opened."

Clark had no idea what was going to happen, but he was pretty sure things were going to get a bit rough from here on out. It was just a hunch he had, call it crazy, but it was there.

' _Wouldn't be Smallville without insanity.'_

* * *

Lara finished the tests on Chloe and sent her off on her way. She came up clean on all accounts which Lara approved of. She returned to looking at Alura's AI. It had gotten pretty busted when she had been transported to Earth. Lara knew it could be repaired, but to configure it wrong could be bad.

' _The last thing I need is to misconfigure it, and make her come out like Jor-El,'_ Lara thought. _'Or Brainiac.'_

Lara looked up towards the Fortress ceiling and several lights started to blink on it. She had been running some scans based off of all of the portals which had been opened.

"Is that what I think they are?" Raya asked.

Lara decided to pull herself away from fiddling with Alura's AI, deciding to leave it as a lost cause for today. The scientist rose up and looked over. While medicine was her field, Lara studied other disciplines here and there, and what she didn't study, Lara had the ability to learn, mostly through common sense.

"If you think they are interdimensional irregularities, then yes, they are what you think they are," Lara said. "The portal to the Phantom Zone disturbed something."

Lara looked at everything around her and frowned. She thought all of the answers would come easily, but perhaps not.

"These type of dimensional disturbances are pretty rare, especially on Earth," Raya said, "It's almost like multiple universes crashed together, and we are living on a different Earth, created anew."

Lara stared at Raya for several moments. The assistant wondered if she had spoken out of turn or said something which would upset the woman. Raya held Lara in the utmost of esteem and tried to backtrack from her conversation as well.

"It's rare, but it can happen," Lara said. "It's called the Crisis Effect when redundant worlds are erased, and new ones are born from the elements of those worlds combined together. Everything has to be aligned properly for it to happen. It may seem absurd, but no, it's not absurd, it's merely rare."

The most reliable scholars talked about how fifty-two distinct universes existed, each with their own version Earth and other neighboring planets. Some also said there was a prime Earth where these universes branched off of. No one could access the Prime Earth which was a good thing.

Lara thought it was now time to deal with a pressing situation, while she performed a deeper scan to see the depths of the universal tear.

"So, what do you make of Kal-El?" Lara asked.

Raya had been caught off guard by the question. Was this a test of some sort? Lara had been looking at her, and Raya knew she overstepped bounds earlier by being critical of Kara in Lara's presence.

"He's changed since the last time I've seen him," Raya said. "Given he was barely a few days old, I guess it's easy to see how much has changed."

Lara answered with a smile and leaned over to give another smile.

"He has changed, and he has grown," Lara said. "He's preparing to take his role as the guardian Earth needs when it moves on through history."

Raya understood Lara had some great expectations for her son, much like Jor-El did, even though her guidance was different than Jor-El's. The assistant couldn't state with a straight face Lara's method was wrong. In fact, Raya would have to say her method was more than right.

"Do you ever wonder what might have happened if the Council listened?" Raya asked.

An impish smile spread over Lara's face when moving closer to Raya.

"I don't think about the impossible," Lara said. "I'm sad to see Krypton gone, but we now have a new world to help guide along. We should make the most of it."

Raya understood where Lara was coming from. The older blonde reached over and placed a hand on Raya's shoulder.

"One thing that has not changed is the fact you have a duty to the House of El," Lara said. "You are to serve them, no matter what, without any argument."

"I understand this….."

"Do you?" Lara asked. "Maybe I should give you a reminder of your duties."

Raya wasn't going to lie. Something about Lara's tone made shivers come down her spine.

* * *

Patricia concluded the tour with Clark and Kara through Star Labs, explaining what she could to the best of her abilities. The tour jogged a few memories and filled in a couple of gaps, at least to the point where Patricia was comfortable with speaking to them.

"Well, I'm very impressed by the work Doctor Swann has done, and the work you continue to do on his behalf," Clark said.

Patricia shifted on a smile, and she moved closer towards Clark. She stopped short, feeling it would be inappropriate to do what she wanted to do.

"Well, you were what inspired us to do this kind of work, and you're going to inspire a lot more people," Patricia said. "I think there will be heroes, legions of them in fact, who will be inspired by your work. And to think you've come from such humble beginnings, that's even more impressive."

Clark smiled and was very pleased with how everything just fell into place.

"I try to remember where I came from," Clark said. "Both Krypton and Smallville…"

"There is a wider world out there for you to explore," Patricia said. "And I hope you'd accept my help."

"Of course you didn't have to ask," Clark said.

Patricia smiled, happy they could work together. She really did hope to get to know the man beyond the legend. If half of the stories were true, then Clark certainly was extraordinary, and she could not wait to get to know him better.

"Once we track down my father's journal, we should be able to fill in a couple more blanks," Patricia said. "I just hope it isn't in the possession of an undesirable person."

Clark wondered if the person might have had the last name "Luthor." That could be a problem.

"I just hope this next generation is able to not fall to the same misfortune as the last generation did," Patricia said. "There aren't many surviving members of Veritas left, just Lionel."

The door opened and an attractive blonde woman dressed in a white lab coat, a professional looking button up blouse, and a long black skirt came into the office.

"Doctor Danvers, I'd like to introduce you to a come of friends….." Patricia said. "Clark, Kara, this is Eliza Danvers...Eliza this is….."

The woman almost backed off in surprise when seeing Clark.

"You're him, your Kara's cousin."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 14** **th** **, 2017.**


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty-Five: Following the Trail.**

* * *

This particular statement from Eliza resulted in Clark being taken aback in shock. Maybe he didn't hear her right, actually, there was a pretty good chance he didn't hear her right. Something clicked in Clark's mind, though, and one stolen look towards Kara showed they were thinking along the same exact lines.

' _Could we have gotten lucky enough to find her?'_ Clark asked. _'Could this be true?'_

Eliza smiled when looking at him. Yes, he was just about like she would imagine. Eliza wished she had put two and two together sooner, but dealing with all of these problems which occurred, it was much harder to put everything together.

"Wait, are you saying….you….know where my cousin is?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, the younger Kara, you know where she is," Kara said. Eliza turned to the older girl, and Kara smiled. "I thought I was Kara for a long time, well technically I am, but not the Kara we all know, not the one native to this universe."

Eliza had been studying the matter rather carefully, Unfortunately, there was only so far a person could go with Earth-based technology.

"Well, that's not one hundred percent certain either," Eliza said. "As you might have seen, we're studying the Crisis Effect here at StarLabs, and there has been a merger of some sorts…..where multiple universes collided and weaved together. Certain elements have been retained, while others have been interwoven."

Clark and Kara looked at her. Even Patricia, who was about as smart as anyone, could feel this particularly complex bit of science going completely over her head. She looked at Eliza and cleared her throat.

"Maybe at another time, then," Eliza said. "But, yes, my oldest daughter found your cousin….and I adopted her."

Clark and Kara both smiled in relief. They were glad Kara was adopted by someone, and not found by the government, any government for that matter, or something. Someone who would intend to bring her harm, or worse, even use her as a weapon. That was a big problem.

"I've worked with Doctor Swann for years, well myself and my late husband," Eliza said. "I started as an intern for what became Star Labs when I younger, and worked for him for years."

"Were you part of Veritas then?" Clark asked her.

Eliza responded for shaking her head. "No, I wasn't a part of that group. It wasn't because I wasn't invited…I was invited to partake in it…it just wasn't my thing, or my late husband's….and some of the people involved….well we were more down to Earth they were."

"My father would have appreciated another ally," Patricia said.

"Yes, I know, but given all of the drama and the betrayal involved, I'm very glad I didn't get a chance to be directly involved in this," Eliza said. "Despite not joining his inner circle, myself and Doctor Swann talked until his death. We talked about many things, including his expectations about who you would be."

Clark shifted a moment later. Eliza could see his discomfort and decided to appease him, at least the best she could.

"No, he never told me who you were, because Virgil respected your right to live a life of privacy, for as long as you can,' Eliza said. "Even though someone of your stature, unfortunately, could not have a private life for very long."

Clark thought as much. Every time Clark used his powers, the threat for detection always lingered very close. It was a very real risk.

"So, you're saying your oldest daughter found Kara," Kara said, trying to shift the conversation back to the intended purpose, as interested as she was on hearing about how Eliza came to work here.

Eliza answered with a smile at the other girl's eagerness. She had to have been a version of Kara, or at least related to her.

"Yes, my oldest daughter, Carol, she found Kara's pod crashed down on the ground, right outside of our garden," Eliza said. "She brought her inside, and the poor girl was shaken….rightfully so because she lost everything and everyone she held dear."

Kara gave a sad smile at the thought of that. She had been down that particular road and adjusting he been a very hard thing to do. She figured the same would happen for the younger Kara.

"It took her a while to come to terms with what happened, and also….it took some time to reassure her that Kal-El was fine," Eliza said. "I should have pressed Virgil to arrange a meeting but….I knew he might not have budged….because he wanted to protect your privacy and let you grow up for as long as possible until your destiny could not be avoided."

Patricia looked towards Eliza and put a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"I'm certain my father would have made an exception, given the circumstances," Patricia said. "He wasn't completely cold….even if he grew distant in those later years."

Patricia recalled, very sadly, the lack of times she had any kind of substantial interaction with her father over those last couple of years. The times could be counted on one hand, and still, have fingers left over. It was an unfortunate tragedy the two of them didn't completely come to peace with each other.

"I have a picture of her in my office if you'd like to see her," Eliza said.

"That'd be great," Clark said.

Eliza walked the short distance down the hallway to her office. The door opened and there was a bit of clutter, folders, and various notes on the desk. Eliza smiled when moving over towards a photo. A photo showed a trio of girls. One of them was a very tall blonde with a good figure, who looked to be older than the other two girls. The second girl was a dark haired girl who looked to have been dragged into the photo by her youngest sister and had a slight scowl on her face, although it threatened to break into half of a smile.

The third girl wore glasses and a rather goofy smile. She looked to be about fifteen, or sixteen years ago, the legal definition of adorkable.

"Yes, that's her," Kara said. "That's most definitely her."

A few new memories trickled in Kara's mind and resulted in a throbbing of her temples.

"I ended up in the future and had to return…to protect both of you…at least in this timeline," Kara said. "It's really…strange."

"It is," Clark said. "So, can we meet her?"

"We'll arrange something," Eliza said. "Kara would like to meet her cousin….both of them."

Eliza also thought her other two daughters would have liked to meet Clark as well, even if it was for slightly different reasons than Kara did.

* * *

Tess Mercer wanted a drink and it was barely ten in the morning. She walked down the hallway, Indy walking off to her side, and putting some more notes in her arms.

"Are you sure this is everything this time?" Tess asked.

Indy answered with a nod. She also slipped a cup of coffee into Tess's hands. Test just smiled, appreciating the cup of coffee in her hand, but also considering some other things.

"I could have done with something a little bit stronger this morning," Tess said. "But, I suppose coffee would do."

Tess almost forgot what it was like to run a business, especially one which had been veering dangerously close to the red due to Lionel and Lex's various obsessions. The Board demanded answers yesterday, and they were going to put Tess out into the line of fire to try and get them. They thought she was a soft target, boy were they in for a shock when things were all said and done.

"I think you need to keep your wits about yourself, ma'am," Indy said. "And yes, I can tell you with one hundred and twelve percent certainty all of the information you need, including all of the information we've dug up on the various members of the board are here."

Tess answered. She only had one further thing to say before stepping inside of the Board Room.

' _Let's do this."_

Tess walked into the Boardroom, coming across the old boys club, sitting around the table with shrewd looks on their face. Shrewd might not have been the best way to put their looks. Smug might have been an even better way to describe them.

' _Just wait until we're done here today. Those smug looks will be replaced by something else pretty quickly. You'd look more like someone who has been force-fed lemons by the time I'm done with you.'_

The members of the Board Directors all stared Tess down when the time had passed. One of the bolder members, who had taken a seat at the head of the table, smiled at her.

"Ms. Mercer, I'm so glad you can make it here today."

"Yes, Mr. Jacobs, I'm certain you're thrilled," Tess said. "You're so thrilled in fact, you're keeping my seat nice and warm for me. But, why don't you get out of my chair, and take a seat of your own."

The man, Jacobs, rose from his chair, like a puppy being reprimanded by his master. The other members of the Board laughed when the man made his way to a chair far from prominence. Tess took a second to settle herself down on the chair across from the man and kick back, relaxed and smiling in response.

"I'm not going to lie, Luthorcorp has seen better days," Tess said. "And I'm coming into this company, where it's about ready to perform at its fourth money-losing quarter in the world."

"It's all down to Lionel, and then Lex Luthor," one of the board members said. "I would have warned them that it was going to sink this company if they kept putting their money into pursuits that were a bit further away from Earth."

Tess could have scoffed. She doubted very much these people would have been so bold, had Lex actually been here in the flesh. Her feeling grew pretty strong the more she looked at these men. They gave the sense of people who tried to cover their own asses.

"Well, they're no longer here, as they're both on an extended sabbatical," Tess said. "So, we need to figure out what it's going to take to earn more money and to get us out of this hole."

"Ms. Mercer, if I can be honest with you for one minute," a member of the board said.

Tess could have smirked and maybe even laughed a little bit. A member of the LuthorCorp Board of Directors being honest for any reason most certainly would have been a first. She waved the man off to continue, so he did, plunging into his explanation.

"We need to form a partnership with a reputable company, one who has commanded a great deal of respect," the member of the Board of Directors said. "A company which needs a fresh angle as well, and where the two companies combined would be greater than any solo effort from any company. We can raise the profiles of both companies, and assure investors we're willing to go along to explore new angles."

The redhead businesswoman lifted a cup of coffee and calmly drank from it. Buried inside all of the corporate double talk, there was a pretty good angle if she had to say so herself.

"Well, I hope you didn't come to this meeting just to blow smoke up my ass and had some good ideas," Tess said.

The man nodded so quickly, Tess thought his head was going to fall off.

"Well, I thought….we could try and form a deal with Queen Industries…."

"Queen Industries?" Jacobs asked, finally finding his tongue. "Are you trying to send this company further into the red? Sure, it's undergone some bold new directions, but we both know it's not going to last."

The man who offered the idea sat up and looked very bold. Tess didn't say anything, more wanting to see how this little conversation progressed.

"All I've been hearing from you is criticism about every decision I make," the man said. "If you think you're so smart, Mr. Jacobs, then why don't you actually contribute something productive to this meeting?"

Tess whistled, very amused with how this particular situation was going to end up.

"Well, fine, I'll have an idea, and again I'm going to have to save this company," Jacobs said. "Wayne Enterprises is the better company if you want to make a solid deal….let's give a minority share to them, and see what magic they can make."

"Wayne, are you…you want to do business with a company based out of Gotham City?"

Tess listened to the board members squabbling. As amusing as listening to them yip at each other like dogs going after the same bone, such behavior did not conduct to business.

"Why not both?" Tess asked. "I'll make the necessary calls, and see what I can do to make something happen."

Tess needed to make the necessary moves, with both Lex and Lionel indisposed. The Board would follow her if they knew what was good for their continued existence.

* * *

Lois took a second to really take in the beautiful woman before her. There were a lot of things Lois could just take in stride because those were just the curveballs life threw someone. One of the things which were hard to take, though, was the fact Clark Kent, of all people, knew an actual living breathing Amazon Princess.

Diana dressed in a pair of tight spandex shorts and a tight white top. Lois watched her bend over and tried to not to look. Every now and then some mysterious force dragged Lois's eyes towards that very well shaped ass of the Amazon Princess.

Lois walked over, dressed in some tight yoga pants, and a black tank top. Her dark hair had been tied up in a ponytail. Lois tried to keep pace with Diana, but she wondered if that really was a good idea because of how fit the Amazon Princess was.

Diana smiled, Lois's attempts to keep the pace with her workout almost caused the Amazon Princess to break out into a smile.

"It's a beautiful day," Diana said.

"Yes, not an alien invasion to be seen, well at least one I can see anyway," Lois said.

Lois tried to tear her eyes away from Diana's posterior. It had been very eye catching, to be honest. The woman was a pinnacle of beauty, and Lois's heart had gone aflutter. It was very mind-blowing, to be honest.

"It still blows me away," Lois muttered to herself.

Diana could barely hide the smile. She stretched out further and held the stretch, showing the flexibility which had been trained through many years of constant practice. It did not come easily, but Diana thought it came in handy.

"What blows you away?"

Lois almost grew red, Diana really wasn't supposed to hear what she was saying. It was only fortunate Lois didn't say anything more incriminating than she already did.

"Um, well, the fact that Clark of all people, he knows a living breathing Amazon Princess," Lois said. "It's just weird…how things like this happen."

Diana answered with a smile. She was willing to accept this particular answer from the younger girl at least for now.

"You seem to be having a bit of an interest in what Clark's up to," Diana said. "Or rather you've spent a lot of time thinking about it."

"Well, yeah, he's…well, I can't really figure him out sometimes," Lois said. "I mean, he's pretty frustrating to figure out. You really want to bang your head against the wall to try and figure him out. It's almost frustrating. But….I don't know, he shouldn't be this interesting, but he is."

Diana smiled when turning towards Lois. She placed a hand on the younger girl's shoulder.

"You do seem interested in him," Diana said. Lois looked about ready to protest, but Diana just smiled. "Aren't you?"

Lois tried to feign confusion, even though the look on her face betrayed her otherwise. "You and Kara have been talking together, haven't you?"

Diana feigned innocence. Lois just looked amused by that particular look.

"Do you like him, or not?" Diana asked.

"Well, it's not as much as I like him, it's more like I tolerate him…fine, yeah, he's fine, as in he hasn't annoyed me, too much," Lois said. "But, at the same time, he's annoyed me a lot, if that makes any sense."

Diana flickered into a smile when looking at Lois. Oh believe her, it did make a whole lot of sense when thinking about where Lois was coming from.

"You never know what you're missing until you actually go for it," Diana said.

"What do you think I should do?" Lois asked.

Diana hated that question, for the simple fact, it was pretty loaded. She didn't want to give Lois any bad advice which would cause problems. The Amazon Princess decided to give the same general advice she always received. Hippolyta gave Diana this advice.

"Just follow your instincts, and don't second guess what your heart truly wants," Diana said.

Lois placed her hands down and sighed. She was almost afraid Diana was going to say something like that. She spent a lot of the last couple of weeks trying to figure out what to do. Kara and Diana asked some questions which pierced her armor and made it extremely frustrating.

' _Emotions, they're never easy,'_ Lois thought.

Lois tried to shut herself off because of the abandonment issues suffered at an early age. You don't raise those expectations, there were no real problem for them, at least that's what Lois suspected.

A familiar car pulled up the driveway of the Kent Residence. Lois looked outside, frowning in response. No, that really couldn't have bene who she thought it was, could it?

' _No way…of all of the times for her to show up.'_

Lois walked down the steps and came face to face with her sister. Lucy stood in the driveway and gave Lois a smile. Lois didn't return the smile.

Diana stepped out to get the closer look. The Amazon Princess saw the tell-tale signs of two sisters who had a lot of tension with each other. Boy, did she ever live that a lot of the time.

' _Well, this could get awkward,'_ Diana thought.

"What are you doing here, Lucy?" Lois asked.

Lucy answered with a winning spike, one which Lois didn't buy for a moment. The older Lane sister stared down the younger one.

"Do I really need a reason to visit my favorite older sister?" Lucy asked.

Lois knew from Lucy's jaunty demeanor something was up. The last time Lucy came into town, she brought trouble. Lois wondered if the General even knew she snuck away from wherever she was to come for a visit.

"Aren't you supposed to be….."

"Bored, figured I'd get some country air, and visit you," Lucy said.

Lois tried to receive some assistance from Diana. Diana responded by shrugging in Lois's general direction and smiling as if to say she was Lois's sister and she would have to deal with it.

' _Okay, why are you really here, Lucy?'_

* * *

The visit to Star Labs had been a very productive one. Kara and Clark returned to the Fortress.

"So, we're finally going to meet her," Kara said. "I'm going to have to apologize for not being there for her…"

Clark reached in and grabbed Kara's hand, smiling, before squeezing it. Kara relaxed underneath the strong grip of his hand.

"There were circumstances, explain them to her, and I'm sure she'll understand," Clark said.

Kara answered with a nod. The two of them made their way to the Fortress.

"So, we're going to visit them for dinner," Kara said. "And Eliza has two other daughters….it might be interesting for you to meet them as well."

Clark answered with a smile. He knew, without a shadow of a doubt, what Kara drove out. She encouraged him to expand the group as much as possible. Clark didn't disagree, but he wanted to look at these people as much as they could.

"Oh, and….I think to cut down on confusion, when I'm with the younger Kara, you should use the name I used in the future," Kara said. "Karen Starr, remember?"

"Yes, I do indeed," Clark said.

"If you wanted one of us to come to bed, it might be confusing if neither of us knew who you were talking to," Kara answered with a smile. "Of course, if you wanted both of us…actually, we might get some signals crossed even anyway. And no one likes confusion in the bedroom."

Clark could have laughed, seeing her point. The two of them stepped into the Fortress.

"She's a bit too young, by at least a couple of years," Kara said. "Get her time, and she'll…mature."

Clark swore Kara purposely folding her arms underneath her chest to empathize a certain point, and Clark got it. Clark leaned and kissed Kara on the lips. The older version of Kara responded with another long kiss.

The two of them entered the Fortress, and Clark had been caught by a rather enticing sight, one which made him wonder if he should consider it enticing. Lara dressed in a sheer black top with her nipples poking out, along with a pair of see through black panties, stockings, and a garter belt. She walked across the Fortress, her toned, tanned body on display.

"Mother….."

"Clark, you're back just in time for me to begin another lesson for you," Lara said.

Lara wrapped her arms around Clark's muscular chest and squeezed him in close. She was pleased to feel him harden against her.

"It's about how to properly take care and tend to a pet," Lara whispered in her son's ear.

Lara led Clark into the next room to show him a very enticing looking sight. Raya sprawled out on the bed, dressed in next to nothing. Lara tied her spread eagle, she had been gagged. A couple of toys lied on the table, and they were sopping wet. Clark could tell Lara already had her fun.

"She did tell you she had been bred to serve the House of El?" Lara asked.

Kara looked towards Raya with a smile. The fluids rolling down her thighs proved the woman's arousal.

Clark turned from Raya to Kara and Lara. The two women already melded together into a steamy embrace which melted even the coldest region. Both of them kissed each other, their tongues melding against each other.

Raya looked up at Clark as he approached her. The Kryptonian's heart beat when she saw the outline of his package on the other side of his tight leather pants.

' _Take me, Kal-El,'_ she tried to will to him.

"Here, let us help you, and get you nice and ready for her."

* * *

Lara dropped to her knees in front of Clark and pulled out his nice large cock. She wanted a piece of him for a long time, and she did intend to take a more hands-on approach with all aspects of his training. Lara rubbed Clark's large throbbing shaft which caused him to twitch.

Clark could not believe his mother stroked his cock.

"Don't worry, I know there are taboos to this sort of thing on some parts of Earth," Lara said. She licked his head. "But, It just makes it all that much more exciting, wouldn't you agree?"

Clark couldn't really argue with his mother on this one. Lara leaned in and wrapped her hungry lips around Clark's throbbing hard penis. The beautiful blonde Kryptonian sucked Clark's rock hard cock and fondled his balls. She really did an excellent job in simulation pleasure.

Kara crawled between Raya's legs. The Kryptonian survivor placed her hands on Raya's thighs and looked down towards her with a predatory smile crossing over her face.

"While Lara prepares Clark, I think I should prepare you a little bit more. Because otherwise, it might hurt."

Raya dripped wet. Kara didn't really think much more hurt, to be honest. She bent down and forced her tongue between Raya's lips and tasted her. Kara licked Raya to get her nice and wet so Clark could just as easily slide his big cock inside of her.

Clark grabbed Lara's head and thrust deep into her mouth. The smacking of Lara's lips around him made Clark throb. He pushed closer to her throat, groaning every time she swirled her tongue around him.

Lara gave a few more hungry sucks and pulled off of him.

"We wouldn't want you to cum, just yet," Lara said. "Let's make her wait for a little bit, I want a piece of this handsome thing, and I want it now."

Lara grabbed Clark and shoved him down on the bed. Clark could feel Lara's ripe round breasts push against his face when she ground against his crotch. It just made him throb even more.

"Oh, that feels hard," Lara said. She kissed Clark on the side of the neck. "Don't worry honey, Mommy will take care of you."

"Damn, you're so…you feel so good."

Lara missed her old body sometimes, but she had to admit, this new one did the trick nicely. So young, so supple, so firm, and she could tell Clark appreciated it. He squeezed her breasts when sinking down on them.

Raya could see Lara impale herself down on Kal-El's large cock. Kara made sure most of Raya's attention was on her, licking her out.

Clark enjoyed the warm sensations of his mother driving her dripping hot cunt down on his engorged rod. He lifted up to caress Lara's tits when she rose and fell on them. He could feel her cum for her.

"This is your fault, I can't resist," Clark managed.

Lara encouraged Clark to attack her breasts, to suckle on them.

"We're just making up for…lost family bonding," Lara moaned.

Kara ate out Raya and the stifled moans coming from the woman made Kara increase her motions. She could feel something brush against her nether lips. Lara fingered her with victor while bouncing up and down on Clark from the other end.

Lara rose and fell on her son. An orgasm spread over her body when coming down on Clark's pelvis. Her son sucked on her breasts and sent further tingles through Lara's body.

"Oooh, this is good," Lara moaned. "I need more….but….I can wait until later….as I think Kara needs you, so why don't you go over and fuck her?"

Lara pulled away from Clark and released his cock. She leaned down and kissed it a couple more times. It twitched up to meet her lips.

Clark pulled away from Lara, with slight regret. Regret only lasted for so long when Clark found his way towards Kara. He pushed apart her lips and slipped inside her.

"I've missed this pussy," Clark groaned.

Kara was too busy eating Raya out, otherwise, she would have made a comment how much she missed him as well. Regardless, Kara tried to encourage Clark the best she could.

Lara ripped Raya's gag off of her and smiled. "You're going to get a brief taste of where my son's cock has been before he rams it into you."

Raya accepted Lara's gift when she sat on her face. The Kryptonian reached up and started to massage Lara's legs while Lara pushed down on her. Raya slipped her tongue inside Lara with practiced ease.

"Good thing you didn't forget your duties to the House of El," Lara commented.

Lara enjoyed the tongue being rammed deep inside her pussy. Raya really knew her way around and all of the spots which Lara liked. They were slightly different with this new body, but Lara remembered what she liked.

Kara only had half of an idea at the debauchery going on right across from her line of sight. She could only focus on two things right now. The first was the sweet, and savory sensation she got from eating out Raya's pussy. It tasted so good, she could barely describe the goodness without gushing.

The other thing was Clark's huge cock drilling into her repeatedly. Her pussy clutched around him. Clark just kept driving himself into her like a well-oiled piston. Every time those heavy balls slammed into Kara, she thought she would come undone with more pleasure then she could encounter.

Clark enjoyed the contractions around him. He spurred on to delve deeper into Kara. A couple more thrusts brought her to another orgasm. Clark grabbed Kara and thrust deeper into her.

Lara smiled and waited for Kara's latest orgasm to be ridden out.

"It's time."

Clark understood and pulled out of Kara which caused her to sigh. Kara rolled over onto the bed, and Lara slid off of Raya's face to join her.

Raya's face dripped with Lara's juices. She looked up to see Clark approach her. His long cock dragged against the smoothness of her belly when he leaned over and kissed her on the lips. The two exchanged heated passions.

Clark broke the kiss, and Raya looked up at him. She still had been secured to the bed.

"Kal, I need you," Raya said. "Please, give me everything….so I can make you happy."

Clark ran a hand down Raya's soft leg and smiled before positioning himself at the front entrance. One solid thrust resulted in Clark submerging deep inside her. And she was really tight.

"You're perfect."

Raya appreciated this particular sentiment from her lover when he plunged inside her. Her hips moved up to meet Clark when he thrust inside her.

"Yes, thank you," Raya said. "Please, give me more...I can take as much as you give me, please!"

Raya tried to encourage Clark as much as she could when tied to the bed. Clark drank in the sight of her body, and his eyes on her, treating her like a desirable commodity made Raya shiver.

Lara leaned down onto Kara on the bed and the two of them exchanged a long kiss with each other. Their pussies scissored together. Lara kissed and nibbled on Kara's neck. Kara responded by gripping onto every inch of the skin.

Kara leaned back on the bed and could feel Lara's intense work over her. Lara knew how to stimulate all the nerve ending.

"Yes, mmm, I forgot how much I enjoyed this."

"Well, it's nice to have a reminder now and then," Lara said.

She sucked the little spot between Kara's ear and really got her motor running. Lara made sure Kara could feel everything, and Kara responded in kind, hitting all of those pleasure spots on Lara.

Raya focused only on the cock of her former employer's son driving into her womanly depths. Her wet pussy squeezed Clark's invading rod when he rode inside of her. The sound of hot flesh against hot flesh increased with each passing thrust inside her. Raya almost lost it around him, cumming hard.

Clark appreciated the first of many orgasms. He sped up the thrusts, feeling the load which built a steady bit of momentum from his balls. He thrust inside her.

Raya tensed and stretched around him. He pounded Raya with more fury. The bursts of pleasure shot through Raya's entire body. Raya wished she could wrap her legs around Kal-El and squeeze him.

"You've done so well," Clark said. "You're going to serve me well…go ahead, cum for me again."

Raya didn't argue or be denied. The latest orgasm was even more intense than all of the ones which came before it. Clark rode it out with even more vigor than before. All Raya could do was take him inside her.

"You're amazing," Raya said.

Clark drove himself into Raya. The muscles tensed up and it was getting close to time.

"Who do you belong to?" Clark asked.

"I belong to Kal-El and his mates...I live to serve them!" Raya yelled.

The servant succumbed to Clark's deep thrusts. Her words and clenched pussy made Clark finally lose it and send his immense load inside Raya's wet, dripping pussy.

Raya's womb filled up with Clark's cum, burying inside of her. She breathed heavily with Clark submerging himself inside her, filling her completely up with his seed. It was a thrill she never thought she had.

Clark pulled out of Raya and immediately, Lara and Kara pounced on him, cleaning his cock up with their tongues. It twitched back to life with the hot tongues and lips of the two beautiful blondes.

No, he was not done, not today, and Clark was perfectly fine with that.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 17** **th** **, 2017.**


	26. Chapter 26

So, I really hate starting this chapter with a downer note, but you may have heard that I've run into the self-appointed group of watchdogs known as Critics United, who have taken offense to the adult nature of some of my content posting this site. Read the Deadpool PSA, and the post on my blog, underneath the Line in the Sand heading, which can be found on my profile. Also, this story can be found at Archive of Our Own, Adult Fanfiction, and my blog, all linked to my profile. I don't want to say I'm going to get banned because of me pretty much telling these people where to stick their warning about my content, but there's a chance I may disappear. It won't be willingly, I'm going to have to be banned. So, just make sure to keep my alternative profiles on stand by just in case I disappear.

But, until that day happens, I will keep posting things on this website, for as long as I can. Now onto your regularly scheduled programming.

 **Chapter Twenty-Six: New Flames Part One.**

* * *

A little gas station at the edge of Smallville was owned by an old man who had seen a lot in his time. He had lived through two meteor showers, but even before then, there were a lot of strange folks rolling into town. The man's eagle eyes could see a lot. He looked towards one of the patrons who moved away, getting some supplies he needed. The two men locked eye to eye with each other.

"Going to be a quiet day, isn't it?" the younger man asked cheerfully.

The older man responded with a very obvious chuckle. Some of the younger ones were very naïve, unfortunately.

"Son, there's no such thing as a quiet day here in Smallville," the older man commented. "You remember that when you go out there, it won't steer you wrong either."

The young man shrugged, paying for his gas and purchases. He hoped for some peace and quiet. Generations after generations of his family lived in Smallville, and it had never been this strange, to be honest. The young man walked outside of the gas station and almost stopped. Two uniformed men stood up in front of him. They wore matching scowls on their face.

"Um, good morning to you, fine sirs," the young man said.

The young man received nothing, other than some pretty cold stares for his politeness. He just shrugged and pulled himself out of the way. It looked like they were going somewhere, but where that was the question. There were a lot of weird vibes the younger man received from these particular gentlemen.

' _Maybe the old man was right, maybe there is no such thing as a normal day in Smallville.'_

A bus pulled up across the street. The man didn't really pay the bus much attention until he saw someone get off of the bus. The young man's attention fixated on a young redhead who exited the bus. Flaming red hair had been pinned back and she wore sunglasses. A nice leather jacket came on her body, along with a tank top, and tight leather pants.

Really tight leather pants, to the point where the young man found himself fixated on a certain part of the woman's body when she turned around. The man turned around and reminded himself of the fact he had a wife.

A wife who didn't fit tight leather pants as well as this hot young thing, but a wife never the less. The young man made his way to the car and stole one last glance towards the woman. The woman appeared to be looking for something. She didn't have much other than the clothes on her back.

The young man took a deep breath and tried to calm down when the woman passed. His heart started to beat heavier.

' _Easy there, Tiger, this is the type of woman who would have laughed in your face if you tried to ask you out to the prom.'_

The man looked towards the woman, and despite her cocky self-assured demeanor when getting off of the bus, there was something about her which seemed rather off. Her eyes darted about looking for something. The young man watched to see where those particular eyes fell and realized they fell upon the two uniformed men in the gas station.

Those same men who gave this young man shivers. They were cold and unfeeling, almost as if they did not have a soul.

' _Don't really blame her to be honest. They don't have any sense of humor at all…and they're just standing around…..what are they up to anyway?'_

The young man offered one more distressed look and got into his car. He thought about offering the young woman a ride but thought better of it. He backed out and left the gas station behind as quickly as possible.

' _It's really sad to think this is going to be the most exciting part of my day.'_

The redhead woman watched, nervously looking over. She saw a family exiting the gas station. The woman offered them a nervous smile.

"Excuse me, where is Johnson County?" she asked. "I have some friends there who I want to meet…they're not just the best in giving directions."

"Oh, that's an easy one," the wife said. "You just take this road and keep going south, until you reach King's Pass, and then you turn West, and then keep driving until you reach the signs. You can't miss it."

The woman responded with a nod, feeling grateful. Every few seconds, a look of nervousness passed over the woman's shoulder.

"Great, thanks," the woman said.

There was a moment of awkward silence between the two women, with the older woman noticing the redhead looking around a bit nervously. She took a moment to grab the girl by the arm. The girl almost jumped ten feet at first, but relaxed her stance and turned towards the woman.

"You're not in trouble, are you, dear?" the wife asked.

Trying not to jump high in the air, the woman answered with a smile.

"No, I'm not in trouble…it's just….well there's a storm coming," the redhead commented.

The youngest of them, a male, likely the son of the family, decided to pop off at this point. "Yeah, let's hope it's not a meteor storm or something. We don't need any more of those in Smallville!"

The boy's mother looked at him with one of those looks. This particular young man wilted underneath the burning gaze of his mother, having said so much, so soon.

"Well, if you're sure, you don't need any help," the oldest man, the father of the family said.

"No, I'm good…you better get home, you wouldn't want to be caught out in the middle of what was happening."

The redhead woman watched the family leave. It really was the story of her life, seeing people come and go just like that. She waited for them to leave and turned her attention towards the men in the uniforms off in the distance. They had not spotted her, at least not yet. The woman wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. The cat and mouse game continued.

' _I've got to keep going.'_

The two men in the gas station turned towards her and were about ready to move out. One of them spotted her.

' _Well, so much for staying under the radar.'_

The woman mentally complained about sticking around. She charged about as far away from the gas station as possible. These men were not going to back off. In fact, they followed her from behind, in hot pursuit. The woman lifted her hand and concentrated on what needed to be done.

Flames flickered off of the hand of the redhead. They grew hotter before a fireball shot into the air.

"FREEZE!"

The woman shot the fireball and bolted in the other direction from where the fireball connected. A gas explosion came up and caught the two uniformed men.

The women kept running, slipping down a side road in the confusion. If she made it to the corn field, she would have a chance to ditch them. At least for now, but there would be others.

' _This is my life, for the past five years.'_

The sounds of a car starting up only made the woman run off of the road and deep into a field. She hoped these men could be lost in the underbrush of the cornfield.

X-X-X

Clark returned after business had been concluded at the Fortress of Solitude. The moment he dropped down, he came across a very smug looking, smiling Diana. Clark had never seen her look so amused.

"So, what's up?" Clark asked.

Diana smiled and motioned for Clark to come over. There was some kind of feeling about something weird happening.

"Oh, Lois's younger sister just stopped by for a visit," Diana said. "And it's made her…well, kind of uncomfortable."

"Lucy, she's back in town?" Clark asked.

Clark could have very easily seen why Lois was very uncomfortable in this situation. The last time Lucy rolled into town, there was trouble following her. Clark was going to keep on his toes and see what kind of trouble this particular visit brought now.

' _Lois and Lucy together in the same place, there are going to be some trouble.'_

"Yes," Diana said. "I guess I can see where Lois is coming from. No matter how much you love your little sister, there are times where she can annoy you. Especially when you have a responsibility to look out for her, and she does things which gets her into trouble."

Clark figured Diana spoke from plenty of experience. The two of them made their way over to the farm house. The moment they walked around the corner, Lucy marched over. Lois walked about half behind Lucy, practically dragging her feet in an attempt to walk over.

"Clark Kent, there you are," Lucy said. "Oh, it's so great to see you…it's been so long….have you been working out?"

Lucy reached over and caressed Clark's bicep with a smile on her face. The younger Lane sister looked quite shameless with what she was doing, how she practically felt up Clark. Clark looked towards Lois, who was about ready to spit fire. Clark had no idea what she acted this way. Maybe it was because Lucy acted so shameless, but Clark said it was for other reasons.

Diana gave a sympathetic smile towards Lois, which just had fallen on deaf ears.

"Oh, all of those farm chores have made you filled out, nice and firm," Lucy said. "I bet someone like you can go all day long, and all night long."

Lucy smiled when pulling back from Clark and winked at him. Clark just responded with a nod and a violent smile.

"It's good to see you again, Lucy," Clark said. "You've been staying out of trouble?"

Lucy laughed. "About as much as I can."

Slowly, the younger sister turned around to face off against the older sister. Lois's scowl looked very obvious, and Lucy just gave a shifty little smirk.

"So, Lois, have you actually pulled your head out of your ass, and asked Clark out yet?" Lucy asked.

"Lucy, I don't see why that's any of your business, who I ask out," Lois said.

"So, I take that as a no," Lucy responded. "You really don't know what you're missing, do you?"

Lois responded with a frown. She had been dealing with some mixed feelings with Clark. Regardless of whether or not she wanted to see where anything with Clark would go, it didn't give Lucy any excuse to tart herself in front of Clark like a shameless little tease. Lois balled her fists up.

"Hey, Clark, I want to ask you something, since Lois obviously doesn't have the nerve to," Lucy said. "Lois said she was busy and didn't want to go into the city…for a night out…so I was wondering if you would do me the honor of escorting me into town?"

Clark looked at the girl, who was looking up at him with the most prominent of puppy dog eyes.

"I don't know….."

Lucy responded with a whimpering whine and grabbed Clark's hand briefly.

"Please, Clark," Lucy said. "You can show me around, and help keep me out of trouble….or maybe we can find some trouble to get into…together."

A knowing smile crossed towards Lucy's face. She could see Lois gnash her teeth.

"Actually, I have nothing else planned," Clark said. "I'm sure I can spare a couple of hours for you."

"Great, thanks, Clark, you're amazing!" Lucy squealed, grabbing him around the neck with a hug and kissing him on the cheek.

Lois's eyes shifted over, and Lucy appeared to be dragging Clark off already. The dark haired woman looked towards the two of them leaving.

"Well, it looks like the competitive spirit between sisters is alive and well," Diana said.

"He deserves better than her," Lois said.

Diana answered with a chuckle in response and leaned closer towards Lois.

"Right," Diana said. "Do you think you can do something for me, and tell me how a normally fearless woman like yourself is scared to death of asking someone out on a date?"

Lois turned around and watched Clark and Lucy get into the car Lucy had rented, likely "borrowed" knowing her sister. The two of them disappeared into the night in Metropolis. Lois clenched her fist.

"Remember, you could have acted first," Diana said. "Maybe you can learn something from your younger sister."

There was nothing other than teeth gnashing on Lois's part. Lucy was just shameless, no sense of being subtle at all. And she was throwing herself at Clark, really shameless.

* * *

Lex Luthor sat in the cell and just waited for the moment to happen once more. The accommodations of this particular place weren't exactly the worst. They weren't exactly the best, but they were far from the worst. Lex kicked back in the cell and frowned when waiting to see what was going to happen next.

The sounds of the footsteps came down the hallway. Lex leaned back and checked the clock.

' _That time already?'_ Lex thought to himself.

The form of Hugo Strange could be seen on the other side of the door. He walked towards Lex and pulled out the usual seat on the clear wall separating them. Lex only looked Strange straight in the eye.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Luthor," Strange said.

"Good afternoon, Professor Strange," Lex said. "You're right on time, as usual."

Strange nodded from the response given to him by the young man. Their conversations ended up in the same routine manner, which wasn't really a problem, to be honest. Strange found during his years of studies that a routine was the best way to exhibit trust with a patience.

"I have to be right on time because these conversations are needed to piece together your mind from what you've been through," Strange said. "And I think we've found during these conversations, you've been through a lot."

Lex nodded at Strange's words.

' _At least he doesn't ask how I am anymore. Those questions were always infuriating.'_

"But, yet, there are certain parts of your memory which are gone," Strange said. "I've found that people who are trying to escape the trauma of past failures find a way to erase certain parts of their memories."

The bald heir just stared at Strange. He heard a version of these words every single time they mate. Strange fished for information. Lex refused to give the doctor any more satisfaction.

"Let's face it, Mr. Luthor, you're in pretty sound mind," Strange said.

Lex laughed at Strange's statement. He did not believe for a single minute this diagnosis was spot on. "I may be in sound mind, and yet I'm still sitting in this cell. Surely, you can understand why this is a problem."

Strange lifted one hand and looked at Lex. The seconds on the clock kept ticking by.

"You didn't let me finish, my friend," Strange said. "Yes, you're in sound mind, but there are a few things which are still wrong with your mind. Namely, the fact you still have an unfortunate fixation on one man."

"No, wait, let me guess," Lex said. "You want to talk to me about Clark Kent, don't you?"

Lex figured they were going to get to this subject in a roundabout way.

' _And people think I'm obsessed with Clark.'_

"He does tend to be a common topic of conversation," Strange said. "And there's so much of his life, which has been tied to yours. You would have died in an accident five years ago if he hadn't saved you. You're intertwined in this way."

Lex thought Strange was being a bit rich in talking about the obsession he was supposed to have with Clark. Given, the doctor made most of the comments about Clark and kept talking about it.

"And the fact you're missing these three days is preventing you from coming to terms," Strange said. "And I wonder how much more could you be repressing."

"Are you certain you want to delve deeper into my mind, Professor?" Lex asked. "I don't want to delve deeper into my mind….there are things which the human mind was never meant to comprehend."

Strange made a note on the pad of paper, and Lex just sighed.

' _Demonstrates the subconscious thoughts needed to understand something happened but refuses to acknowledge what happened on a conscious level.'_

"I have one thing to suggest, and I want you to give it serious consideration," Strange said. "I believe these memories could be useful…..and could give you closure. And if you have closure, I can arrange for you to get out of here."

Lex figured whoever was paying Strange to keep him here, it must have been more than enough for Strange to keep him here. The reminder of his father sitting at the end of the cell made him wonder who exactly was paying to keep him here, if not Lionel.

Did the LuthorCorp Board of Directors really have that much ambition to keep both Luthors committed? Granted, Lionel really did deserve to be in there, even though Lex didn't. Lex refused to believe anything he did could have put them there.

"I believe the best case would be to perform hypnosis," Strange said.

Lex had been curious to see Strange's angle from this situation. Just because Strange was a doctor, it didn't mean Lex had to trust him one hundred percent of the way. He almost touched the clear wall but thought better of it. Lex wanted to leave as few fingerprints about as possible. He managed to scrub his dishes clean of all fingerprints before they had been collected from his cell.

"There are thoughts in my mind which shouldn't be brought back up," Lex said. "I want you to think about that very carefully."

The good doctor responded with a long nod.

"Yes, I'm well aware of that, Mr. Luthor. But I would like to consider it…and perhaps sleep on it."

"Sleep, trust me, I don't see the allure of seeing what's in the depths of this disturbed mind."

"Very well, Alexander," Strange said. "Do give my suggestion some consideration."

* * *

Clark Kent almost laughed at the force of Lucy dragging him. He was supposed to be showing her around, but it appeared Lucy had a pretty good idea of where to go. Or at least some kind of sixth sense of where the excitement was.

"It seems to me like you've been here a couple of times," Clark said.

"Nah, a good girl like me likes to stay out of trouble," Lucy said. "But, maybe, I can be a bad girl sometimes…and maybe I need a nice strong man to give me a spanking."

Lucy wasn't being exactly too subtle of what she wanted. Clark watched her walk into the bar. The pair of jeans made Lucy very fetching, and every time she moved, the top she wore showed several enticing inches of skin. Clark watched when she walked off, way too much.

' _I wonder how many girls are too many.'_

Clark shook his head. He wondered if Lucy was just using this opportunity to get under Lois's skin, and the skin of her father as well.

' _Her father, that reminds me,'_ Clark thought.

"Lucy, can I ask you something?"

Lucy smiled and leaned forward to make sure her cleavage shamelessly was positioned in front of Clark's line of sight. It was very hard for him not to look at the cleavage which had been positioned in front of his eyes.

' _Easy, Clark, she's just….a rather beautiful young woman who obviously is not being subtle about the fact she wants to get in your pants.'_

"Anything, Clark, you can ask me to do anything, and I might say yes," Lucy said.

"I want…does the General know you're in Smallville?" Clark asked.

Lucy looked towards Clark, frowning. She did a pretty good imitation of Lois when frowning at him. So much so, Lucy must have realized it and came back into a very calm tone.

"Clark, don't worry about him, let's worry about us…whoop!"

Lucy dropped her wallet when getting it out. She bent over, in front of Clark. Clark modestly tried to look away from her, although it was hard for any man or woman not to appreciate the view.

"Let's worry about the fun we can get up to together," Lucy said. "I'll get you a drink…you look something to loosen up."

"I should be the one to buy you a drink," Clark argued.

Lucy giggled and leaned towards Clark, before kissing him on the cheek one more time. She leaned towards him.

"Clark, it's the 21st century, a girl should be able to buy a guy a drink," Lucy said. "Besides, you agreed to come here with me, and keep me out of trouble…the least I can do is buy you a drink."

Lucy smiled and walked off, swaying her hips. It was getting harder and harder for Clark to look away.

The door opened and Clark caught sight of a redhead entering the bar. She dressed in a pair of eye-catching tight leather pants, a white top stretching over a fairly large chest, and a leather jacket. She wore a pair of sunglasses, although, for a second, Clark could see the woman's eyes on him.

The woman looked to have been giving Clark a long look as if checking him out. The moment Clark properly noticed her, she turned away.

"Sorry, the line is pretty long," Lucy said. "Why don't the two of us dance?"

Clark looked towards Lucy, who answered with a smile. Lucy grabbed Clark and dragged him off onto the dance floor. She wrapped around Clark and pressed against his body.

"Oh, this is nice," Lucy said.

Clark couldn't really argue all that much. Lucy's hands got a little bit grabby until Clark gave her a stern look.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," Lucy said, not seeming too sorry at all.

There were moments like this where Clark could see Lucy and Lois as sisters, because of the similar snarky demeanor passing through at times.

* * *

The music outside of the club started to go faster and faster. Several people stumbled out of the club, some having a little bit too much to drink. One of them got into a fight with his buddy.

"Hey, hey, I can still see, so I can see drive!" one of the men yelled in response.

"No, you can't, you've had too much to drink," the man's buddy said. "Hand over the car keys, and hand them now….."

A flash of light came through the sky. A figure dressed in armor dropped down to the ground. The men all looked up, and they could see nothing other than a pair of glowing eyes looking from the other side of the door.

"Who are you?" the patron slurred.

"I am a hunter, and I'm here to collect all meteor mutants for my collection," the mysterious man said.

"Well, you should go all the way to Smallville there, that's where all of the freaks," one of the men said.

The man in question raised a hand and a blast of light flashed in distance.

"Do not lie, I see that they're there," the hunter said.

The hunter reached towards the door and casually blew the door off of the hinges. He walked into the club, the sounds which passed for entertainment. He needed to approach this situation.

One blast of the loudspeaker silenced it forever. A brief backlash went through the club. Everyone in the club turned their attention towards him.

"I'm known as the Preserver," the man in armor said. "And I've come to take away the Meteor Mutant. I suggest none of you get in my way."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 21** **st** **, 2017.**


	27. Chapter 27

**Vote for the latest chapter of the week poll, closing this Saturday, February 25th, on the profile.**

 **Chapter Twenty-Seven: New Flames Part Two**

* * *

Clark had a pretty good idea what Lucy's end game was going to be, and was willing to let it ride out to the end, no pun intended. He held Lucy deep in his arms when the music beat on the dance floor. The younger Lane sister looked up towards Clark with a wicked little grin dancing on her face. Clark held her in close, smiling when the two of them continued their dancing on the floor.

Lucy enjoyed the moment she had with Clark. Lois really was being stubborn, but Lois's loss was Lucy's gain. She was really enjoying herself, relaxing for the first time in a long time.

"This is just perfect," Lucy said.

The moment Lucy made a comment about how perfect this was, Clark should have known something was going to happen. His luck ended up getting skewed for the very worst at the worst possible times. The music of the club started to go off, getting louder, but Clark managed to hear something off from the side of the club. His super hearing picked up something very interesting.

The sounds of a pop echoed in the background, with a portal opening up. Clark leaned back a couple of inches and frowned, with the light, and not so subtle humming coming on in the background. The young man's frown deepened when he listened for something, anything.

He realized a second later, something was happening on the other end. Clark grabbed Lucy around the waist and dipped her down to the ground, which caused her to give a squeal of shock.

The squeal of shock became a squeal of horror when the front door of the club blew open from some kind of fiery explosion. The explosion echoed and caused a door to fly off. The door just narrowly avoided smacking some unsuspecting people in the face.

Clark held an arm up, to try and allow the dust to clear, to see who he had to fight up against.

An imposing man with glowing red eyes and a face carved out of granite stepped into the club. He stepped over the broken bodies of the people who were nearest to the club. The man's eyes looked in the club. Clark realized he was looking for something or someone.

"My name is the Preserver!" the man bellowed in a voice which carried wherever he went. "I am here for the meteor mutant!" I suggest none of you stand in my way!"

Mass panic erupted when this man entered the club. Clark thought the odds of a meteor mutant being here was pretty good, but he didn't know where they might be. The man lifted up a hand.

"Lucy, come on," Clark muttered.

First and foremost, Clark needed to get Lucy out of here and through the backdoor. The two of them walked out towards the back entrance, with Lucy being dragged out. She clung to Clark's arm and looked up with some wide and expressive eyes. Some mutterings grew in escalation when she was lead out the door.

"What the…"

Lucy had been lost in the crowd of people who scurried through the nearest exits. She looked up and saw a rocket nail the back door and cause the exits to be caved in just after she went through it.

"CLARK!" Lucy yelled in a horrified voice.

She needed to get back through and pushed towards the door. No matter what, the door was blocked, with the people on the outside unable to get in and the people were on the inside, who was unable to get out.

Clark pulled himself up and lifted a huge chunk of rubble over his head. The Kryptonian Survivor took a deep breath when extending his neck forward.

The Preserver looked around the club and turned his head three hundred and sixty-five degrees. He turned towards them, the arm which fired the rockets raised in the air.

"I prefer the meteor freak to be in one piece when I capture him, or her," the Preserver said. "I will rip this club apart piece by piece."

One of the men in the club broke a pool cue over the back of the Preserver. The wood splintered from where it connected. The Preserver turned around and the man's hands rose in the international sign for begging off. The Preserver reached over and grabbed the man by the throat. The man hoisted off of the ground and dangled, feet kicking. The man breathed in and out with the Preserver clenching his adversary's throat.

"You're not the meteor mutant," the Preserver said. "So, I don't have to keep you alive"

Clark rushed in and body checked the Preserver at super speed which caused him to fly. The man he held dropped to the ground. The patron scurried away, feeling very fortunate to keep his life in place.

The Preserver rose to his feet, and Clark stood to his feet, standing in front of him. The Preserver charged towards Clark, arm extended. Clark dodged the attack and came up from behind the Preserver to nail him with a series of rapid-fire body punches. Each of them bounced off of the Preserver's armor.

' _He has to have a weak spot,'_ Clark thought, drawing back his hand and punching his enemy.

More punches had been blocked. The Preserver nailed Clark with an energy blast and it lifted him off of the ground before causing him to land on the ground. He lifted one huge fist and tried to slam Clark down onto the ground.

Clark nailed him in the side of the neck and flipped to his feet. The Preserver rushed around and tried to ensnare Clark with a large chain. The Kryptonian caught the chain and pulled the Preserver forward before dropping him down to the ground.

"Interesting," the Preserver said. "You're not a meteor mutant. But you're something worth observation. I will have to take you in."

An energy bubble surrounded Clark. Pain beyond all measure racked through his body. He tried to pound out. No matter what, the energy bubble crushed him. Clark summoned up the strength, the concentration, the true power to break free of this energy bubble.

' _I have to do it.'_

Clark extended his arms outward and broke the energy bubble. The bubble popped and the Preserver staggered backward, shock spreading through the man's face. Clark sunk to his knees, fatigued. The next attack the Preserver would do would be the one which finished him off.

The redhead who sat at the bar raised her hand. A flame shot from her hand and several of the drinks combusted. The drinks exploding caused a chemical reaction which knocked the Preserver on his back.

She bounced up, grabbed the young man off of the floor, and dragged him to the side entrance. It was the least she could do after she had caused this person to be here and put them all in danger.

The sounds of police cars coming up the street could be heard. The young man looked towards the redhead and pulled himself up. He surprised the redhead by scooping her up in his arms and rushing her as far away from the scene of the crime as possible.

* * *

The meteor mutant had been dropped down at the edge of the road. She smiled when looking at the man dropping her off. Not exactly how she expected someone to sweep her off of her feet, but she'd take it.

"Well, you know how to show a girl a good time um….you know, in the chaos of trying to escape, I don't think I ever got your name."

"I don't think I ever got your name," he responded.

The redhead lifted a hand and put a finger on the man's face. "It's no fair, handsome. I asked you your name first."

Clark answered with a smile when the redhead looked him in the eyes. There was something interesting about her, something compelling. She was trouble, but also in trouble, if that made any sense. The woman could give about as good as she could take, which was an amazing contrast, to be honest.

"Fair enough," Clark said. "My name is Clark Kent."

The woman looked at Clark for a good long moment. He felt like she undressed him with her eyes, and that was not necessarily a bad thing. This woman looked very naughty but in a good way. And she looked very much ready to have some fun and she didn't care who got offended by it.

"Good strong name for a good strong man," Claire said. "My name's Claire…Claire Selton."

Clark smiled when looking towards her, even though he could see she was looking over her shoulder.

"Do you have any idea why that Preserver guy was after you?" Clark asked.

Claire shrugged in response. "You know, it's really not what I've done, but what I haven't done."

Clark figured out when looking towards Claire. He stared down towards the woman in response. The two of them locked eye to eye with each other. The fact the woman did not seem that disturbed or that surprised, well, that fact disturbed Clark.

"There's someone after you," Clark remarked to her, rather quiet and tranquil at what she spoke. "Someone other than the Preserver…or whoever."

The young man's eyes locked towards Claire. Claire folded her arms in response. She had never been underneath such intense interrogation. Those eyes locked onto hers. Claire dropped her sunglasses to reveal a pair of alluring orange eyes which burned like fire.

"I was seven years old when the first meteor shower hit in Smallville…and I had been sick for most of my childhood," Claire responded. "Really bad sickness, like fevers, which made me go in and out of the hospitals. The doctors could find nothing wrong, and technically speaking, I should have been dead…..but it wasn't deadly fevers. It was the beginning of my powers….the meta-gene as they call it."

"Who calls it that?" Clark asked.

Claire took a second to recollect her thoughts. The pyrokinetic woman was trying to figure out the best way to explain this, without causing, even more, problems. She most certainly did not want to drag any people into this any more than she had to.

"There are some people in the government who are dark, and have their own agenda," Claire said. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And the meteor mutants have caught the attention of the wrong people in the government. Most of the people are just there to do their job…they don't care…but there are people in the government who are the real movers and shakers. And there's a real darkness which is infecting the government."

Claire looked around. It almost was like she expected these people, whoever she was talking about, would swoop down in the air.

"My poor mother…she thought they were going to help me, help her poor daughter" Claire responded. "They weren't going to help anyone other themselves though…they only intended to see how much I used my powers…..how they could use my powers. They wanted an army of these meteor mutants."

Claire leaned down. Clark put a hand on her shoulder a second.

"Pyrokinetic powers, as you can tell," Claire said. "And these people wanted to use them for their own purposes. I'm not the only meteor mutant who they locked up. I was just one of the few who was lucky enough to escape."

The silence happened between the two of them. Clark never really knew what to say. He knew there were some shifty people in the government who had an agenda. He liked to have faith people in power would do the right thing, but unfortunately, as his parents told him, the people in power were still human. They were capable of all of the bad things anyone could do.

"The darkness in the government, the hive of drones, they have set their sights on the people in Smallville," Claire said. "And I don't know what you are, but you're obviously very special. And I'm afraid that they're going to put their attention on you."

Clark figured more or less their attention would turn to him. All he could be brace himself for when it happened.

"I'm not going to go down as easily, you know," Clark responded to her. "But, did they send this bounty hunter after you?"

Claire thought about it for a second and shook her head.

"No, at least, I don't think they did," Claire said. "I mean, the bounty hunter is not their style, to be honest. It just seems like there's some nutcase who has a fetish with collecting the meteor empowered."

Claire took a moment to think about her thoughts.

"I thought this would be one of the last places where someone could find me," Claire said. "And now some crazed bounty hunter is after me…..I can't believe it."

Clark took a moment to consider something. This wasn't going to be a situation which was going to be resolved easily. He had to think of a temporary solution in a way to buy some more time to think of a more permanent solution.

"We need to lie low," Clark said.

Claire simply laughed at the solution. "Good idea in theory….but I tend to stand….did you take that from him?"

Clark held one of the orbs which he must he grabbed onto the Preserver during the course of the people. He held the orb in the air and frowned. The orb sent a few sparks. It looked to be some kind of teleportation devices. He frowned when looking at it.

"I think I can use the bounty hunter's own technology against him," Clark said. "If you can trust me enough to give me the help to trap him."

Claire considered his statement for a few seconds and responded with a nod. She was sick of running and sick of hiding from these jackasses who were trying to kill her. The Pyrokinetic prepared to fight back.

* * *

The Preserver recovered from the attack at the bar and was back on the hunt. The law enforcement officers arrived and swarmed the place where he arrived. The Preserver respected their desire to want to get the order, because, on his home world, he was a member of the military. The man had been respected by his fierceness and the ability to get things done.

Those days were long over, though.

Thoughts of his home world caused a fair amount of bitterness to end the man's mind. He saw all of his people die, because of a civil war. The Preserver was one of the few who was able to escape the planet. The diseases created from the radiation of the planet's death made the few refugees of the planet die, except for him. He was the only one left, the one who stood alone.

He went across the universe, trying to liberate the rarest people. His ship stalled out by Earth, so while the energy cells took several orbital cycles to recharge, he made his way to Earth. He didn't know if there were any rare species on this primitive planet, the third one from a yellow sun, which was rare.

The Preserver spent some time studying all of the information and found the information about the children who had been gifted by the meteors. They were both extraordinary and fragile, and they needed to be preserved. Many had already died. They were the new evolution, but they were not fit for Earth.

' _They need to be liberated,'_ the Preserver thought.

The Preserver's thoughts moved back to the young man who he battled in the bar. The man looked to be among one of the rarest. He spent the last couple of minutes to figure out the enigma of this particular individual. The idea came to the man's mind and it made way too much sense to him.

The powers underneath the yellow sun, it couldn't really make more sense if he tried. He heard of the destruction of the planet nearly fifteen years ago, and it was a sad day when a planet with so much potential died. Yet many died, and life moved on. The Preserver's died and he was the last one, just like this young man may have been the Last Son of Krypton, or at least among the Last Sons of Krypton.

The Preserver treated him like a threat, someone who needed to be taken down to get to his target. The meteor mutant was not the rarest among them, no far from it. This young man needed to be protected. If the humans on this planet found him, they would hunt him down and put him in a cage.

' _Are there more, did more escape Krypton?'_ the Preserver thought. _'I must know and I must liberate them from Earth.'_

The Preserver took a half of a step forward off into the distance. The scanner which he rigged up from spare parts caught the trace amounts of radiation from the air. The heat flying through the air made him approach the situation. He looked down the road and frowned in response.

He might not have seen the Last Son of Krypton. The Preserver leaned forward and saw the meteor mutant who he haunted. He saw her standing at the end of the road.

"So, I heard you were looking for me," the woman at the end of the road commented.

The Preserver walked forward, with his legs going behind him. He looked towards the meteor mutant and scanned the air around him. Nothing other than the meteor mutant right in the general area stood in his line of sight.

"Yes, I'm looking for you," the Preserver said. "I don't want to harm you. Just come quietly, and there's no need for you to be hurt."

The woman at the end of the road stood down, looking at him. She took a step forward. The Preserver had been surprised, but quite pleased she wasn't going to fight.

"You're going to come with me?" the Preserver asked.

"I'm tired of running," Claire said. "There are some very bad people who are hunting me…..you're not working for this organization, are you? They're called HIVE."

"I do not work for any organization on Earth, or anywhere else," the Preserver said. "I am an independent collector. My only mission is to hunt down the rare and preserve them. I have a colony of the rarest creatures in the universe, and you meteor mutants are among the rarest."

Claire flashed in a moment for being called a creature. She took a couple of deep breaths and stepped back further away from her.

' _Just one step closer,'_ she thought. _'Just keep your cool….hard as it is.'_

The Preserver stepped forward. Claire slid the crystal which Clark handed her and dropped it down on the ground. The crystal flashed to light and a containment field shot through the air and caught the Preserver.

"What trickery is this?" The Preserver asked.

The Preserver activated an energy blast in his suit and ripped through the attack. He rushed forward to grab the meteor mutant. A blur came down the road and nailed the Preserver with a huge attack. An uppercut punch nailed him down to the chest and knocked him down onto his back.

The alien hunter pulled himself up. He sent a whip in the air. Clark avoided the attack and blocked the whip, hooking onto it. Clark pulled him forward and delivered him with a series of rapid-fire punches. The punches soared through the air and nailed the Preserver.

The Preserver withdrew from the energy field. Clark nailed him with a blast of heat vision. The Preservers suit heated up and he diverted all of the energy in the suit to the shields, trying to activate a way out of the attack. He pushed out of the attack before nailing the Preserver back.

"Your powers, they're amazing!" The Preserver yelled. "You're going to be the crown jewel of my collection…"

"You're really obsessed!"

Claire fired a fireball at the chest of the Preserver. The heat caught him in the chest and caused most of the power in his suit to divert to the heat shields.

The Preserver tried to the ground and prepared to teleport away. He would come back at another time to fight them.

Clark rushed forward at a super-fast attack and grabbed onto one of the orbs hanging from his belt. He activated the computer before causing the Preserver to teleport him. The Preserver's screams echoed before he disappeared into the shadows. The blast of his suit knocked Clark back to the ground.

Claire rushed over to look towards Clark. She looked down at him and heard a couple of trucks roll up.

' _Shit, they found me again.'_

"I'm fine," Clark said. "My ears just are ringing, but I'm fine."

Clark pulled himself up and scooped up Claire, seeing these people. He rushed out, taking Claire away.

' _Have to return to the club, that's the last place they're going to check.'_

* * *

Lois made her way out of the car, marching forward in response. Her arms swung together. The moment she heard there had been some incident at a night club, and Lucy had been in the middle of it, Lois feared the worst. She almost got into a wreck making her way to Smallville.

Lucy sat at the edge of the club and folded her arms. Lois walked up towards her.

"What the hell did you do?" Lois asked her.

Lucy turned towards Lois with a smile. The look of Lois's hands on her hips amused Lucy something fierce.

"Yeah, Lois, hey, good to see you too," Lucy responded.

Lois folded her arms and gave her the older sister look. Lucy had been so used to it, it was just old news to her.

"Oh, you know, the usual, some crazed bounty hunter attacked….." Lucy said. "He was after meteor mutants….does this happen all of the time?"

"Are you okay?" Lois asked. "Where's Clark?"

"Apparently, Clark pushed me out and went back in to help and….well there he comes, "Lucy said. "You can lecture him now, it would be fun to see you lecture someone else for a change."

Lucy would have lied if she wasn't worried about Clark. She could see Lois looking at him. He was checking around and talking to a redhead.

"She was in the bar, giving Clark the eye," Lucy said. "You know, he's very popular with a lot of women….I'm not sure if you could notice."

Lois could see a few reasons why he might be. Clark Kent did grow on her, and Lois would have been a liar if she said he didn't invade her dreams.

"Seriously, get over yourself," Lucy said. "Even if you have to share him with other girls, it's more than worth it."

Claire and Clark made their way over. The people who hunted Claire didn't go for her, just yet. Claire didn't want to try her luck.

"Well, it's time for me to hit the open road…but if I ever come to this part, I'll be sure to give you a look up," Claire said.

Claire made sure no one was looking. She grabbed Clark by his jacket and pulled him into a hungry kiss. The kiss was scorching, quite literally, when Claire had a chance to pull away from her.

She picked up a helmet and mounted a motorcycle.

' _I might have to keep tabs on her, and not for the obvious reasons,'_ Clark thought.

Clark received a nice view of Claire's leather ass. She revved up the motorcycle and drove out of the inn, before disappearing.

The two Lane sisters waited for Clark, and he intended to join them. A man rushed passed Clark before he had a chance to join them. He ran in a very comical scene after the bike which Claire got in and drove out into the distance.

"HEY, THAT'S MY BIKE!"

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 24** **th** **, 2017.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Chapter Twenty-Eight: Hook Up**

* * *

Clark Kent had been so worried about dealing with the alien bounty hunter who hunted Claire he neglected to think about some other things the girl might have said. Now he was able to go on in with a mostly clear head, Clark's mind drifted to the information she told him or mentioned. People in the government were interested in the thought of weaponizing meteor mutants.

This lead to Clark to a bunch of thoughts and made him consider some of the actions, regarding what he's done in the past. And wondered, if he handed some of these people meteor mutants to use.

These thoughts made Clark wonder about exactly where certain meteor mutants went after he defeated them. He never thought about it, putting the trust needed into the proper authorities. Hoping they would have the capabilities to put these dangerous people away. Maybe, a few of them would redeem themselves, although the meteors did a wonderous job of driving people completely and utterly around the bend with insanity.

The thought he might have been handing them back to the government to do with as they wished was very troubling to Clark. He just couldn't reconcile the fact in his mind. Then there were the meteor mutants who didn't make it, those who had died in the battle with him. Clark wondered what happened to them.

A dark thought entered Clark's mind, where he thought about a lab where the meteor mutants had been held. They had been experimented on as they wished. The thought caused Clark to shudder and made him wonder if there had been any way to say this no win situation.

He stepped in front of LuthorCorp and walked up to a security guard. The guard looked towards Clark and studied him for a moment. The guard broke out into a smile and moved over for Clark to enter the room.

"Yes, Ms. Mercer will be seeing you now," the guard commented, letting Clark pass on by.

Clark thought it was a little bit easy to walk in there. He needed to meet with Tess about something important. He figured she might have an idea what was going on. He made his way into the elevator and moved up. Tess mentioned her office was always open, even though LuthorCorp was in a state of transition right now, with a lot of deals being made.

He stepped outside of the elevator and could hear Tess on the phone, talking to someone. The conversation grew a little bit heated, or at least intense, Clark was not sure whether or not what to say.

"Yes, I agree….just make sure he understands if he puts his operation anywhere near Metropolis, or even Smallville...I won't hesitate to use everything…..yes, I understand….and he understands, that's good."

Clark didn't mean to listen to the phone conversation. Tess conducted business with someone over the phone and Clark waited on the outside of the door, rather patient and kind of polite as well. He tapped his foot on the floor and waited for Tess to answer the conversation.

"I'll call you back when everything is clearer," Tess said. "Thank you for your time, Ms. Raatko, and have a pleasant day."

The sound of the phone being hung down gave Clark his cue to walk forward and raise one hand to knock on the door. Tess rose up from her desk and answered the Clark. Her frown turned into a half smile when seeing Clark.

"I thought you'd be by in a while," Tess said.

"Well, to be fair, I called you, and you said you weren't busy," Clark said.

"I'm always busy, but I can multi-task," Tess commented. "It's just been a lot of trouble over the last couple of weeks. Lex and Lionel have left some mind fields…..I can sort of see why they went the way they did, but don't worry, I'm not going to go the same way as them."

"That's refreshing to know," Clark answered.

Tess offered Clark a seat and she sat on the chair behind her desk. The businesswoman cleared the paperwork out of the desk so she could properly look at Clark. And there was a good reason why she wanted to properly look at the young man from all the way across the desk.

"So, you've had quite the adventure," Tess said. "You've met another one who has been gifted by the meteors, well, that really isn't a surprise."

Clark just looked across the desk at Tess and had looked very surprised at her words.

"Have you had me followed?" Clark asked.

"No, although maybe I should," Tess said. "It's hard to pin you down."

She smiled and surveyed Clark for a couple of minutes. It took Clark a minute to realize what she implied, and just answered with a smile.

"Maybe you're not trying hard enough," Clark said.

"Maybe, I should be more assertive," Tess said. "We can discuss that later."

"Her name was Claire, and she's pyrokinetic, and she wasn't completely bad, she just….needs grounding," Clark answered. "I'm not sure if I'm the type of person to give it to her."

"Well, maybe that's a side of yourself you should explore in the future," Tess said. "There was someone after her….perhaps you could tell me about it."

Clark decided to launch into the story. There were parts of what happened which he did not fully understand and he was pretty sure there were a few parts of it which Claire completely left vague. He did know there were some pretty shifty people in the government.

"I can't believe there are people in the government who would do things like that," Clark said.

"It's really hard to come to that conclusion, especially when you believe in truth, justice, and the American Way," Tess said. "However, that's not really the point, it's these hive of people….or HIVE as they are called commonly. If they're behind this, then it's not good. They're cockroaches which haven't properly been stomped. And if they have infiltrated the government at the highest levels, they can give you plenty of trouble."

Tess paused for a long moment, in time to see the rather disturbed look on Clark's face.

"I need to look into something, to see if I'm right," Tess said. "When I find out more, I'll get back to you."

This cryptic statement raised more questions than answers for Clark.

* * *

Lucy almost laughed at the daggers Lois stared her from across the table. It was the typical look, and this time, Lucy did absolutely nothing to deserve the look, well not at least anything blatantly.

"I think I know the reason why you're really mad," Lucy said.

"Oh, really, other than me thinking what would happen if you got hurt, and I had to explain to the General what happened….does he even know you're here anyway?"

Lucy deflected Lois's question.

"I'm a grown woman, I can make my own decisions," Lucy said. "I don't need Daddy's approval, even though you seem to seek it, with all of your attention seeking."

Lois almost could have smacked her sister but restrained herself. The brunette vowed to be the better person. Lucy had this way of pushing all of her buttons. Lois had to watch out for her when they were children, and Lucy tested her patience by acting out. These things would have never happened if her mother never died.

The thought of her mother, caused Lois to have a slight pang which the woman hated. Things might have been a lot different, had her mother not been gone. Her father changed, Lois was old enough to remember how things used to be. A long time had passed since those days. Lois thought it felt like an entire lifetime ago.

"You're the one who acted out for attention," Lois said.

Lucy shook her head. There were times where her sister simply did not get it, and this was one of those times. Of course, Lucy figured the problem was that Lois wasn't really getting it. It caused her way too much frustrated.

"So, Clark, you looked pretty pissed that I asked him out on a date," Lucy said. "And while the date didn't go the way I intended for it to finish…"

Lucy paused to take in the daggers Lois gave her. Those eyes burned with fire in front of Lucy. Both sisters locked eye to eye for a moment before Lucy drew in a deep breath and continued.

"It didn't really end the way I wanted it to or intended it to," Lucy responded. "But, the fact is, you were pretty pissed that I even asked him. And I want to know why that is."

"Look, you came here and bumrushed one of my…friends," Lois said. "And he's too much of a gentleman to say no, obviously….and I was just worried you would take advantage of him."

Lucy smiled in a way which Lois quite frankly didn't like. Her little sister looked pretty devious when smiling like that, and Lois stared back at her.

"You really must care about him, I think you like him," Lucy said.

"I tolerate him," Lois responded.

Lucy only responded with a winning smile. The type of smile which made Lois very agitated.

"You've taken a great interest in the well-being of someone who you only tolerate," Lucy said. "But, I guess the hard as nails, tough girl, Lois, can't meet a man who makes her wet in the panties, can she?"

If looks could kill, Lucy figured she would be more than dead. This long, and burning glare caught her in the face from afar.

"Well, if you're not interested, I guess that means I must have your blessing to go after the guy you're not interested in," Lucy said. "He's something special….given the group of women he's building."

Lois almost slipped the elbow off of the table when cupping her chip. Lucy casually dropping this fact was not something Lois was.

"I met his cousin, Kara, nice girl she is," Lucy continued. "You mentioned me to her apparently, and she figured I might be interested in joining him since obviously, you weren't. She thought I might be a good fit with all of the other girls, and….there's rarely a man who can satisfy one woman for long, not to mention multiple women."

Lois resembled an overripe tomato. She ducked the head to avoid further embarrassment. Had she remained upright, Lucy's smile would have been obvious.

"Do you have an interest?" Lucy asked. "Because seriously, jump on the train, or get off at the next stop. Because there's plenty of women who are ready to hop on board, even if you don't want to."

Lucy got up and gave Lois a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, thanks for the talk, but I have to go," Lucy said.

Lucy left, just the moment Chloe stepped into the room. Both of them exchanged a silent greeting before Chloe stepped up and sat down in front of Lois.

"So, how much of that did you hear?" Lois asked.

"Enough," Chloe said. "Enough to know she's right."

* * *

Hugo Strange couldn't believe a plan came together this seamlessly. The younger Mr. Luthor agreed to this plan, the plan of hypnosis, and now they would delve into the deep secrets of his mind, those he had locked away, at least for now. There were any number of tricks to bring these thoughts out Lex's mind and give Strange what he wanted.

The session had been moved to Strange's office. Lex had been rather calm and docile when being moved there, mostly because he would have been allowed movement which he normally wouldn't have had.

"I'm pretty sure you're wasting your time, Professor Strange," Lex said. "Hypnosis only works on the weak-minded."

"Ah, that's a commonly held myth," Strange said. "While it can be true the human mind can be receptive to what it wants to, there are ways to manipulate the thoughts if you know what you're doing."

Lex leaned back and motioned for Strange to work his magic. It would be better to get this over with and let Strange do what he needed to do. He tapped his finger on the table on the chair and waited for Strange to do whatever he could. One thought did enter Lex's mind, no matter how much he entertained the doctor.

' _This is a waste of time.'_

"Just rest, and relax, relax your mind, and don't let your thoughts overwhelm you," Strange said. "You may feel a drowsy feeling."

The pocket watch moved back and forth and Lex focused on it. All he could think about was how this was a very cheap watch. Very tacky, and he doubted very much.

"Just relax, and don't be afraid to look deep in your mind."

Lex's eyelids got heavy at the swaying of Strange's watch. It moved back and forth, back and forth, and all around. The watch swung over in front Lex's eyes.

' _Just growing bored because of this,'_ Lex thought. _'I'm not weak minded, I'm not going to be hypnotized.'_

Strange watched Lex's eyes close in front of him. The young man drifted underneath. Strange smiled when leaning towards Lex and he snapped his fingers.

"You are now in the depths of your mind, Mr. Luthor," Strange said. "No matter what other memories you have repressed over your life, I do not want to consider yourself with those memories. I want you to flash back to the missing three days, the days where you found yourself possessed by this General Zod."

Strange had many people who would be interested in this memory, and what Lex recalled. What secrets lingered in this mind? Strange could see Lex's lips moving and a pained grimace coming over his face. The pained grimaces increased when he moved through these thoughts.

"Mr. Luthor, I need you to focus," Strange told him. "Just focus, on everything you need to."

Lex's face contorted and he started to breathe in and out, going deeper into his breaths. He closed his eyes.

"I see everything clearly," Lex muttered. "I see something beautiful….there's a doorway….and I can see it, on the other side. There are wonders in the universe, beyond the greatest imagination of all men. I can see it, I can hold it, but I just can't reach out and grasp it, not yet."

"No, focus on your memories, your memories," Strange said.

"This is what I remember, it's the gateway, and on the other side….it's beautiful," Lex said.

Lex shuddered as if undergoing some kind of great sexual release. Strange looked and tried to bring Lex out of the trance, but he had been brought back into it.

"Once its open, everything will change, I will be whole again," Lex said. "And I see someone else…..I see people in my way. They're stopping me from what I need."

Strange figured some kind of repressed memory was trying to break through, or Lex was fighting with what he remembered.

"What do you see, Lex?" Strange asked. "What is in your way?"

"You're in my way!"

Lex popped up his chair and jumped over the desk. He clocked Strange with a huge roundhouse punch which knocked him down to the ground. Lex wrestled Strange to the ground.

"Mr. Luthor, snap out of it!" Strange yelled. "Lex, you need to focus, I'm not your enemy, I'm here to help you!"

Lex pulled away from Strange and pulled open his desk drawer. Strange scurried over the floor, just as Lex pulled out a gun he found in Strange's desk drawer.

Security entered the room. Lex picked up Strange and put the gun to the side of his temple.

"One wrong move and the good doctor's brains are splattered over the ceiling," Lex said. "None of you are going to stop me from fixing the world. Do you hear me?"

"Lex, you need to….."

Strange felt the cold steel press against his temple when Lex grabbed him. It went exactly as he expected, although it was fascinating how much those memories triggered something deep in Lex's subconscious.

"Please, do as he says, it will break him if he kills me," Strange breathed.

Lex dragged Strange down the hallway, gun still on his hand.

"Open the doors," Lex said.

The implied threat of what Lex would do had those doors not been open had been left hanging. The doors clicked open and Lex made his way towards the nearest exit, with Strange being dragged halfway behind him.

"Give me your car keys," Lex said. "Give them to me now, or else….."

"It's parked, in slot 34A," Strange said, pulling out the car keys. "Although I don't think you should drive in your condition, you're very sick."

"I need to save everything, you're not going to stop me!" Lex yelled.

Lex carried Strange all the way to the car and shoved him into the side of the car. The moment the car started up, Strange rolled out of the passenger's side of the car. He rolled to a stop at a soft patch of ground. Blood dripped from the side of his neck when the car skidded off.

The security guards rushed over to check on Strange.

"Professor Strange, are you okay?" one of them asked him.

"Yes, I'm fine," Strange said. "This is all part of Mr. Luthor's therapy….the bracelet he's wearing will track him."

The guards escorted Strange back in, fearful for his health, and also a bit of this sanity. The guards didn't get paid to ask questions, just guard the building.

' _Yes, everything goes almost as I expected,'_ Strange thought. _'What is a little pain, if it means achievements in studying a disturbed mind.'_

Strange hoped to have an opportunity to further monitor this situation.

* * *

Lara remembered how obsessed she could get when something hit her full on. She stared at the screen for several minutes and focused. The Phantom Zone had been a wide area, no question about it. There were many elements in the Phantom Zone which had been yet to be discovered.

Someone escaped from the Phantom Zone. Lara could hardly blame them in principle, even though it disturbed her how they could make it out. She made her way over to consult some notes they received from Star Labs.

"Are you still working on it?" Raya asked.

Lara just barely looked up from her work to acknowledge Raya.

"Kara and I have flown around," Raya said. "We checked all of the places she might have landed, but there is nothing….a few people mentioned seeing a figure move around. But there's been no attacks, none at all."

Lara really wished she could take solace in that fact. She turned away from the screen and sank down on one of the larger blocks of ice. She drew in a deeper breath and frowned.

"The notes Kal and Kara picked up from Star Labs just reinforce everything I've found," Lara said. "Not that's a bad thing to clarify it, it's just pretty frustrating."

"Let's look at it this way," Raya said. "If it's her….."

"Oh, it's her," Lara said.

"You really think it's her?"

"Hello, Kara, or is it Karen now?" Lara asked.

"Well, officially, my civilian identity is Karen Starr," Kara said. "And that's the name I took, but really I was born Kara In-Ze of the Krypton….even if I'm legally….."

Kara couldn't really say the name of her father. It just made things so final.

"If I'm going to be his daughter, I'm going to be better than he ever was," Kara said. "And you really think it might be her?"

"I can't confirm things one hundred percent," Lara admitted. "I just think the fact someone saved you and Kal from getting attacked by Nam-Ek's forces, and only killed the men while leaving the women beaten, but alive….really does show something."

"She hasn't made her move," Raya said. "She may be nursing injuries from her time in the Phantom Zone. She hasn't had a chance to seek out other Kryptonians who may be on Earth."

Or any other aliens who might be lurking on Earth. Raya would have been ignorant to think there weren't any aliens on Earth.

"Whoever it is, they haven't made their move, at least not yet," Raya responded. "But, it will come sooner or later."

Kara thought they should make their move first, and judging by the obsessed look going through Lara's eyes, she agreed.

* * *

Lois put her hands on the wall, moving towards one of the bedrooms Lana allowed her to crash in. Lana pretty much told her to put it to good use, which made Lois think Lana might have been involved with this.

Clark arrived, just as Lois arrived.

"So, how are you doing?" Clark asked.

"I'm fine, Lucy's fine…she seems to want another date after everything," Lois responded. "I guess there's no accounting for taste….but I have a confession to make."

Clark motioned his hand to get Lois to say something. Lois placed a hand on hip and glared Clark dead on in the eye.

"I think I hate you."

Well, that was not the first statement he expected. Suddenly, no sooner did Lois say that she threw herself at Clark and gave him a passionate kiss. That was a mixed message if there ever was one. Clark took a moment to allow her to kiss him before he kissed her back.

Lois pulled away from Clark.

"I shouldn't be enamored by some farm boy….but I am and…..well it's frustrating," Lois said. "I've had my share of shitty men in my life, not that many of them really succeeded in getting in my panties. And someone like you….you just fly in the face of all of my expectations. No one can be this good, no one can be this much of a Boy Scout…."

Lois slowly unbuttoned the first couple of buttons on her top, exposing a lacy black bra.

"And I thought about just ignoring this, but I swear if I don't get this out of my system, I'll...I won't be able to sleep soundly and….."

Clark grabbed Lois and pulled her into an extended kiss. The two of them displayed a passion of tongue and saliva. They tried to maul each other's lips and their fingernails ripped each other's clothes. Lois did manage to rip Clark's shirt and expose his muscular chest.

"One time, I swear one time," Lois said.

"Of course Lois."

Lois decided to wipe that goofy grin off of his face with another kiss, as her hands roamed on their own accord elsewhere.

* * *

The brunette did not waste much time in sliding Clark's plants down below his ankles and his boxer shorts came off next. A juicy, thick, cock stuck out for Lois's consumption. She looked at the manhood, with an eye full of it. Lois greedily wrapped a hand around it and pumped him up and down.

"I…didn't know you would be so big," Lois said.

"Well, glad to exceed your expectations," Clark said.

Lois needed this inside her in the worst possible way. Her thighs heated up in anticipation. She teased both Clark and herself with jacking his cock with both hands. And she did need both hands to give Clark the pleasure which needed. Plus, this entire cock needed to be gripped.

Clark smiled at Lois's awe when watching his throbbing cock expand underneath her hands. Seconds passed before Lois released his cock. She took her pants off and showed a pair of lacy black panties.

"I hope I don't have to tell you where I need that cock," Lois said.

Clark smiled and slipped Lois's panties off to reveal her dripping pussy. He pushed one finger inside her to feel how warm she was. Clark thought how remarkable it was to gush.

"For someone who hates me, you're pretty wet," Clark said.

"Just shut up and fuck me," Lois growled.

Clark decided to let her hang from it. His fingers pushed deep into Lois and stretched her depths out with a couple of long, and passionate pumps. He worked further into her, each time feeling her insides. Those walls wrapped around his throbbing cock could feel so good.

"Oh, you…you're making me cum with just your fingers!" Lois yelled.

He sped up to give Lois a slight feeling of vibration and really blow her mind. Lois kept pushing up towards Clark's probing fingers. He made sure to enter her as deep and fluidly as possible with those thrusts, that he had in mind. Clark shoved more of his fingers inside of her.

"Yes, just making sure you get warmed up properly."

Clark slipped his fingers out and tasted the juices off of them. He got on top of Lois on the bed and pinned her down on the bed. Their lips entangled together with an extremely heated and passionate kiss. The fury involved on both sides made this encounter extremely exciting.

Lois groaned as Clark's cock head bumped up against her clit. Vibrations of pleasure shot all the way through her body with Clark leaning down. She tried to bring her legs around Clark's muscular body. Clark responded by putting his hands on her legs and slowly ran down them. The playing of her legs drove Lois behind wild.

"What do you want from me?" Clark asked.

Lois looked up at him, dazed. Her pussy ached, so empty, it needed to be filled in the worst way. Her body would burn up if it didn't get a big, throbbing cock inside her now.

"You know what I want."

"Yes, tell me, though."

"I want you to pin me down on this bed and fuck me," Lois said. "I want you to put that big cock inside me, and pound me until I cum and I want you to make me keep cumming until you fill me full of your seed. I want so much cum inside me that I can barely stand it."

Lois rested her hands on Clark's back and pushed him closer towards her opening. His cock danced on the edge of her dripping slit. Lois needed him, needed more of him, needed him jammed so far inside of her, her body was getting very hungry at the thought of having all of Clark inside of her. She pushed him closer, breathing in and breathing out at the thought of having as much cock as possible inside her.

"Yes, take that big cock, and fuck me, please," Lois begged him.

"Well, if that's what you really wanted."

Lois almost rolled her eyes. She rolled said eyes for a different reason with Clark sliding between her. Lois clamped down on him, several inches worth of Clark's cock slid into her body. Her fire had been quenched with the thickness of her new found lover sliding deep into her.

Clark pushed half of his length into Lois. He slid out a little bit and the path inside the second time was much easier. He stuffed Lois with about as much of his cock as possible.

"I don't think you expected this, in all of your wet dreams," Clark said.

Lois was about ready to protest she didn't have any wet dreams. All she could focus on was how hard and how much Clark made her cum. His hips crashed down onto hers, pushing more of this thick, throbbing cock into her body. Lois grabbed Clark's back and responded with a hungry moan, a moan which grew even more in prominence when he pushed her.

Clark could feel Lois clamp down on him. She was so hot. Clark prepared to bring her to an orgasm. The first of many, he was sure throughout this night. He pushed deeper into her and delved into her hot, molten warmth. Her walls slid around him, clamping down on him.

"Yes, fuck me, fuck my brains out!" Lois begged him.

Hands rubbed down Lois's legs and it drove her absolutely nuts to feel such a large throbbing organ burying into her body. His balls slapped down on her and brought her to more passionate displays of pleasure. So much lust burned through her body, along with Clark's cock burying through her. The massive organ speared between her legs.

"Right there, right there, that's the spot, oooh, right there!" Lois moaned.

She came down around Clark when he pushed deeper into her. Everything was coming.

"You can't get enough of my cock," Clark said. He ran his fingers along her clit. "You're going to cum harder than you ever came before….you're going to submit to me."

Lois tried to disagree. Her body betrayed her. Clark held her down and drilled his massive cock inside her body. Her body stretched out from what he was doing from her. She came so hard, it was amazing how much cock she took into him.

"I need…so much….oooh God, I'm cumming," Lois breathed. "I like it, so hard, to me! Fuck me, drill me with that big cock."

Clark smiled and pulled out of Lois. Lois whined at the loss of such a mighty tool buried inside of her. She realized the fun was about ready to get started when Clark flipped her over. He pushed her down on the bed and started to ram deep into Lois while she pressed against the bed.

The pounding of his thick cock made Lois lose her mind pretty much all over again. Clark plunged deeper into her, her pussy clamping. Clark held her arms back while thrusting into her and this feat of domination made Lois even hungrier for him.

"Damn it, Clark, ooooh, Clark, that's too much…"

Clark cupped her large breasts in his hands when slamming down into her hips. Lois twitched around his cock when he squeezed them very hard.

"Look at you, just dripping, you must really like it when I squeeze your big breasts," Clark told her.

Lois wasn't going to deny how much she loved it because she really loved it. She really loved Clark's hands taking her breasts and squeezing them so hard she came. His fingers dug into the fleshy orbs when he kept pounding away at her.

"Yes, you're mine, and you're going to cum for me and keep cumming," Clark said. "I'm sure going to make your own time very memorable."

Lois squeezed him, wanting his seed in the worst way. He kept pounding her, her walls contracting around him every time the cock slid into the depths of the brunette. Those warm and molten depths made her extremely hot and made her want even more of him.

Clark decided to play with her ass a little bit and spank it. This only made Lois cum harder and the feeling of that ass being smacked made Clark's balls throb anymore.

"You're going to make me cum inside of you, how do you like that?"

Lois dug her nails into the bedsheets, with Clark pounding her all the way to the edge of another orgasm. Once Lois finished up with her orgasm, Clark really lets her have it, in every single way possible. His balls contracted and released his cum inside her body, splashing her walls full of his seed and filling her to the brim.

Clark wasn't done with her yet, his cock was still hard despite just unloading inside of her. Lois wondered what fresh pleasures she had waiting.

"I hope I didn't finish you off just yet."

"No," Lois said. "Not by a long shot. Bring it, big boy."

So, they continued throughout the night, taxing the bed, and also taxing Lois's limits.

* * *

The aftermath resulted in Lois dropping her head down on Clark's chest. She was sore, sticky, and very satisfied as a result of what happened.

"Okay, fine, a couple more times, just for good measure," Lois said. "But, I swear, that's all."

Clark smiled and offered a patronizing statement in response. "Sure, Lois."

This earned him a glare, and Lois grabbing his shoulder as hard as she could, even if it didn't really hurt Clark. It was the thought that counted.

"For a boy scout, you're out of this world," Lois said.

"Actually….I've been meaning to have a word to you about something," Clark said.

Lois frowned, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I think it's time for us to have the talk."

Lois almost broke out into laughter.

"Seriously?" Lois asked. "I didn't fuck your brains out that badly, did I? Because I know all about that."

"No, not that talk," Clark said. "I figure you should know everything….and I trust you'll listen to everything I have to say."

"Well, I'll make an effort for you," Lois said. "Wait, are you trying to tell me you're….not of Earth?"

She should have known no man on Earth could last that long with her and had such a big size.

"Yes, exactly," Clark said.

Lois's mouth hung open for several seconds. She almost laughed but realized he was being serious. The brunette put one finger on Clark's chest and dug in the fingernail.

"Explain."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 26** **th** **, 2017.**


	29. Chapter 29

New chapter of the week poll is up at the usual location at the blog. Link is at the top of the profile as usual.

 **Chapter Twenty-Nine: Shadows of Discontent Part One**

* * *

Kara barely could keep a wide grin off of her face when Clark flew out next to her. His latest adventure was very interesting, but the aftermath was what interested her the most. She turned towards Clark, smiling very wildly when locking eyes onto him. The two of them made their journey to the Danvers Household because they had been invited to meet the younger Kara and her sisters. They just took a long way around so they could have an opportunity to talk to each other on their way out.

Clark had been beyond amused by that particular look on Kara's face. She looked very giddy in response.

"She finally did it," Kara said in surprise. "She finally actually gave into her biological instincts, and finally allowed herself to be taken by you."

One look at Kara's face made Clark almost chuckle in response.

"You don't seem surprised it happened," Clark said. "And I understand you were the one who got in touch with Lucy and arranged for her to come by for a visit."

Kara couldn't keep the wicked little smile off of her face when Clark answered the question. It was true, she played not so much of a little part in this entire scheme, but honestly who could blame her? She just wanted to get the ball rolling on a couple of important things. What the people did with said ball when it flew out into the field, Kara could not even begin to guess.

"Well, I wouldn't have been surprised if she would have taken a piece of you as well," Kara said. "I'm sure there's going to be a few girls lining up now that…word have spread."

Clark looked at Kara. She folded her arms underneath her chest in mid-air and gave him one of those smiles in response.

"Kara?" Clark asked.

Kara kept a very obvious straight face, directed towards Clark. The straight face only made her look slightly less guilty, especially when Clark saw the look of mirth dancing through her eyes. Clark put a pair of hands on his hips, but Kara just looked back in obvious amusement.

"Not that I've been spreading the word, but you know, people are going to talk, and they're going to say things," Kara responded to him. "They're going to talk about what you are able to do, and how many women you'll able to have. And you know Tess may be taking a look at some people if she gets her way."

Clark could hardly believe what Kara implied, but at the same time, he could really believe what she implied.

"And here are three young women who would also want to meet you," Kara said, almost as an afterthought. "The point is, I'm sure Lucy is going to have another chance. And she might be a handful, but you're one of the people who might be able to put her in line….and maybe you can force some kind of peace between her and Lois."

Clark raised an eyebrow and drew in a deep breath.

"Do you think I'm some kind of a miracle worker?" Clark asked her.

Kara leaned in and kissed Clark on the cheek before pulling back from him. "No, I don't think you're some kind of miracle worker. I do think you're pretty good, though. Very good in fact. You'll inspire, and that's the most important thing."

The two of them dropped down in front of the Danvers Residence. It was a nice house, nothing too out of the ordinary, very quaint. The type of house you wanted someone to live up in if you wanted them to have a pretty good life. To say the younger Kara lived here made the older one feel rather well. She grew up well, and Kara could not help, but be pleased about that fact.

"So, Kal, do you want to do the honors?" Kara said.

Clark leaned forward and knocked on the door. He could hear someone rushing to get the door and the door swung open.

A tall girl of about fifteen or so years of age looked up at Clark. She had dirty blonde hair, which she tied back, and wore a pair of glasses. Her lips pursed into a surprised expression when looking at him. She dressed in a white blouse, and a pair of jeans. Her mouth hung open when she saw the young man in the seat.

"Kal-El?" she asked. "Is that really you?"

Clark smiled. "Yes, Kara, it's really me….."

Kara the younger rushed to him and threw herself into him with a nice and solid hug. She blushed very slightly when feeling herself brushing up against his muscular body. With good grace, Kara pulled away from him, with a smile.

"It's really nice to meet you, finally, at last," Kara said. "Well, I met you when you were born…but you know what I mean."

Kara turned around and saw the other blonde. Her eyes widened in response.

"Karen, that's…you're here too?" Kara asked.

"Wait, you remember me?" Karen asked, raising an eyebrow in surprise.

The older version of Kara looked at the younger version of Kara, with a smile on her face. The younger version threw herself at the older version with a hug, and the younger girl's face inadvertently buried into the chest of the older version of Kara.

Karen smiled, when Kara pulled away from her, going slightly red around the cheeks when she pulled away. The two of them looked at each other.

"I guess the three of us got separated," Kara said. "But, we've found our way to Earth….where did you land anyway?"

"About a thousand years in the future," Karen said. "But, I had to come back….for reasons I'm not still clear on….my memories are kind of messed up."

Kara answered with a nod.

"So, how did you end up here?" Karen asked.

"I landed in a garden….pretty close to a wooded area right around this house….thankfully my oldest sister found me."

The younger girl smiled. She decided to neglect the fact of the time her pod spent in the Phantom Zone, before getting jarred out. Thankfully she was in stasis, so nothing in the Phantom Zone really did hurt her, even though it was very jarring when she realized where she spent a good ten years of her life.

"Karen, Clark, it's good to see both of you," Eliza said. "Kara, why don't you let the two of them inside, so they can sit down. I'm sure they had a long journey to get here."

The younger girl stepped aside. Karen walked inside, closing her eyes. She felt a bit dizzy going in, and the flashes of some great battle on Infinite Earths happening, leading to them merging together flashed through their head.

"Are you alright?"

Eliza placed a hand on Karen's shoulder and got her to turn back around. Karen spent a moment trying to clear her thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just….I've been working on helping Raya and Lara and study these dimensional anomalies," Karen said.

"We've been working on studying them around the clock at STAR Labs," Eliza said. "I think we should get together, and put our heads together….see what we can find out."

The door opens, and Clark turned around in time to see an older blonde, in about her mid-twenties, enter the room. She stopped short, almost bumping into Clark. The older blonde, who had an amazing figure Clark noted, looked at Clark for a few seconds.

"Hi," she responded. "You're...Kara's cousin, aren't you, Clark?"

"Yeah, that's right," Clark said.

"Carol Danvers," she answered with a smile.

"You're the one who found Kara when her pod crashed?" Clark responded.

"Yes," Carol answered. "And it's a good thing I found her otherwise….well some other people might have found her, and I don't even know what happened."

Clark didn't really want to know what happened. He was just glad his younger cousin found a place in a very stable household.

"Carol, have you hear from your sister?" Eliza asked.

"Alex?" Carol asked. "I'm pretty sure she'll get off of work when she can…..I think she mentioned she'll be running a bit late."

Eliza frowned but said nothing. It was just her second oldest daughter promised she would be here soon, and she wasn't here. Eliza didn't want to worry her guests.

"I'm sorry about my daughter being late," Eliza said.

No sooner did she say this, the phone rang. Eliza went into the next room to pick up the phone. She frowned when answering it.

"Alex?" Eliza asked. "Something came up…..okay, come home as soon as you can."

Eliza tried not to look really worried, but as a mother, she could not help herself.

* * *

Alex Danvers hated to do this to her mother and sisters, and she also hated to miss out on a chance to meet Kara's cousin. Especially given the organization she worked for studied him for some time, and Alex found herself studying the images they had on file, quite intently. Each and every one of them showed something nasty, the worst of which aliens were capable of, and it scared Alex.

Something really dangerous came up. Months ago, some breaches opened, and it led to Lex Luthor being possessed by the Phantom Wraith of the Kryptonian outlaw known as General Zod. Lex had been defeated, by Smallville's protector, or rather Zod happened. The entire mess was a fiasco, and with Zod being sent back to the Phantom Zone, and Lex being taken to a secure location, it wasn't like they were going to find any crystal clear answers anytime soon, at least none to the best of abilities.

Now, there was most certainly someone else who came out of the Phantom Zone and was on Earth. Alex and her partner tracked the person and their movements. The most baffling thing ended up as being the lack of aggression. The dark haired DEO agent frowned when she looked off into the distance, studying the map with all of the locations marked.

There had also been the alien bounty hunter which had been picking up meteor mutants.

' _And Clark sends him off,'_ Alex thought. _'Before we had a chance to figure out what his game was…..oh well, at least he's out of the way.'_

"You're not going to believe this."

Already, Alex hated this particular statement. She had been capable of believing a whole lot in her time. She turned around to face the young woman who walked up next to her. The woman wore a skin tight uniform, as custom for many government agents. She did wear it pretty well, Alex wasn't going to deny this particular fact if she was perfectly honest. Her fit figure poured into the body suit, in particular, her ass which caught the eye of many DEO agents. She was beautiful, owing up to her mixed heritage of Chinese and Caucasian.

"I've been working in this job for a year, I believe a lot," Alex said. "What is it this time?"

"Another miniature breach is opening," she said. "The third one in twenty-four hours."

Alex frowned when looking on. She thought the breaches would stop. Why would so many of them open?

"Agent Johnson, Agent Danvers, report to Director Henshaw's office," a man said walking up.

"So, I wonder what we did this time."

Alex smiled. "Daisy, why do you think we did something?"

"That last mission could have gone better, and had a lot less property damage," Daisy said. "Most of it was on the account of the alien…and we brought him in, in one piece."

Alex blinked and looked at Daisy who shifted her lips back into a smile.

"Well, mostly one piece."

The two agents made the long walk into the office, and Alex was getting flashbacks to all of those times where she had been called to the Principal's office in high school. Most of the time, Alex had a very good reason of being sent there.

The tall, dark skinned director of the DEO stared over the desk. Daisy appreciated the neutral look on his face, and she was sure Alex did as well.

"Agent Danvers, Agent Johnson, thank you for coming."

Daisy smiled, did they really have a choice when their boss said jump?

"We have a person of interest who is trying to open up a breach, and we have reason to believe that person of interest is not an alien," Henshaw said. "That person of interest is Lex Luthor."

"Luthor, sir?" Alex asked. "I thought he had been locked up well…"

"In the Loony Bin," Daisy said.

Not exactly the term Alex would have used, but she would be willing to let it slide, at least for right now. She could see the eyes of the Director maneuvered onto them, not once backing off.

"As you know, a couple of months ago, a breach opened in Smallville and resulted in Lex's possession, but it was resolved before the DEO had a chance to maneuver," Henshaw said. "There may be lingering traces of Zod inside Lex."

Daisy snickered at what Henshaw said, which earned her a stern look.

"Not remotely what I meant, Agent Johnson," Henshaw said. "Regardless, he may have had his orders, and we need to track down where he is."

"What if he causes trouble when we try and take him down?" Alex asked.

"Then, you should take any measure necessary to make sure the trouble ends," Henshaw said.

There was no question about what the DEO Director said. Lethal force might have been required. They hated to do it, but there were a few circumstances where it had to be done.

The agents took it as their cue to leave. Both of them walked from the room, keeping up a pretty good pace.

"Well, it looks like I'm going to be a little late for dinner," Alex said.

"Just a little bit?" Daisy asked.

"I better call my mother, she won't be pleased," Alex said. "Kara was looking forward to meeting her cousins….and I really did too, to be honest."

"Hey, duty calls," Daisy said. "Are you ever going to tell your mother what you're doing?"

Alex shuddered for a moment. The longer she waited, the more difficult it would be to cross that mind field. The less her mother knew what she was doing, the better off they were going to be.

The DEO Agent moved over to make a quick phone call and then they would be off, to track down Lex. Given the information at hand, there was one place where he might have gone straight away.

* * *

Lex pulled up the car he stole from Hugo Strange to the edge of the parking lot. His hands shook in excitement which could barely restrained. The young man stepped out of the car. He walked, something leading him there. His eyes still glazed over in a trance when walking forward. The man's heart skipped a couple of beats when walking with a swift step of excitement.

"I was so close, I was so close!" Lex yelled, almost chanting in an insane way. "Oh, I was so close, but now…"

Lex made his way to the front door of the lab once belonging to Milton Fine. This door had been shut, and Lex tried to push it open. The door would not budge.

"No, no, not today."

He picked up a huge rock and hurled it through the window. The glass shattered and allowed him to climb in through the window. Lex dropped down onto the ground and looked towards the main lab. It had been cleared out, everything had been confiscated.

Not everything, though, as Lex picked up a large piece of glass and raked it across his wrist. The blood splashed through the ground and resulted in the lab illuminating around them. A flash of energy surrounded the young man when he stepped over. Lex dropped to his knees with arms extended out in a crucifix pose.

The ground shifted down and made a modified elevator. Lex made his way into a secondary lab deep underneath the ground. The dust surrounded the young man. He took a half of a step inside and looked for everything around him.

"It has to be here," Lex muttered. "It just has to be here."

Lex grabbed the top of his head. Had there been one strand of hair, he would have ripped it out. Lex murmured underneath his breath.

"It has to be here!"

Lex's shouts increased in frequency and frustration hit in response. He overturned a table on the lab and walked over. The boxes were containing nothing other than notes. He pounded on the wall and caused it to crack.

"Ah, ha, I knew you hadn't been holding out on me."

The young man's groping of the wall allowed him to locate a switch which gave him access to a secret room. Another one, and at the back of the wall, there was a table. Lying on the table were several crystals.

"It had to be here, and I was right, you are here!" Lex cried.

Lex bent over and picked up a black box on the floor. He could hear it.

"And you're here too…everything I need to unlock the secrets of the universe, it's all here," Lex said. "And it's all mind."

Lex clutched the black box tightly and picked up one of the crystals. He slid the crystal inside, shrugging off the blood dripping from his arm. He entered a zone and would not be pulled out of it by any means.

"Yes, mine," Lex said.

The sounds of footsteps coming from above did not deter the crazed gentleman. He just fashioned the portal focus together, he was nearly ready. The time for reckoning was at hand. Lex breathed in and just took in everything around him.

"Almost there….."

Two figures dropped down to the ground in front of them. The government agents both trained their guns on Lex who turned around to face them.

"Freeze, you're under arrest!" Alex yelled.

The women trained their guns on Lex. Lex didn't really acknowledge them. He just simply fired a smile towards them, looking about as calm and tranquil as humanly possible. Alex held her gun on point, and hesitated, close to fire, but she didn't really pull the trigger.

"I knew you were coming," Lex said. "And I'm glad you are here. You're here in time to see something beautiful."

Daisy caught sight of the crystal array in Lex's hand. She wasn't sure what he had. All she could do was fire at him.

The bullets had been caught up in an energy field before being sucked into it. Whatever was happening, the Vortex opened up. It rattled in Lex when he dropped to his knees.

"I have changed the world!" Lex yelled.

"You're going to rip us apart if you don't stop this thing!" Alex yelled.

Lex looked completely beyond all comprehension. He drank in the power, the power to change the world. The same power he had when Zod entered him nearly came forward. He reared back and continued the chanting, breathing in, breathing out, shaking his hands.

"You're just in time to see something beautiful," he repeated.

Alex and Daisy took a step back, in time to see some skeletal hands and a flowing black robe. A pair of soulless glowing eyes flashed in front of them. It was the unmistakable look of a Phantom Zone wraith, growling and hissing when it dove towards them.

The wraith hovered over them, with the crystals shorting out. Lex dropped to the ground, and Alex blasted Lex, catching him in the shoulder before he could cause any problems.

"Maybe it's trapped between dimensions," Daisy said.

This particular hope had become dashed when the Phantom Wraith charged towards them. Alex and Daisy stepped off to the side and prepared to fight.

The wraith flew up, out of the lab, and out in the wild.

"I'll secure him, and then I'll be right behind you," Alex said.

Daisy nodded, she had powers, and thus a better chance to deal with whatever this thing was than Alex did. She moved as quickly as possible out the door, and after the wraith when it escaped out somewhere into Kansas.

* * *

Dinner at the Danvers Household went on pretty good, and then there was dessert which went on well as well. After dinner, Kara and Karen were talking. Clark tried to help Eliza with the dishes, but she shooed him off.

"It would be rude of me to ask you to do any chores when you're here, you are my guest," Eliza said.

"But, wouldn't it be just as rude of me to not help out, after the wonderful meal you've cooked?" Clark asked.

"Your satisfaction is its own reward," Eliza said.

Kara and Karen spoke, with Carol just hanging out off to the room, just soaking in on the conversation.

"So, you're a test pilot at Ferris Aircraft?" Clark asked her.

"Among other things," Carol replied with a smile. "I've kept myself busy, but I'm used to keeping busy, I have two younger sisters, and….they can be challenging sometimes."

Clark understood perfectly.

"I just wish I would have remembered more sooner," Karen said. "Then again, there's the potential there are conflicting timelines here, so that could be the problem."

"That's why time travel is outlawed on Krypton," Kara said. "Speaking of which did you ever….."

"Did I ever think about going back all the way to Krypton, and trying to save it?" Karen asked. "Oh, I thought about it, but the consequences outweighed the benefits. I won't say much, but Krypton's destruction was a pivotal point in history, and there were far more deaths if it survived then there was."

Kara privately wondered if Karen went back, and tried made an attempt to save Krypton, but made a really bad future, so she had to stop herself from correcting the mistake. Time travel made Kara feel really loopy, so she didn't really spend all that much time.

"At least some of it's coming back to you," Kara said. "After all of those family get-togethers, all of the Festival of Rao celebrations, it would be a shame if you forgot about it."

"Yeah, it would," Karen said.

Eliza moved over to answer a phone call, while they all continued to talk in the background.

"So, you really do have multiple girlfriends, right now?" Carol asked.

"Yes, you….." Clark said. "I admit it's weird...I find it weird sometimes as well, but that's just the nature of my biology."

"No, not weird, just interesting," Carol said. "I have to say, you're a pretty brave man."

Carol would be lying if she wasn't intrigued. Granted, she and her friend, Jessica, they scratched each other's itches quite nicely. Both of them joked about potentially finding someone to spice things up, though, but while there was no shortage of men who would go along with it, there was a shortage of men who might be able to keep up the pace they liked.

"I…think I'll be able to graduate high school this year," Kara said. "I had to relearn everything from the ground up, Earth education is far different from Kryptonian."

"What are you going to do when you go to college?" Clark asked.

"Oh, I'm interested in journalism," Kara said.

"I should introduce you to Chloe, the two of you might get along pretty well," Clark said. "She might be able to give you a few pointers."

Speaking of which, Clark's cell phone rang. He picked it up and answered it. "Yeah, Chloe, what is it?"

"There's some Dementor Like Thing which is terrorizing Smallville," Chloe said.

Eliza just got off the phone. She could tell by the look on Clark's face that he got the same message.

"Phantom Zone Wraith," the older Kara said.

"Yes, I was thinking the same thing," Clark said.

It was time for them to get to work.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 5** **th** **, 2017.**


	30. Chapter 30

Vote for last week's chapter of Stronger Together, or any chapters you enjoyed from any of my other works, to be found in the very important links link on my profile. Oh, and if you are following Under the Hood, brand new chapters resume on Tuesday, March 7th, 2017.

* * *

 **Chapter Thirty: Shadows of Discontent Part Two**

* * *

The moment Tess heard about Lex's breakout, she was right on her way to the facility. She put an ear to the cell phone when marching into the building. Everything caused Tess's heart rate to increase, and she feared the very worst.

"He's been detained?" she asked. "Good, of course, keep him detained, but I want to know why he had broken out in the first place."

Only one man had the capability to give Tess the answers she wanted and that was the one and only Professor Hugo Strange. Tess had a few reservations about the man and putting Lex underneath his care had been a very calculated and very sketchy risk. One thing could not be denied and Tess would be a fool trying to justify it.

Strange had the best abilities to get the information out of Lex. Tess ensured the man was paid to follow her plans. He could be sleazy and sketchy, but the man knew what he was doing, and Tess appreciated it. However, someone else from higher up also may have been slipping Strange money in an attempt to further their own agenda. Or something along those lines, Tess honestly didn't know, to be frank.

' _That's one of the bits of information I'm going to have to get out of him.'_

Tess stormed into the building. She made it about three steps down the hallway before a trio of rough-faced security guards stood in front of her. All of them gave Tess a sidelong view, and none of them looked too friendly. Tess crossed her arms when approaching them.

"Let me through," Tess demanded of them. "It's about Lex Luthor."

The guards looked very anxious, almost as if they had orders. Tess frowned, she would have to throw her weight and power around to get through.

"There's nothing to worry about."

This statement from one of the guards only served to raise Tess's ire. Her eyes closed shut. Many times she considered finding a way to have Lex die and make it look like an accident. She learned, unfortunately, death might not have been a final deal for some people as she thought it would be. Tess moved forward and one of the guards walked in front of her.

"There's nothing to worry…"

Tess cut him off by raising her right hand up. The man stepped back, mouth hanging open in the process with how brazen this woman had been in her actions.

"I heard you the first time," Tess replied. "It doesn't mean I accept your works either time. Now, I'm going to tell you one more time, let me through. Or you will be on the unemployment line by Monday morning."

The security guard shifted in a very uncomfortable way. Tess got the inkling of a poor man who was doing nothing else other than doing his job. She shouldn't rip into him too much, but at the same time, it was hard to give someone like this the benefit of the doubt, at least most of the time.

"He's been detained, there's nothing to worry about…"

"He may have been detained, no thanks to you," Tess said. "I need to see Strange, I need to talk about him about his inability to keep people secure."

Tess took every amount of self-control needed not to light into these men. It would be pretty poor form and would make her look like a raging lunatic. Tess's eyes closed shut and the woman counted to ten in response. The woman looked both of them.

"I need to speak with Strange," Tess said. "LuthorCorp funds this facility. If the payments stop, you three may find yourself out of a job. And you will be responsible for not being able to feed your families."

The threat she gave them made the guards step back and allow Tess to move forward. The redhead woman walked into Strange's office with a fierce purpose. The door was halfway open, so Tess didn't see any reason not to enter the office and walk up towards him to face the man in question.

She came eye to eye with Hugo Strange, who held a cold pack on the back of his head. The man rose to his feet.

"Miss Mercer, I've been expecting you," Strange said.

So he had. Tess's savage expression locked on him. The good doctor remained calm as if he mentally prepared himself to get it from both ends from Tess.

"I head to hear about Lex breaking out from a third party," Tess said. "Did I not tell you to keep me up to date on all of what happened with him? Was that not the conversation we had?"

The Professor placed one hand on the desk and the other hand on the cold pack on the back of his head. The man nodded in response.

"Yes, that was our understanding, but you have to understand there are circumstances which occur that change the plan," Strange said. "There was a session between the two of us, which had gotten out of hand. He grabbed a gun I keep in my desk for security purposes, and escaped with me, using me as a hostage to escape the building."

Tess could tell Strange wanted her to believe this was unexpected. Deep down, though, she figured the man knew all about the bullshit he spewed.

"You're a smart man, why didn't you think something like this would occur?"

Strange answered in the most tactful manner possible, still keeping his injuries in mind. "There's always the unexpected….especially here in Smallville as you know."

Tess studied Strange while doing her best impression of a lioness who attempted to determine how much to take down her prey. The man in question didn't back down or blink from her.

"He may be detained now," Tess said. "But you allowed him to escape, and I'd imagine you allowed him to escape because you wanted to see what would happen when he did."

Strange looked surprised or at least conveyed the illusion of being surprised. Tess didn't buy his façade for one single moment.

"Come now, the entire notion is…"

Tess shook her head and stopped him. "Consider your duties relieved. By the time I come back tomorrow, I expect you to be halfway back to Gotham City. If I ever see you step one foot in Smallville or Metropolis, then certain matters will come to light to the proper authorities."

She shouldered some of the blame for trusting a wild card like Strange. Tess decided now was not the time to assign blame, rather to determine what the next course of action. The redhead walked out, leaving Strange in his office. Tess already dialed up a number on the phone when exiting the room.

"Clark?" Tess asked.

"Yes, I've heard about it, and I'm about to return to Smallville," Clark said.

Tess did feel bad about pulling Clark away from meeting his cousin, well his other cousin. Still, she shifted the blame where it was needed, and that was at Hugo Strange and his damn curiosity.

"You should know, Lex opened up the doorway," Tess said. "He's already been detained….meet me outside of the facility, and I'll tell you everything I know. There are a couple of other people who want to talk to you as well."

Tess turned around the corner and saw two women about to step into the DEO. She smiled knowingly, figuring they would show up. And she should have known something, given what the DEO had been up to as of late.

"So, I figured the DEO would be keeping an eye on Lex, giving the Luthors' interest in the stars are causing a few problems for security," Tess said. "Both with your company, and the world in general...Agent Johnson, and Agent Danvers, correct?"

Both of the women seemed equally unsurprised Tess knew who they were. As long as they were on the same way.

* * *

Dinner and the family reunion had been cut short, but there were a lot of problems on the way. Karen and Clark flew at the speed of light towards Smallville, to deal with the ramifications of what Lex did.

Clark thought Lex had been put away, and so did Tess apparently.

"There's a wraith in Smallville, and he could be anywhere," the older Kryptonian said. "Or she, I supposed….but…they could be very dangerous."

Tess waited for them down on the ground. The two Kryptonian survivors dropped down to the ground, right in front of the two DEO agents. Karen recognized one of them from the picture on Eliza's desk. Both of them stood on the ground to face them.

' _It looks like we're going to meet the third Danvers sister today after all.'_

"It's a pleasure to meet you, I just wish it was under better circumstances," one of the agents said. "My name is Agent Alex Danvers, and this is Agent Daisy Johnson, my partner in the DEO."

Daisy's eyes lingered on Clark for a moment, at least until the moment her partner cleared her throat. The DEO member stood up straighter and tried to return to a mostly professional demeanor, despite the fact she was in the presence of a man among men.

Needless to say, the pictures didn't do him justice. It took Daisy nearly half of a minute, and Alex nudging her roughly in the side, to snap her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, wish I could meet you….um when Smallville's not being torn apart by some demonic wraith from the Phantom Zone."

Alex picked off where her partner left off. "We were there when Lex opened the portal. It was brief, and the crystals burned out, but not before something flew out. It flew right past us."

"You should be very lucky it flew past you," Karen said. "The wraiths are very dangerous, and build to sustain some of the worst conditions."

"I don't think we were lucky," Daisy said. "I think the wraith, whatever it was, it was after something other than us. And it was pretty dangerous when it went after that something."

The two of them turned around. Lara returned, dressed in a battle suit of some sort. The suit just wasn't to make a statement, though, it was to absorb a great deal of solar radiation.

"This is…?" Alex asked.

"My mother, Lara," Clark said. "She….well it's a very long story."

Lara had a feeling there would be questions about her resurrection.

"One, we'll have the time for later," Lara said. "Right now, I have some good news and I have some bad news."

Daisy and Alex exchanged one of those looks with each other. Both good news and bad news, the absolute best situation, why could there not be good news and no bad news? They wondered if the good news was bad but still better than what Lara judged to be bad news. Judging by the look on Lara's face, they were going to guess it wasn't.

"Um, I think the fact the Phantom is rampaging around unchecked would qualify as bad news?"

Lara raised a hand and looked Daisy in the eyes. Daisy shifted, a tad bit nervous in response. This woman showed a great deal of power, and it intimated her just a little bit.

' _Okay, just imagine her in her underwear,'_ Daisy thought. _'She's hot, not helping. Stupid sexy MILF.'_

"I think I better give you the good news to brace things first," Lara said. "It's beyond just a wraith being let out into the wild from the Phantom Zone. We should be thankful Lex was only able to hold the breach open for a few seconds."

Tess spoke up after being surprisingly silent for the last few minutes. "Only a few seconds is enough."

Lara confirmed what she said with a solemn nod. "Yes, only a few seconds is enough, it's more than enough in fact. And it's more than enough for something really dangerous to have slipped out and started to cause havoc."

Alex could hear something in her ear. The woman responded with a frown when something, garbled, but still somehow audible, popped in the back of her ear.

"They're…oh….I….we're on it…the wraith was last seen going East….let me know if the path changes, it's on our way….which works out well."

The woman let out her breath in a long sigh and turned to her partner and the other people with her.

"Several people have been found, drained by the Phantom," Alex said.

Lara's worst fears had been confirmed. This experiment, could not be destroyed. Their attempts to create a super soldier beyond anything else failed. The scientist involved had been discredited when his creation killed countless. Both the scientist and the abomination had been exiled to the Phantom Zone.

"It's trying to find a host," Lara said. "Most of the people involved, they'll survive only a matter of minutes, an hour or two if they're lucky."

"But, will the Phantom die if it doesn't have a host?" Alex asked.

Karen jumped in to answer the question. "It may fade, but on a place as populated as Earth, there will always be elements to drain, to sustain the creature for as long as they can be out there."

Alex swallowed. Daisy put a hand on her partner's shoulder and nodded.

"We have to get the DEO base…there's one here in Smallville so….."

Clark and Karen knew they had to work quick. Lara grabbed Tess, Clark grabbed Alex, and Karen took a hold of Daisy.

"Just let us know where we need to take you, and we'll get you there."

Alex and Daisy could agree on one point. The Kryptonians helping them ensured the would have a lot easier time tracking down the Phantom Zone wraith, at least in their opinion. Their anxiety at this situation, though, unsettled both of the DEO agents something great.

* * *

The secondary DEO base in Smallville wasn't as big as the main one, and the staff was only a skeleton crew of people. Alex thought it quite strange at times; they didn't have their main base in Smallville, given how it was the hub of strange activity.

She pressed against Clark during the flight, feeling how firm he was against her. Alex struggled to remain professional, despite the circumstances. They dropped outside of the doors.

"I'll do it," Daisy said.

She walked forward, key card in place. The key card swiped through the lock and released a pad. Daisy pressed a fingerprint on the pad. A retinal scan fired up and performed the mandatory search. Seconds further passed before the doors could be opened, and the group could make their way inside.

"And I thought LuthorCorp's security was immense," Tess said.

Daisy smiled and accessed the next layer of the security network.

"Well, when you are safeguarding dangerous secrets, you don't want to be too careful," Daisy said.

Tess understood the importance of what they were doing, even though she did not trust things half of the time. The DEO had to operate a bit differently than most organizations. Dealing with conventional human threats, it made sense to follow conventional human laws, at least for the most part. Dealing with people who thought differently, acted differently, and even had extraordinary powers, they would have to work a little bit outside of the box. Actually, they had to work more outside the box them most.

She didn't blame them, Tess wasn't the type of person to work in a conventional manner either, not if she could help it.

"There's a base for an organization which deals with aliens in the middle of Smallville," Clark said. "I should have known."

"Yeah, you should have known," Alex agreed.

"Well, to be fair, with the meteor showers, all of them, it's only prudent for us to set up shop right here," Daisy said. "It's been a while since we've used this base….."

Daisy decided to stop while she was ahead. Given what was known about Clark and his friends, they could find the DEO base, but no reason to make it too easy on them.

' _Now we have the Kryptonians on our side, though, this should be much better.'_

Lara looked around for a few seconds. She thought some of this technology looked beyond what Earth was capable of. They took some inspiration, perhaps borrowed, from the various alien races the DEO encountered. For being such a young planet, Earth was a very fertile battleground for the alien races who wanted.

Clark's training would give them the protection, although people like the DEO would also give some necessary teeth.

"I'm guessing you approve, Daisy said.

"Very well put together, and I can see you've used the most you could from the various alien races you've encountered," Lara said. "I would have to say, you did a pretty good job."

Daisy appreciated the compliment and leaned in with a smile crossing over her face. "Well, you know what they say. When you steal from one person, it's plagiarism. When you steal from a lot of people, its research."

Alex turned around to fire up the scanners. They booted up and interfaced with the main DEO network. Alex pressed her hands on either side of the screen and waited for the information.

While she waited for another to come off, she turned around to face Clark.

"I've been meaning to get in touch with you for a long time," Alex said.

"Well, I would have appreciated it if you did," Clark said. "We might have found Kara sooner…."

"Yes, and there would have been a lot of awkward questions from my mother, with precisely what I was doing with my Doctorate," Alex said. "I haven't told her I was part of the DEO, because, you know how parents are, she would flip out if she found out how I put my life in danger fighting aliens."

Clark reached in and touched the top of her head. She had been pretty surprised with how forward he had been. Even more surprising, Alex didn't pull away.

"Secrets, never do anyone any good," Clark said. "All they do is hurt the people you care about."

Clark had been down this particular road, and he almost damaged some relationship. He attempted, best he could, to right the ship, and return back. Over time, trust could be rebuilt. Everyone made mistakes. It was only human, even though Clark wasn't. But, it was something which was possible the universe over.

Kryptonians incurred many mistakes. Sadly, all of those mistakes lead to their unfortunate end.

"Yeah, I know," Alex said. "But, I've observed you from far for about a year now…..well, I don't want this to come off as saying I've stalked you because I would never stalk someone. I respect personal boundaries and all that, you know what I mean."

Clark smiled. He didn't really want to have her dig a hole, to be honest.

"The point is, the DEO is very interested in you," Alex said. "We're….the people who try and help clean up Smallville where we can. There are a lot of people in the government who don't want to acknowledge there's a problem in the heartland of America."

Clark remembered something his father said. It was a lot easier to pretend there wasn't a problem and hope it would go away. Clark didn't agree with this, it often times made the problem worse.

"Then there are those extremists who do know there's a problem, and would like to blow it off of the face of the map," Alex said.

"Yes, but that's not happening," Tess said. "Not as long as I'm around…and have the contacts to put a stop to it."

The look on Tess's face showed them all how serious they were. Clark wondered how someone could go to such extremes. Most of the people were innocent in Smallville, just trying to live their lives.

"Raya, what is it?" Lara asked.

"There's something starting to breach the Fortress," Raya said.

Lara frowned. It couldn't be the Phantom Wraith, at least she was positive it was not the wraith. There was no way such a creature could have gotten inside. The last known movements were moving away from the Fortress, and not towards it.

The Kryptonian scientist made a split second decision of what needed to be done. She turned towards Karen and Clark, offering.

"Go, and see what you can find," Lara said. "I'll work with the others to see if we can track down the Phantom Wraith and wrangle it back into the Phantom Zone."

Karen and Clark made their way to the Fortress, while Lara proceeded to join Alex, Tess, and Daisy in an attempt to track down.

* * *

Raya knew of the breach and was trying to see if she could assist Lara on this end. The Phantom managed to avoid detection. It was almost as if the Phantom, whatever it was evolved. Raya closed her eyes, thinking of the experiments which could cause it.

Kryptonian scientists, especially during ancient times, created weapons, super soldiers, engineered, even beyond the usual Kryptonian methods of Birth. These methods were borderline barbaric, pretty sadistic as well. A chill spread over Raya's spine when giving them consideration. Horror would not even describe how this felt.

What if one of these experiments broke free?

The breach in the Phantom Zone only paled to the fact someone was trying to get into the Phantom Zone. Raya put up the defense shields and assessed the situation, after sending word towards Lara. Now she needed to see what she could do.

"Testing shields," Raya said.

The shields didn't really work as well. Raya didn't really sweat just yet. She helped, partially, design the Fortress, or at least read enough of Jor-El's notes to know of a couple of failsafe in the Fortress. Triggering the ultimate failsafe of self-destruction would be extreme, and she couldn't access that without Kal's full consent.

Regardless, there were a couple of other methods to activate. Raya pressed in a crystal and a red energy grid flashed around the external base of the Fortress. A few ticks of the clock passed and Raya thought it worked. She leaned back a few seconds later.

Something flashed through and disabled the grid. Raya stood up and had been knocked back to the ground.

Whoever the attacker was, they were pretty crafty, to the point where they were able to maneuver around Raya's failsafe defenses.

Raya watched the person rush towards her. The assistant put her hands in the air in response. The figure grabbed Raya around the shoulder and shoved her back down onto the ground. The woman landed on her back.

The assistant understood her purpose, it was not to fight, but rather it was to help, assist, the House of El. She rose up to a standing position. Despite some basic self-defense skills along the way.

Raya made an attempt to stop the woman from accessing the Fortress. If she could bypass the failsafe, Raya figured she could access the Fortress. Unfortunately, the woman was on a mission and didn't care who knew it. Raya had been smacked down to one side, being wiped out with a backhand attack.

Another blur came inside the Fortress and knocked the woman back away from the ground. The intruder somersaulted in mid-air and dropped down on the ground.

Karen and Clark stood in the door and stared down the woman. They recognized the woman's movements and most importantly her attire. It was the same woman who they encountered in the Phantom Zone and escaped.

"You're not taking this Fortress."

"I had no idea it was occupied," she said. "I just assumed it was a Kryptonian outpost….Kara?"

The woman's hood came down, and the face of Astra In-Ze had been revealed for the first time. She still wore somewhat of a wild look in those eyes after being trapped in the Phantom Zone for some time.

Karen looked in her mother's eyes for the first time in a very long time. More memories flooded back, causing sadness, loss, and anger to all flood into her at the same time.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 12** **th** **, 2017.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Chapter Thirty-One: Shadows of Discontent Part Three**

* * *

Karen stared across the Fortress with a burning gaze directed towards Astra. Her breathing increased every single moment. It took pretty much every bit of self-control she built up not to jump across the Fortress and take out Astra. The fight would have wrecked the entire Fortress, and if Karen pushed things, Astra might have taken her out. They needed to play this one both carefully and calmly.

' _After being in the Phantom Zone, she might not be the same,'_ Karen thought.

Clark held his hand on Karen's sleeve and made sure she didn't do anything reckless. He looked across from the cave towards the woman who stared them down.

"I'm certain you're mad at me," Astra said. "And you don't fully understand the things I have to do."

Karen looked at Astra. She did not know the full story about what happened, but she knew that Astra might have skewed the details a certain angle. She had never been quite stable after the Argo valley incident, which took place two years before Astra's exile to the Phantom Zone.

"Yes, I don't understand because you didn't bother to explain anything, and you got yourself thrown into the Phantom Zone for trying to overthrow the Council, and then there was the disappearance of Kandor…"

Astra held up one hand. The Kandor thing had been pinned on her, even though she swore that particular event had nothing to do with her. Astra would happily accept pretty much every other charge the Council threw down at her, the Kandor thing, on the other hand, she had nothing to do with it, nothing at all. Her heart skipped a couple of beats, racing intensely.

"If you allow me to explain, I can tell you what I was thinking," Astra said.

Karen looked for a moment towards her. Astra hoped to appeal to her better judgment. Kara, both of them, could be headstrong and they could be a fair bit upset when push came to shove. Astra stared her down and Kara stared back.

Things could get every awkward in a real hurry.

Clark could feel a chill coming behind the Arctic Winds in the Fortress. There was just something happening which made him nervous beyond all belief. A second ticked away at the clock when looking from Astra to Kara and then back to her.

"Maybe we should hear her out," Clark said.

Everything stopped, and Clark received the looks of both women. He felt more like a third party than someone who actually contributed to this particular conversation, at least in his mind.

Raya moved over to join the group. Her eyes narrowed at the woman across from the Fortress. Jor-El did have many favorable things to say about her tactical brilliance, as did Lara. Raya wasn't going to deny the woman's intelligence. However, the sanity may have been lost. Raya just barely held it together herself after her stay in the Phantom Zone and it was in a controlled argument.

' _I shudder to think what may have happened if it wasn't.'_

Astra spent a moment to look at him. Raya's presence there clued in the former Kryptonian General on one simple fact. Her lips twitched into a smile when looking up towards the man in front of her.

"You are the son of Jor-El and Lara," Astra said. "It's been a long time...I never agreed with your father on much, I'm afraid, although he was willing to entertain any theory I had, especially if it pertained the future of Krypton."

Astra drew in a deep breath and let it out. She continued the discussion, at least the best she could. Time away in Phantom Zone had never been good for anyone's mental stability.

"Jor-El and I agreed on one fact," Astra said. "We agreed Krypton's core, which had been slowly burning out for years, had become unstable. To do what needed to be done to fix it, the approval of the Council was needed. And for them to approve attempts to stabilize the core, they would have to admit there was a problem. And they also had been doing mining, which had been temporarily compromised. My sister's husband, who allowed his greed to get the better of him, had been in the center of this."

Karen had the sense Astra never really approved of Zor-El, and she had to admit, he had been a bit off. His obsession with Lara was something Karen noticed a long time ago. The confusion of both being sent to Earth and time traveling caused problems in her mind.

"The Council didn't agree with the fact our planet was dying, despite the fact there was constant evidence slapping them in the face," Astra said. "Jor-El thought he could appease them. I decided there had to be another way….therefore, I tried to overthrow them through a coup. It was the only way I could think of to save Krypton with the limited time. If the Council was out of the way, then the path could be opened to help fix the core before it went critical."

Astra's eyes shut and the woman went down a deep trip into memory lane. She let out a breath.

"It was all for nothing," Astra said. "Some of the people I allied with, they mentioned the coup to the wrong people, and we barely made our way into the Capitol before….they seized us. I was tried and convicted to be sent into the Phantom Zone. Alura, my sister, had been forced to sign the order to dismiss me under duress."

The General turned away to avoid allowing them to show any emotion.

"We also lost Kandor."

"Yes, it was destroyed, vaporized off of the face of the planet."

"Not necessarily," Astra said.

Karen frowned, she wanted an explanation to that, if she was perfectly honest. The explanation would have to wait, the lights on the Fortress were blinking.

"Looks like the Phantom Wraith is on the move," Clark commented.

Astra's eyebrows shot up and her face grew surprisingly pale. "Wait, there's….one of them….here on Earth…a wraith to the Phantom Zone?"

The normally stoic General looked very disturbed, and potentially for a very good reason.

"Yes, we were helping some friends of ours track it," Karen said.

Astra raised her hand to stop any further conversation. "Whatever you think of me, you need to trust one thing. We must get the wraith back inside the Phantom Zone, or it will destroy this planet to get what it wants."

The woman read the information compiled on the screen in a split second. The Phantom Zone eroded the intelligence and sanity of everyone. The only thing which kept Astra of sound mind was the thought her daughter and niece made it safely off of the planet.

"And what does it want?" Clark asked.

"The blood of every single last Kryptonian."

Those grim words came down to a single point. Blood, it would be something a phantom wraith would want.

* * *

Tess stepped into the back room of the lab, with Alex and Daisy. Lara had been busy tracking the movements and keeping them posted. Tess called LuthorCorp for Indy to meet her there. The situation grew rather frustration and she thought it would only get worse.

' _Things have escalated badly in a hurry,'_ Tess thought.

"I'm not sure how much help your personal assistant will be," Alex said. "I mean no offense but…"

"Trust me when I say I don't take offense," Tess said. "And also, she'll be very useful."

A woman with red hair dressed in a business suit stepped in. Alex and Daisy had been caught off guard by her exotic, violet eyes. Her face looked quite familiar, although they couldn't want to place it.

"You must be Agent Danvers and Agent Johnson of the Department of Extra-Ordinary Affairs," the woman said. "My name is Indigo, but you should call be Indy, for it is fewer syllables and conserves oxygen."

Both of the DEO agents looked at her for a long moment and just nodded.

"Um, right, Indy," Alex said. "We're just trying to…"

"A wraith escaped from the Phantom Zone thanks to Lex," Indy said. "He escaped the custody of Hugo Strange, thanks to an oversight. And now he made his way to Milton Fine's area and managed to scrape together enough Kryptonian crystals to open the portal. The portal did not hold open for long, just a few seconds, but it was long enough for something to escape from the Phantom Zone."

Alex and Daisy blinked. They were there, so the recap wasn't really needed. Still, they appreciated the efficiency Indy came out with and how she pretty much nailed the situation with picture-perfect precision.

"I think that about covers it," Daisy said.

"Yeah, it does," Alex concluded.

"I understand you have a containment unit which can hold alien prisoners in the DEO," Tess responded.

"Um, I don't know….why you know that," Alex said.

Tess just casually dropped top-secret DEO secrets which made both agents very nervous about a possible breach.

"Ask me no questions, and I won't be forced to lie to you lovely ladies," Tess said, cracking into a smile.

"Right, that's fair enough," Daisy said. "We do have a containment unit which should trap the wraith, at least in theory. It's been able to hold some dangerous prisoners until we were able to put it out."

Tess looked towards Daisy who answered with a very obvious shrug and popped off into a smile.

"At least that's the theory," Daisy said. "It's been a while since we used it, but hey, with a few modifications, we can use it to hold the Phantom Wraith."

The lights kicked up, and they made their way into the room. The containment unit stood about eight feet tall, and given the Phantom was about five and a half feet tall, give her take, it was the perfect containment unit for the wraith, at least in theory.

Perfect in theory and perfect in execution ended up being two different things. Tess stepped forward and could see the containment unit.

"Mind if I take a look at that?"

They all turned around and noticed Lara stepping into the room. They all gave a path. For about ten seconds, Lara and Indy locked eyes, but nothing had been said.

Alex shrugged and motioned for Lara to walk over. "Be my guest."

Lara stepped over and bent in front of the device. She looked it over with a very critical eye. The configuration was pretty good, to be honest, but there was a small problem.

"A device like this will only hold the Phantom Zone Wraith for about ten seconds," Lara said.

"Actually, you made a small miscalculation," Indy said. "A device like this may only hold a Phantom Zone wraith for approximately fifteen seconds."

Lara double checked her math and decided to turn back towards Indy. "My mistake, fifteen seconds, but still, that's not an ideal time to hold something so dangerous."

The two DEO agents stared towards each other moments later, and their communication appeared to have been frantic, and for obvious reasons as well. They only had so much time, and every second the wraith was out there, the danger for the people of this planet increased.

"Is there any way to…?" Alex asked. "I don't know, is there any way to increase the lifespan of the generator, so we can hold it for more than a few minutes."

Lara stopped for a minute, considering Alex's suggestion. It sounded feasible in theory.

"There are ways, but we need time," Lara said. "And that's not a luxury we have….we're going to have to time this correctly and without any slip-ups. The moment we deploy the containment unit, the wraith is going to have to be sent into the Phantom Zone."

Daisy found a slight flaw in this plan, maybe it was just her, though.

"You know, to do that, you're going to have to be about twice as fast as a speeding bullet."

Lara answered with a nod. "Exactly."

She had a couple of ideas where they needed to go next. Before they could hash together a plan, Clark and Karen returned to join them. Judging by the looks on their faces, it was obvious they had gone through some real insanity to get back here.

"The wraith is not just a wraith, but a weapon," Clark said. "It's was created to hunt down and destroy all Kryptonians who broke the law on Krypton."

Karen drew in a breath and picked up where Clark had left off.

"Unfortunately, an error resulted in it wanting to hunt down and destroy all Kryptonians," Karen said. "Whether or not they broke the law or not. And thus, it had been sent to the Phantom Zone, but now it's out."

"How did you find this out?" Lara asked.

Both Karen and Clark look at each other. Clark gave Karen the opening to speak.

"Astra told me," Karen said.

Lara closed her eyes. They met Astra, after months of Lara trying to overturn every single rock, they met Astra. Lara tried not to be too impressed at the fact Astra managed to elude her for this long. She found herself both amused and very annoyed as well.

"She's just outside, she figured stepping into the DEO right now would cause a scene," Karen said. "I put a tracer on her."

Lara answered with a nod. Astra only paled in comparison to some homicidal, blood-thirsty Phantom Zone wraith who intended to rip apart anything and everything in its path, until the hunger had been satisfied. Lara couldn't think of an awful thing, although she was certain with time, there would be something worse than this particular wraith.

"Providing, of course, she's not lying."

"Something like this, she wouldn't lie."

Karen turned around and looked towards Indy. She had been taken aback, it was like looking in some kind of demented funhouse mirror.

Lara's scanner went off and she moved her way towards the room. Clark and Karen followed close behind her, followed by Indy, Tess, Daisy, and Alex. The Kryptonian Survivor leaned forward and could see the blinking on the other end.

"The wraith is moving and…."

Clark saw the map and his eyes widened. He knew where it was heading, and he knew he had to hurry. Time ran short.

* * *

Chloe sat at the window, looking outside in Smallville. She currently was at Lana's house. Clark encouraged her to keep her head down and stay out of trouble. Despite Chloe's budding abilities, they weren't trained up as much and would be useless in a fight against a monster from the Phantom Zone.

' _Keep my head down, stay out of trouble, easier said than done,'_ she thought.

"Hell of a storm brewing out there, isn't it?"

Lana stepped inside, wearing a black robe, and carrying a cup of coffee. The racket outside made it very hard to sleep. She checked the usual sources for anything, and yet, nothing happened. That left Lana vexed and confused.

"There isn't a tornado warning, or even a tornado watch out there," Lana said, sitting down next to Chloe. "So, why is there a storm brewing out there?"

Chloe sighed and had a sinking suspicion something would happen.

"I don't know, I don't like it," Chloe said. "That thing which has been sighted in Smallville, it's pretty much bad news."

Lana sighed in response when sitting down next to Chloe. She hoped Martha was doing fine across the way. Going outside right now would be suicide. Lana reached over to dial the phone, but she was getting a heavy amount of static. She tried both the cell phone and the landline, and neither really worked.

"The storm's interfering with the reception," Lana said. "We can't call out for help if we wanted to….why does this look like something out of a horror movie?"

"It could be worse," Chloe said. "At least we have electricity."

No sooner did Chloe say these words, the lights hissed before the room they sat in went completely black. Lana slowly turned her attention towards Chloe who just shrugged in response.

"You had to say it," Lana said.

"Yeah, I guess I did," Chloe said.

"There should be candles in here somewhere, and I always keep a flashlight in the….."

The gusts of wind continued to escalate outside of the house. Chloe closed her eyes and flexed her fingers trying to breathe in and out. The wind hit the house.

Lana jumped up when the fence outside of the house started to get ripped off. Several chunks of the ground went flying.

"Basement!" Lana yelled.

Chloe didn't have to be told twice. This was far nastier than any tornado which ever hit Smallville. The two of them made their way towards the basement, only to see a sinister black mist which surrounded the basement doors. Chloe took a step back.

The entire house started to crack and get ripped apart. A distorted face with red eyes could be seen on the other side of the wall. Lana, rooted on the spot, took a half of a step back, mouth wide open. Time slowed down to a crawl for both of the girls as the Potter house had been torn to shreds by a force of nature the likes of which no one had seen.

"It's the wraith," Lana muttered.

"Yeah, no shit!" Chloe yelled.

The wraith seemed intention on ripping them apart and it stocked the girls. Lana and Chloe felt weak, they could barely move from the wraith ensnaring them.

"You reek of Kryptonian!" the wraith howled in a voice which creeped both of the girls all out if they were perfectly honest.

A blur of light shot through the broken windows and grabbed both Chloe and Lana underneath his arms before pulling them out of harm's way. The Potter House had been lifted off of the ground, with pieces of debris flying everywhere.

Lana and Chloe shuddered when Clark held them tight down at the end of a very long road. The black clouds lifted up, and Lana realized her house was being ripped to shreds by him. Her heart raced a million miles a minute thanks to this particular encounter, and Chloe, she wasn't too much better to be perfectly honest. She clutched onto Clark when hanging onto him, with all of her might.

"It's after me, it's after all Kryptonians."

The Phantom Zone Wraith tour down the road like a bat out of hell and moved. Lana lifted her hand in defense. It started to glow and shoot a bolt of magical energy out of it. The magic caught the wraith and caught it in a field which it could not break through.

Lana looked up at her tingling hand, which just blasted magic energy out of it. Clark grabbed Lana and Chloe and jumped high into the sky. The Phantom wouldn't be held for long, but it might be held for long enough for them to get out of here.

"I did magic, I did magic…..oh sweet….oooh god," Lana breathed in.

The last times Lana had the ability to do magic, one of her ancestors possessed her. Lana really hoped to never head down that particular road again. Her fingers tingled from what just happened.

Clark knew the wraith had a hint of him now, which was good. He could lead him down the road, and hopefully far away from Lana and Chloe as possible.

"So, I've got to find you a safe place," Clark said.

Chloe finally caught her breath long enough to say the very obvious thing.

"I'm not sure if there are any safe places left in Smallville."

Despite wanting to argue with Chloe's cynical statement, Clark could not bring himself to do so.

* * *

Clark returned to a wide open field outside in the middle of Smallville. He looked towards Karen, who set her jaw with the most determined look possible. She leaned off to one side and captured Clark's hand, squeezing it together.

Kara In-Ze, alias Karen Starr, understood the reason why she had been sent here, to protect Kal-El and Kara Zor-El. She vowed to do this until her very last breath. With a dangerous Phantom Zone wraith on the loose, it would be more obvious than ever before with what that truly and completely meant.

"So, are we ready?" Karen asked.

Everyone around sighed. One wrong move could mean their doom.

"We have the trap, and we have the bait," Alex said.

"And we have the crystal which should transport the wraith into the Phantom Zone," Lara said. "We have ten seconds when the Wraith is in the tank, we're going to have to work quickly. There's no practice run. No room for error."

Daisy had the job of guarding Lana and Chloe. Both of the girls looked utterly shaken. It just showed, no matter how many things you saw in your time at Smallville, there would always be something.

The air grew chilly and the black clouds came. The wraith had not been moving away from them, but rather moving towards them. Clark stood up straighter to observe the wraith's journey to this particular location

"Everyone, get in position!" Clark yelled.

The wraith's travels made it very obvious. Karen stepped in front of him, but Clark shook his head.

"Trust me, it's going to work," Clark said. "Hey, I'm over here, you want me, I'm here!"

The wraith turned around. It looked more dangerous, uncanny than ever before. Its hands extended outward. Clark stepped back to avoid the attempt of the wraith to grab his neck. The outstretched hands just barely missed grabbing Clark around the throat.

Clark performed a very careful game of ducking and dodging. The wraith moved closer towards the position. Clark stood in a central point, looked over his shoulder towards Tess, and waited for the Phantom Zone wraith to dive. The moment the wraith flew towards him, Clark dove out of the way.

Tess punched up the containment field and it rose up to capture the Phantom Zone Wraith. It screamed in agony, and Clark withdrew the crystal, ready to sent it back to where it came from.

A loud crack followed with the Phantom Zone wraith escaping through the containment field and diving towards Clark like a demented bat out of hell.

"TAKE WHAT'S MINE!"

Karen rushed over and grabbed Clark. The wraith moved very quickly, and the Zone wraith passed through both of them. Screams had been heard when a dark mist surrounded both Clark and Karen.

The two of them dropped down to the ground, the breath taken out of both of them. More surprisingly, though, despite the Phantom Zone Wraith passing through them, they were still alive and they were still in one piece.

Daisy looked up, the moment of frustration passed, but it had resulted in something else entirely. She couldn't even begin to articulate what just happened. The rest of them turned around.

They stood, and they came face to face with a figure in the shadows, who looked like Karen's twin. She had glowing red eyes and dark hair, but other than that, she was identical.

"The wraith combined our DNA," Karen managed. "It took on traits from both of us and turned…"

"I didn't know it could do that."

The wraith stood as if trying to piece together a fragmented part of memories. Those eyes opened wider, and they were still a bit red, but also very lifeless as well.

"I'm much better now," she said. "I'm much more fuller, much stronger now, I feel very divine. I am what I was meant to be now….there's a fugitive from the Phantom Zone here. I will rip them apart when I find them."

The situation looked to have gone from very bad, to pretty much worse.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 19** **th** **, 2017.**


	32. Chapter 32

**Chapter Thirty-Two: Shadows of Discontent Part Four.**

* * *

The wraith had been very dangerous before but the fact it gained corporeal form and Kryptonian powers made it even more dangerous. Time slowed down to a very still crawl when the wraith stood there, basking in the powers it had obtained just a moment ago. Energy surrounded the creature when it tilted its head back. Everything was starting to come through its body.

Sensations which had long since been denied for it returned in a very impressive manner. Finally, it had the abilities to carry out its directive, carry out its main purpose in life. The wraith's attention turned around, getting the surroundings. It could feel, it could see, it could be.

"Finally, I am whole again."

The two Kryptonians eyed each other for a moment. Clark knew he would have to move now, and attack her while she still was regaining her bearings and getting accustomed to her new form. Clark jumped up and tried to nail her with a huge punch.

The wraith blocked the huge punch and spun Clark around. He rotated in mid-air like a top and flew down to the ground. He skidded across the ground. Clark closed his eyes and rose to his feet in time to see Karen engage the wraith in battle. Both of them collided with each other in a fierce confrontation and traded punches with each other. These rocket-busting attacks smacked against each other. Neither gave the other any quarter. Both swung their fists and connected with each other.

Sparks flew when the two nearly mirror images fought against each other. Karen did what she was sent here for, to protect Kal-El at all costs. And this was a very dangerous weapon, and she needed to do what was necessary to make sure it did not hurt Kal or anyone else.

"Back off!" Karen yelled. "Now!"

The wraith's eyes shifted and a very devious smile crossed over her face. "You don't understand the power I have now...I am stronger than the two of you combined. I have taken the best of both worlds."

"I'm not going to let you harm anyone, "Karen said. "This ends now."

"I believe you don't have a choice anymore."

The wraiths struck and knocked her right down to the ground. The wraith stood over the downed form until Clark rushed her from the other side. Clark flipped over the air and grabbed the wraith in a hold. The wraith struggled against the attack. Clark flipped the creature down to the ground. His hands turned numb from holding her in such a manner, but now she was down for the count.

The crystal was right in reach. All Clark had to do was grab it and sent her off to the Phantom Zone. Clark rushed forward to grab onto the crystal. Time almost froze as Clark sped up.

The wraith moved forward with surprising speed and nailed Clark in the ribs with a full force punch. Another series of punches rocked the young man. Multiple punches continued to nail him and every single punch took more of the life out of him.

Clark tried to push back and he did, nailing his adversary with a huge punch to the side of the head. The punch rocked her back and drove her down to her knees, at least for a moment.

Karen returned to the battle and grabbed the wraith. The two of the tussled for a moment before the wraith flipped Karen over. Her body flew and smashed through a fence. Splintered wood went flying everywhere after she landed on the ground.

"I've toyed with you for long enough."

The wraith made her move to end this all. However, she never had a chance when something flew at her at the speed of light and nailed her with an attack to the face. The force of the attack even hurt the Wraith.

Astra dropped down, eyes glazing at the monster which attacked two of the survivors of Krypton. She fully appreciated how there was a reason why this particular monster had been put inside of the Phantom Zone. Astra's glare locked onto the creature. No words needed, just pure hatred.

The creature's glare returned fire and brought her tongue against a pair of moist red lips. "Good, I've been looking to take you down for a very long time. You were the one I hunted, ever since we were in the Phantom Zone. Do you realize how many times you've escaped my grasp."

Astra evaded so many hazards during her time in the Phantom Zone, they all blended together. She looked back at the creature who charged her in an attempt to take her down. Astra avoided the punch from the creature and returned fire with a series of rapid-fire strikes of her own.

The creature studied her movements, it was built to learn from the attacks of an opponent. Astra varied up her attacks, never once using any of the conventional methods of fighting. Her arm swung back and caught the creature off guard, bringing it down to the ground with a thunderous blow.

More attacks followed with the creature being caught off guard with a huge punch. Another series of huge punches connect to the chest of the creature. Astra went for a deathblow, one which would take the creature down. The creature blocked her attack and reared it back.

The two flipped through the air. Astra drove the creature to the ground hard. The wraith struggled and tried to push out of the attack. Astra showed it no mercy when pushing it down to the ground. Clumps of ground-launched into the air just as the wraith slammed hard against the dirt.

"You will submit, beast!"

"Never!"

The creature unleashed a barrage of heat vision which struck Astra directly in the face. Astra slid back from the creature's attack, a burn appearing on her face. The General rubbed the side of her face, more annoyed than injured from the attack.

The yellow sun started to rise up over the horizon. Astra allowed the sun's energizing rays to engulf her and to heal the burn on her face. Her eyes shifted over, and she noticed something very interesting regarding the Phantom Wraith creature.

The moment sunlight struck the creature's face and caused its screams of agony to increase. Astra pulled herself up and had been surprised to see the creature's face begin to crack. The creature turned around and made its way up the road as fast as it could go, retreating into the shadows, and away from the sunlight.

Astra's attention turned towards Clark and Karen.

"Are the two of you alright?" she asked.

"A bit beat up, but we'll survive," Clark said.

Astra answered with a nod before she walked closer towards him.

"Neither of you should have gotten that close to the wraith," Astra said. "Now, she's going to take the best of both of your abilities, and…she's a formidable force."

"Not too formidable if she's weakened by the sun," Karen said.

Clark answered with a nod. He thought they should strike while the iron was hot and before the creature had a chance to recoil back into the darkness.

They had a chance, they needed to lure this creature into a trap.

* * *

It wasn't for the first time Lois Lane thought she missed something very interesting. The brunette began to wonder if Smallville wasn't as mundane as she previously thought it was. She walked down to the road towards the scene of the carnage. Parts of Smallville looked like a giant tornado had gone through it, which was strange because there weren't any tornados in the area.

Lois found herself struggling to figure out what actually happened in this very chaotic situation. She stepped into the picture and looked from the right to the left, confusion coming out in her mind.

' _Hopefully not another meteor shower.'_

Lois wondered if it was too soon to joke about something about that. Regardless, she made her way up the road up towards a government barricade. The brunette woman's lips pursed in a surprised frown, knowing how much those types of barricades could cause trouble. She approached it with calmness and walked over.

Lana and Chloe rushed up the road towards her. Both of them looked a bit frazzled.

"Hey, you…what happened?"

Lois had a feeling this was going to be another one of those mind-numbing explanations which she wasn't going to necessarily like. Regardless, though, she gave Lana and Chloe plenty of room to start explaining about certain things which happened.

Chloe answered with a sigh. "Would you believe it is a long story?"

Lois responded with a sigh. Long stories in Smallville, she started to learn they were not exaggerating.

"Yes, I would," Lois said. "But, it looks like we have time."

"Well, Clark encountered one of the creatures from the Phantom Zone," Chloe said. "It's a dimension with some of the most alien fugitives in the universe. There's really no escape, at least there shouldn't be."

"But obviously something got out."

Lois didn't spend too much time thinking about the weirdness in Smallville. If she was perfectly honest, and there were times where she had to be, life could be pretty strange all to itself. Regardless, she leaned back and allowed the other two girls the politeness of the explanation.

"Right, the creature ripped through my aunt's old house, trying to get at Clark through us," Lana said. "And Clark had to save us, at the last minute…..and then the creature chased him away."

"To make a long story as short as possible, the creature caught up with Clark," Chloe said. "It broke free of a containment field, and did something which it stole the form of both Clark and Karen combined."

"How does that work anyway?" Lois asked. "Science? Magic? Magical Science?"

Lois's brain already spun in a million different directions. Chloe smiled and patted her cousin on the shoulder, at least up until the minute where Lois gave her one of those looks in response.

"Okay, it's pretty weird," Lois said. "But, then again, what in our lives isn't weird at this point? We're all dating the same man, sleeping with him, and he just happens to be an alien who was sent here to avoid his dying planet….you know about that right?"

Chloe and Lana both smiled. It took them a while, and Chloe, in particular, kicked herself for not figuring it out sooner. The signs were there and the signs were obvious.

"Yeah," Chloe said.

"Yep," Lana said.

"I was the last to know about it, wasn't I?"

Both of the women nodded. Lois shrugged, fair was fair after all. Clark knew Chloe and Lana a far lot longer than he knew her, and likely the three of them shared a special bond after all they went through. Lois wasn't knocking it in any way, just making a mental observation.

A black haired blur came down the road past them, at a frantic speed. Lois looked towards the blur and realized it wasn't any blur they knew.

"That was…that was her!" Chloe yelled.

The blur didn't even acknowledge their presence when hurling down the road at a breakneck speed. The three girls followed her in the general direction of the Kent Farm. They winced at both the rate the blur moved and the very obvious path of destruction it left behind in her wake.

"It's a good thing Mrs. Kent's out of town, visiting friends, otherwise things would have gotten a little bit worse," Lois responded. "And by I little bit worse, I mean….a lot worse…."

Lois knew she shouldn't follow a mysterious creature from a prison dimension, especially given what it did to Lana's house, and several other buildings. Curiosity got the better of her.

"You're really determined not to reach thirty, are you?"

Lois waved off Chloe's commentary in her usual extremely flippant way.

"Twenty-five actually."

It had been a mark of how distracted Lois was when trying to piece together what this thing was doing, that she didn't make any commentary about how Lana and Chloe followed her. They could see the girl who stood in front of the Kent house. The girl creature underneath the mat and pulled out a key before unlocking the door and slipping inside.

"Huh," Lois said. "She looks like Clark's long-lost sister…and not too dangerous at all."

Chloe tugged on Lois's sleeve to prevent her from going inside, directly behind the creature, who could snap out of whatever mental trip she was under at any minute. "Lois, don't…trust me, you didn't see her up close."

"I didn't say she wasn't dangerous," Lois said. "I said she didn't look dangerous. And we both know looks can be very, very deceiving."

Neither Lana nor Chloe were willing to argue with this particular point. The dark haired girl looked about the house and she stared at a couple of pictures. Her head turned around and looked towards a picture. Half of her face looked disfigured, cracked, and one of the eyes locked in a permanent state of red. Something about her was breaking, both physically, and mentally as well.

"It's almost like she's lost in her memories," Lana muttered.

"Or, Clark's," Chloe confirmed.

The Phantom turned around and disappeared up a set of stairs to continue the exploration of the Kent Farmhouse.

"We better tell him," Lana muttered.

All three girls indulged in the sin of curiosity and wondered where this wraith would head next.

* * *

Lara thought the phantom having an actual form made it harder to take the creature down. She floated beside Astra, Karen, and Clark. Lara felt a mixture of emotions regarding this wraith, and the fact it didn't kill Kara or Clark where they stood, made Lara wonder about something.

"She was what she was made," Lara said. "She's not any different from how you and I were created…"

"Yes, we were made through the Kryptonian genetic process, instead of a more natural birth," Astra said. "Unlike Kara, Kara, or Kal, we never had a choice to be anything else than what we were created."

"But, yet, you rebelled against the standards of Krypton," Lara said. "You didn't follow their standards, and Alura didn't either."

"Twins were a rarity, and rarely tried, and obviously for good reason," Astra responded. "Our parents experimented with the process, and they were not liked for doing so. The Krypton council disliked redundancy, and they also disliked the fact people went against their worldview."

Astra remained steadfast of her decision to destroy the Council like she did every single moment after entering the Phantom Zone. She would go to the edge of the universe thinking herself to be correct of these matters.

' _I wouldn't change a thing if I had the opportunity to do so,'_ Astra responded. She closed her fingers together and started to breathe in and out, taking more deep breaths as time passed.

"She's going in the direction of the Kent Farm House," Lara said. "It must be because of Kal's memories, something is messing up her mind. It's making her struggle, there's a huge conflict in her mind."

"Let's strike while the iron is hot," Astra responded.

"Let's try and talk to her."

Astra turned her attention towards Clark. She almost could have scoffed at his words, and even Karen and Lara looked at him with concern, like he had smacked his head hard during the battle. And maybe he did, but Clark stood taller and looked in her face.

"She will kill you and everyone you care about," Astra said. "She needs to be taken down with extreme prejudice."

Clark feared Astra might have been right. His good nature forced Clark to make an attempt. If he was wrong, then he was wrong.

"She's confused, lost," Clark responded.

Astra took a second and looked back towards Clark. "If she is, so much the better for us to take her down."

The two of them locked eyes with each other and the intense stare-down began with neither of them backing off. Lara took a second to grab Clark's shoulder and Karen moved behind Astra. Her grip had been a little firmer than Lara's and Astra understood why.

"Let's find her first."

Astra responded with a nod, it was the best possible plan they could have had. All four Kryptonians walked forward, to see Lana, Chloe, and Lois standing around.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked.

"We should be really asking you that question," Chloe said. "Yeah, we're fine, your double though…or whatever, she went into the house."

Clark leaned in just in time to hear the sound of someone making their way behind the Kent farmhouse and kept walking around. He knew out in the sunlight, the Phantom would perish sooner rather than later. He walked over the gate and walked towards the Phantom.

The Phantom kneeled on the ground, smoke billowing from her shoulders. The breathing got hot and heavy when she looked forward. The Phantom gripped onto the ground. The former wraith rose to her feet and her face looked rather worn, aged almost. It looked like it had been carved in stone.

The solar radiation caused more damage than Clark realized in the first place.

"I have to kill you, but…..I just….I have to….but…"

The wraith closed her eyes. Clark looked at her, hesitating to take any action, whether it be positive or negative. The creature's deep breathing made him realize he was dealing with someone who had been undergoing a lot of conflict and that conflict made things rather tough to hold her head.

"It's because of the way you were made."

The wraith rose up to a standing position and charged her adversaries. The wraith dropped down to the ground, the breath knocked completely out of her. It was like a puppet having her strings cut.

Karen looked up and looked towards the wraith. It was the inverse of Clark and her, the yellow sunlight which sustained the creature was slowly killing the creature. The creature looked rather pathetic, despite being completely dangerous.

"I have to kill you, so I can be at peace."

"Do you really think you will be at peace if you kill us?"

She looked up towards the blonde girl and had been tormented the vortex of the girl's memories, Kal-El's memories, and some scrambled memories which happened during the time before the Phantom Zone. Her heart raced even quicker. It was very hard to keep her head up.

"I had been cast aside by them, they didn't want me, no one wanted me, no one bothered to see what was wrong with me," the wraith said, in pure agony. "Then, I had been freed, but freedom comes at a terrible price. I didn't know what to do with the freedom, so terrible, yet so wonderful."

The wraith's eyes shifted to a burning red when she stared down the man who she should kill based on how she was made. Yet, something else nagged inside of her.

"I can't step into the light without my body being in agony," the wraith said, her voice growing deeper and gnarled. "And the only thing which causes me any kind of enjoyment is the pain of others."

One lunge towards Clark's throat had been blocked. The creature dropped to her knees before the young man and had been pushed down to the ground. The creature struggled against the attack.

"You are who you choose to be, and only you choose to be a monster!"

The creature's red eyes dimmed. Her quick beating heart slowed down and she kept looking back at Clark.

"Everyone on Krypton had been created for a purpose, not everyone had the right to choose, few had the right," the wraith told. "And I was created for murder, to be a weapon, and that's what I have to do."

"No, it isn't."

Astra moved in to attempt to stab the Phantom from behind. Karen blocked her hand before driving the blade in. Astra turned around and the two locked eye to eye with each other.

"Trust him."

Clark released his grip on the Phantom. The young woman looked up into the sky and stood up. She didn't engage Clark or any of the others in battle. She made her way past the gates and started to walk down the road into the midst of Smallville. Every step caused the sun to beat down on her flesh when moving forward. The sunlight continued to beat down on her when she moved forward.

"It's beautiful."

The Phantom appreciated everything around her, no matter how much it harmed her.

Lara took a step forward and raised a crystal up. The crystal discharged energy. The Phantom spread her arms and soaked in the sun despite it burning her to a crisp. The Phantom retracted inside the crystal, just a mere moment before the sun could destroy her.

"So, she's back in the Phantom Zone?" Clark asked.

"No, she's in this containment crystal," Lara said. "Given time, I might be able to fix the flaws wrong with her….she might be a useful ally, if we can get her head on straight….and we have you two to thank for giving her the heart to question her stated purpose."

No scientist in their right mind would discount a potential resource.

* * *

Clark could breathe easier now the Phantom had been contained. It was a pretty miserable life to live, to be honest, being created as a weapon and then cast away by those who realized they had gone too far. Many times Clark found himself glad he had been found by Jonathan and Martha Kent and not someone who would be willing to use him as a well. He had been fortunate, very fortunate indeed.

Regardless, Clark returned to the LuthorCorp facility, where he knew someone would be there to meet him. He cleared the entrance and walked inside. Security had changed a little bit, although it had been disabled when recognizing him when he came inside.

"She's up in her office."

Clark turned around and saw Indy standing there. She was busy carrying a large box across the hallway.

"Thanks."

"Oh, no problem, she is very happy to see you," Indy said. "Then again, it is obvious why."

Indy turned around and walked down the hallway. Clark briefly wondered if the skirt she wore was business appropriate. He didn't really pause, rather he made his way up the short set of stairs towards Tess's office. He raised his hand to open the door, but the doors swung open.

He walked into the office, to see Tess bent over it, wearing a very tight skirt which fit her nicely. The redhead turned around and flashed a smile towards him. Clark noticed she had been clearing off her desk for some reason.

"Daisy and Alex both send their regards, but I'm afraid you just missed them," Tess said. "They're going to want to hook up with you too soon, so be on the lookout for them."

Tess responded with a sigh and walked over towards Clark.

"So, I'm glad you got the Phantom contained, and maybe it's better this way," Tess said. "I really though the containment field was going to work and hold him, or her…or whoever."

Clark smiled and put his hand on top of Tess's.

"You did your best, and I don't think anyone can complain about that."

Tess frowned. She did complain about that, but that was beside the point.

"Oh, and I will get to the bottom of why Strange thought it was a good idea to try and mess with Lex's mind…." Tess said. "He's been moved elsewhere, both Lex and Lionel because you can't be too careful. And it's one hole he's going to have a harder time getting out of."

Clark raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, no, I didn't kill him," Tess said.

It was because Tess wasn't sure she could kill Lex. His DNA evolved into something else.

"Just be sure he won't return to plague you for a long time," Tess said. "At least, that's my intention. You should know by now, Luthors find a way to worm their way out certain doom."

Tess rested her hand on Clark's abs, pulling up his shirt slightly and smiled when slipping it down his pants. The older woman leaned in and attacked Clark with a hungry kiss.

Clark would be lying if he didn't see this one coming. Tess's burning kiss inflamed his passions very quickly. She peppered Clark's mouth and face with a series of very passionate kisses before pulling away and smiling at the handsome young man.

"I would hate to think I wasted my time clearing off my desk."

* * *

A wicked smile spread over Clark's face when pushing her up against the desk. Her skirt slid up to reveal a nice pair of stockings, a garter belt, and a pair of lacy panties. Clark reached forward and cupped her pussy underneath her skirt and kissed her.

Tess closed her eyes and enjoyed the kiss, with Clark mapping out her mouth. She waited a very long time for this, and she wasn't about ready to deny herself any pleasure. Tess and Clark exchanged their passionate kiss, their tongues colliding together in an attempt to dominate the other.

Clark leaned in and grabbed Tess's breast through her blouse with his free hand before squeezing it. He rubbed her pussy and she gave a rather passionate moan. He slid down her panties to get unrestricted access to her bare sexy. He pushed his fingers deep inside of the redhead.

Tess moaned in hunger. The two of them kissed in passion. Tess grabbed two hands on the back of Clark's head and encouraged him to suck the side of her neck. Tess ran a finger down the back of his neck. His fingers dipped inside of her.

Clark pulled up. "I want these."

His hand rested on her breasts. Tess looked up towards him with a very wicked smile and licked her lips.

"Take them," Tess said.

Clark unbuttoned her blouse and she wore a matching lacy red bra which fit her ample breasts. Her wonderful cleavage spilled out the bra. Clark leaned down and kissed her on the cleavage. He fired some more kisses, and every little movement made Tess shiver underneath him.

"You're too much."

Clark slipped a tongue between Tess's cleavage and licked all the way down it. She shivered even more. Clark reached over and unclipped her bra. She sat up on the desk and allowed him to reveal her breasts.

Those perfect, juicy mounds stood up for Clark, ready to squeeze and Clark did. He leaned in and sucked one of her perfect breasts. Tess closed her eyes. Clark kissed and sucked her perfect nipple. He bit down onto it and swirled his tongue around it. Tess moaned.

"Please, oooh, I need you badly."

Tess moaned when Clark attacked her breasts. He hit all of the pleasure points well and made Tess's loins become soaked.

Clark played with her breasts a few more times and pulled back from her. He placed a hand on Tess's smooth mound and started to rub it. His cock practically tore through her pants.

"You make me want to fuck you so bad," Clark said. "I can't stand it."

"Well, get those pants off, and fuck me."

Clark unbuckled his pants and released his massive cock into the wild. Tess looked at him, lips moistening at the thought of having this gigantic tool being driven deep inside her. He pushed his head against her lips and rubbed against her.

The friction increased between the two of them. Clark pushed his throbbing cock against Tess's entrance. Her soft, stocking clad leg ran down his side and made him only more enamored with her. Her wet pussy clutched onto him when Clark moved closer to slipping inside her.

"Take me!" Tess begged him.

Clark wasn't about ready to turn down such an enticing invitation from such a beautiful woman. His throbbing cock stuck at the edge of her entrance and he worked his way into her. Tess's wet pussy lubricated the way inside her, regardless of how tight her sheath was.

Tess closed her eyes. Having her pussy filled by the cock of such a divine man was a dream come true. She rose her hips up off of the desk and picked her hips up. Clark brought his cock into her further. The two of them met each other at the hip.

His manhood speared into her wet pussy. Tess rose up off of the desk and experienced the joy of having more cock than she could handle being shoved between her wet thighs. It was an amazing combination to say the very least. Their hips pumped back and forth together. Tess squeezed his waist.

"Damn," Clark said.

"Agreed," Tess said.

Tess leaned up to meet his lips with a kiss. They pumped into each other with Clark bringing his manhood into her. Tess's body slowly worked up with an orgasm. She anticipated the movement when Clark's fingers entangled through her hair to deepen the kiss and she did the same to his.

Clark could feel the warmness of her hot cunt. He pushed himself inside her, knowing what spots a woman would like thanks to the training with his mother and Karen. The two of them connected with each other. Tess's hips jerked up to take as much of him inside as possible.

The two lovers bottomed out. Clark pushed into her. Tess could feel him stretch her out and it was really good, to feel this throbbing, perfect cock buried into the depths of her body. Tess rose up off of her position and pushed more of Clark inside her. The two of them met each other.

Clark reached around and cupped Tess's breast. Her sweaty chest pushed into his face and Clark lifted the delicious orbs. Tess tightened her stocking clad legs around him and pushed her fingers into his back. She moaned "more" in his ear.

He picked up the pace inside her of. Tess's mind exploded into so many good sensations. His mouth, fingers, and cock worked in unison taking her over the edge. This god among men really blessed her body. He spiked further inside her and rammed into her harder.

"Give me, everything you have!" Tess begged him.

Clark rose to the challenge and brought his cock inside of her smoldering depths. The gorgeous redhead beneath him pushed her body against Clark's. They melded together so warm and so perfectly. Their lips parted with a nice little strand of saliva behind it.

Tess raked a finger down Clark's back and nibbled on his ear. Clark responded by rewarding her with a more hard pounding. They tested the structural integrity of Tess's work desk, and to the credit of the people who made it, it held up pretty well underneath the endless salvo of Clark pounding.

She came, hard, gripping down onto him. Her warm walls clamped down on Clark and caressed his pulsing manhood. Clark's balls throbbed and he knew he was going to get close, but not until he gifted her with many more orgasms.

Tess thought they were cementing their partnership quite nicely. He pulled almost out of her and dragged his tip along the surface of her moist walls. Clark aimed for her and shoved his long cock back into her. Tess held onto him, mewling like a madwoman when more of his hard cock shoved inside her.

The two of them connected with each other. Clark rode through Tess's latest orgasm and kept moving towards another. The sensations of her wet pussy gripping down on his throbbing cock made this a very enticing experience. She shoved her wet walls up and took him inside of her, with more long thrusts. Clark grabbed Tess's thighs and pushed himself deeper.

Tess closed her eyes. Clark ravaged her breasts and she encouraged him to give her more.

"Yes, you're making me feel so good," Tess said. "You have the biggest…thickest cock you've ever given me in your entire life….and I can't wait to have it many more times."

Clark smiled and looked towards her.

"Well, you have a nice tight pussy which needs to be fucked."

Clark ran a finger from Tess's throat down to her cleavage and past her belly button. He rubbed the redhead's clit with Tess gripping onto him. More waves of pleasure washed through her body. The hungry look in Clark's eyes indicated she wanted much more.

Multiple orgasms went over Tess. She gripped him with increasing urgency. So much cum in those balls, and it would soon be inside of her. The warm burst of cum made Tess grip him harder.

Clark could not hold up for much longer. Tess's beautiful body squirming underneath him, her sexy legs wrapped around his waist, and tight cunt gripping his cock made him want to cum hard. The fact she moaned in his ear didn't really help matters that much, if at all. Clark pushed his way inside her.

"Cum, please, I know you'll be hard again in a minute anyway."

Clark smiled and dug his fingers into Tess's hips before plowing her. She encouraged him to continue, so he did, making his long cock bury into her. Her pussy gripped him and released him. Each motion milked him. Tess's latest orgasm was her most potent yet.

"Inside!" Tess begged him.

"Brace….."

Clark saw white when her pussy gripped him. His cock discharged its milky white fluids inside Tess's waiting and accepting womb. He pushed into Tess and kept firing inside of her.

Tess gushed several more times when accepting Clark's abundance of seed inside her. She gripped onto Clark's shoulder and took more of him inside of her.

Clark pulled out of her and Tess rolled him over to mount him. The look of desire in her eyes indicated she was not done for the evening.

And there were no problems with that on Clark's end. Tess's wet dripping snatch brought him back to life before the sex-crazed redhead drove herself down on Clark's manhood.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 26** **th** **, 2017.**


	33. Chapter 33

**Chapter Thirty-Three: Symbol.**

* * *

"The question humanity has asked for a long time is there other life out there? With the universe as vast and immense as it is, it stands to reason there is some kind of life out there which we can learn from or maybe they can learn something from humanity. There have been many more instances occurring which point towards alien activity. While the United States government declined to comment on this story, there are many who hint aliens are among us and the alien angle is one we should explore."

The newscaster started to speak on the television screen for several moments. Clark moved over to watch the television screen, as the news was played. Lois, Lana, and Chloe also crowded around. The Potter House was very close to being rebuilt. It did not take them as long with the super powered help they had.

Still, Lana was sad that the house she grew up in would never be the same ever again. Houses could be rebuilt, but nothing was ever the same.

More interestingly, they listened to the news. It was always interesting to see how the world would react to various bits of news. Chloe's lips teased into a smile. Amusement filled the eyes of the perky woman.

"Little do they know," Chloe muttered.

"Well, I don't know if they know, but they kind of expect," Lois said. "I mean, people expecting there's something going on, that's the entire point for this newscast isn't it. They think there's something up, and they think there are aliens among us. There are aliens among us, but not in the way they think."

"Just wait for it," Clark said.

Clark had a feeling someone would bring up a critical point. It was good that someone looked at the problem from all angles. Still, Clark felt like they were intruding less on him, and more on the people he cared about.

"The most surprising evidence of an alien presence exists not in a major city, not in the government, or not in some lab opened by big business who stumbled upon an alien craft which fell down to Earth," the reporter said. "No, the real proof happens in the heartland of America. Where old school traditional American values are still prominent."

Clark frowned when listening to the woman on the news giving her spiel. He knew something about this report was going to change the lives of many people.

"They couldn't be talking about, could they?" Lana asked.

Chloe resembled a bobblehead with her constant nodding. "Yes, they could, why else would they say anything different?"

Clark wrapped his arm around Chloe and pulled her in close. Chloe calmed down the rampant nodding. The two listened to the broadcast. The reconstruction stalled when news came about from across the world.

"No, the rumors of the alien presence points to a sleepy little town in the heartland of America, known as Smallville," the reporter continued. "There have been numerous events over the years which pointed to a presence beyond this world. Over the past number of years, Smallville has been ground zero, but not one, but two meteor showers. People in the city have had extraordinary powers. Some of those powers ruined the lives of many around them"

Clark frowned. He wasn't sure how much he liked a light being shined on Smallville like this. It had to be inevitable because there could only be so many times where something happened in a small little town before people took notice. And there were all kinds of people who took notice, the wrong kind of notice.

He harkened back to what Claire mentioned about this HIVE organization. Clark braced himself for battle. And there would not be just a battle coming. It would be a war. The meteor mutants he fought were small time compared to the other threats which lingered out there.

"Yet, many claim Smallville has a hero, a guardian angel who protects them from harm."

Lois, Lana, and Chloe turned to Clark. Clark turned away. He tried not to smile. Clark was the same man he always was. He only did what he had to do. He was no one's guardian angel. He was just a man, a powerful man, trying to do the right thing to help those around him.

"I wonder who they could be referring to now," Lois said. "Do any of you have the slightest clue possible?"

"I just do what I can," Clark said.

Chloe almost smiled at Clark's modest. It endeared him to her and to the rest of the girls. It could be very frustrating sometimes to see Clark not give himself the credit he deserved.

"And that's the thing," Chloe said. "Not only you do what you can, but you go above and beyond the call of duty when you don't have to."

"Who is this mysterious hero? Was he gifted by the meteors or was he another gift sent by the stars? No one quite knows, but I think this reporter should thank him for all he's done. And all he continues to do. There are people in Smallville who are very grateful he is here."

Lana rose up to her feet and walked behind Clark. She almost could have laughed at the look which went over the young man's face. It was quite comical to see him wilting, but there was a small smile trying to pop up.

"Well, I can't speak for every person in Smallville," Lana said. "I do know there are three people in particular who are very grateful you're here."

"Yes, we're very grateful," Chloe said.

Lois looked towards Chloe after a rough nudge. She turned to Clark. "You're alright."

"That's high praise coming from you."

Lois smiled and responded with a head shake. "Just don't let it start going to your head. I won't be afraid to puncture it if it starts to."

Clark knew that to be perfectly honest. One thing Lois showed time and time again was the simple face she would be willing to give a rather firm opinion without fear of offending something. Clark appreciated that, even if he thought that sharp tongue could get her in trouble some days.

A knock on the door brought Clark out of his thoughts. He turned around to answer the door.

"Hey, Patricia," Clark commented. "How are you holding up?"

Patricia almost could have smiled.

"I should ask the same about you," Patricia said. "You had a very busy night the other night…and it could have ended really ugly."

Clark smiled, busy night pretty much described what happened in a nutshell. Patricia made in and saw the news media. The latest events in Smallville over the past couple of years hit the national news hard. It was hard to get away from it.

"So, I may have a lead on my father's journal," Patricia said. "I won't tell you one hundred percent, though, but the person tracking it down feels pretty good about it."

Clark looked towards the screen in front of him. He could see several local people talking about their close encounters with the mysterious savior. Clark knew no one saw his face, and he thanked himself.

"I'm going to have to come out in the light sooner or later," Clark said. "The world needs a symbol. Someone they can rally behind when the times are tough."

Clark understood there were times where he needed to encourage the people to do things on their own and fight. However, if he could serve as the inspiration to do so, it would be good. He looked towards Chloe, Lana, and Lois.

"Hey, you know best," Chloe said. "If you want to be the symbol the world needs, go out and do it."

"STAR Labs is there to support you, my father promised to do so, and I carry on that promise," Patricia said. "We might have some ideas which can help."

Clark smiled at the brilliant woman. Her father would be proud at the effort.

"Your father will be proud."

"So would yours," Patricia said.

Both of them smiled at each other.

"So, anyway, how about those ideas?"

"I'll be happy to hear them."

* * *

Tess spent the last day in completely cool down mode. She had Lex and Lionel moved elsewhere. Her mistake was she thought Hugo Strange could be a professional about this. The man had been paid enough money to follow her orders, but she made one vital error in thinking he followed directions.

She made the trip all the way out to Strange's office to make sure he returned.

' _I only have myself to blame for this.'_

Tess shook her head and made her way down the hallway. One of the guards gave her a long look the moment Tess arrived. She looked towards the guard in question.

"Is Professor Strange ready to see me?" Tess asked.

"He's waiting for you right in his office," the guard said.

The guard looked uncomfortable. Tess didn't hold him accountable for anything, he was a guard and trapped behind a rock and a hard place. He really didn't have much of anything to do with the situation. The man's responsible was to do his job and to do it well. No matter what orders he got, it was his responsibility to fulfill them to the letter. Tess appreciated that and respected that to a certain degree.

She raised one hand and started to knock on the door. Tess waited for someone to answer. She never really had a chance for her impatience to hit a fever pitch.

"Come on."

The door opened and Tess stepped into the room. She came face to face with the one and only Hugo Strange, who looked towards her with a very solemn expression on his face.

"Let me be the first to offer my humble apologies of how everything had gone down," Strange said. "I thought I was helping Mr. Luthor, and he, unfortunately, was able to get away before I could properly assist him with what I wanted to do. It's an unfortunate event which I can assure you has never happened before underneath my care, and as long as I live and breathe, it will not happen again."

Tess sat down in front of Hugo Strange. Her eyes locked onto the man in front of her. Those eyes continued to focus on the man in question. Was he uncomfortable? Tess certainly hoped so.

"You say one thing, but I can see something else in your eyes," Tess responded. "You're playing a very dangerous game, Professor Strange. I thought you could keep things professional, and you would have kept your curiosity out of the matter. I fear I was wrong."

The redhead woman paused and looked at Strange. Strange put on a very obvious poker face when looking towards Tess. Her outrage hit a fever pitch when looking at the man in front of her.

"The point is, you are playing a very dangerous game," Tess said. "A very high stakes game beyond your comprehension. It is not a game you should be playing at this moment."

Strange backed off and nodded. He rustled through some papers on his desk. Nothing of importance, might you, but it was just something to keep his hands occupied so he didn't get frustrated. He turned towards Tess for a couple of moments and looked towards him.

"Again, I have to apologize for what I've done," Hugo said. "My behavior was out of line. However, I do have an observation to make about you."

Tess raised an eyebrow. He wanted to talk about her. She couldn't think of anything more which would be equal parts frustrating and also illuminating.

"Enlighten me."

"I see what you're doing, your fierce determination to do twice as much as the people have gone before you. I can only come to one conclusion. It is as plain as day, my lady. You have something to prove, and you will do anything to prove your capability. Even if you know deep down any success will not erase your past failures."

Tess took a long moment to stare at Strange as if considering what to say back to him.

"I'll kindly act you to keep your psycho-babble to the patients at Arkham," Tess said. "Which is the only place you'll be working if I have anything to say about it."

Tess had plenty to say about it. Strange would be blacklisted from working everywhere other than Arkham.

"I assumed you would be able to separate your professional mind from your sick personal curiosity. I'm afraid I was wrong."

Tess leaned closer towards Strange. For a moment, Strange thought she would do something very drastic to him.

"The next time you're to do a job, you're not to go off script and indulge your own curiosities," Tess responded. "I've paid you a fair amount of money to be professional, and you go and do this."

Tess turned around, having dismissed Strange. Strange watched Tess leave with an ugly grimace on his face. The man continued to shuffle through the stacks of paper upon his desk. He stared at the open door long after she departed.

"Maybe someone just offered me a better deal, Ms. Mercer."

* * *

Clark bolted back to the Fortress to check up on a couple of things. Karen moved from the Fortress and greeted him with a smile. She walked forward and kissed him on the lips before pulling him into the Fortress.

"So, to answer your question before you even ask it, everyone's holding up fine here at the Fortress," Karen said. "How about Lana, Chloe, and Lois, are they holding up fine? How about Martha?"

"They'll all fine," Clark said. "The Phantom Attack shook them all up."

Karen understood why it would.

"Speaking of which, Lara is working on something with the Phantom," Karen said. She reached in and gripped Clark's forearm.

The two of them walked into the Fortress. Raya moved over to do her duties in helping maintain the Fortress. She stopped and exchanged pleasantries in the form of a smile with Clark and Karen before they passed them. Clark could see his mother heavily at work with something. One particular surviving Kryptonian was missing. She would be rather conspicuous by her absence.

"So, where's Astra?"

Clark didn't think this question would cause Karen's expression to go so dark.

"She's around," Karen said. "She still hasn't found her place here on Earth."

"She will don't worry."

Karen was glad one of them didn't worry. She worried about what would happen now Astra was on Earth.

Lara rose up from her position. Clark spotted the crystal where the Phantom was currently being stored.

"She's currently in stasis, and maybe in time, I can find out what's wrong with her and heal her," Lara responded. "It isn't her fault she was created. She was made to be a weapon."

Lara had an uphill battle. She could be useful as an ally if Lara worked through the problems.

"Yes, sometimes we are prepared for something nasty," Karen said. "But, maybe we can teach her to be something beyond her own intended purpose."

"Well, she had her moments where it looked like her instincts were going that way," Raya said. "It would be thanks to you two."

Both Karen and Clark responded with smiles. Lara turned around and continued to eye the Alura AI which she hadn't put together. She hoped to have a word with Astra about that, and also drag her into the Fortress for an examination due to the fact she spent a very long time fighting the wild elements of the Phantom Zone.

"What worries me is the door opened," Lara said. "It may be time for us to move your training up to the next level."

"Do you think I should go public?"

Lara didn't answer straight away. She looked towards Alura's AI and frowned. It wasn't damaged beyond repair that much was for sure.

"You should do whatever you feel you're ready for," Lara said.

The signal light going off indicated they had guests making their way into the Fortress of Solitude. Lara turned her attention and saw both Tess and her assistant walking into the room. Clark looked up and it was still uncanny how much Karen and Indy could pass off as twins with each other.

"What brings you to the Fortress?" Lara asked.

"Oh, we won't keep you from your work for too long," Tess said. "We just wanted a word with both Kara and Clark if you don't mind."

Lara looked towards both of them and smiled.

"That's up to them."

"Sure, why not," Clark said.

Clark could already tell Tess had something very interesting to say. Indy looked towards him and appeared to be seizing him up for something. Clark was both curious and a little bit apprehensive because of what she was doing. Still, he went along with Tess.

"Sorry, you're just nothing like I would imagine," Indy said. "You're growing into your role….but be warned, there's always going to be a part of him still out there."

Clark blinked and looked towards her. He came to the answer straight away without missing a beat.

"Brainiac?"

Indy answered with the firmest nods possible. "Yes, I'm running scans for other posts. I haven't been able to access the prime copy if he's still online that is. We can't do anything unless we shut down the prime copy."

The two walked for a long time. Karen was looking towards Indy and looking her over for a long time. Indy noticed the way Karen sized her up and turned towards the other girl. She adopted a pose of hands on hips as seen by the other women on Earth.

"Why, do you not like my look?" Indy asked.

Karen broke into a smile. "No, believe me, I'm flattered."

"You should be," Indy said. "You should also know, I was the one who latched onto young Kara's ship and brought her to Earth. It was a long journey, and my programming had been unfortunately scrambled."

"It was a shame you had been corrupted in such a way," Karen said.

Indigo answered with a nod when the four of them appeared back in the caves in the center of Smallville.

"My programming suffered a fair amount of damage," Indy said. "Tess sorted me out in time. I have purged pretty much every instance of Brainiac's programming from my system."

"Almost every?" Clark asked.

Indigo sighed. One hundred percent probability was illogical, especially with her advanced programming.

"You can never be sure," Indy said. "I am perfectly safe. You cannot catch anything from me. If you would like to take a look at me, perhaps it would be for the best if you gave me a physical examination yourself."

She leaned towards Clark with a smile. Perhaps it was Clark's imagination, but it seemed as if her breasts underwent some kind of expansion. He would have to study them.

Tess cleared her throat. Indy allowed the smug little smile to slip off of her face.

"Perhaps, though, this might not be the time or the place for such a procedure," Indy said. "Perhaps, we should do so at another time."

Clark turned his attention to Tess. "So, is this a general visit, or did you want to see me?"

"I dismissed Hugo Strange from my employ," Tess said. "I found out enough where he's working for some very dangerous people, and I want to know who he's working for."

"So you didn't….."

"I wanted nothing better to strangle him," Tess said. "I prefer to avoid murder whenever possible, especially in a public place with so many witnesses."

Clark looked a bit uncomfortable. Tess shook her head, he didn't have to make that hard choice about when morals and ethics went out the window. She hoped he would never have to make that hard choice. He had to back in the original timeline, and it caused him to disappear for three years, even though it saved a lot of lives.

The problem was when a powerful alien did something like this, people always questioned his motives. It was a lot easier to justify when it was a normal human like Tess.

"Oh, I should warn you, the DEO might want to meet up with you," Tess said. "So, keep your head up, and remember, the head of the DEO isn't everything he appears to be at first."

Clark couldn't read Tess's statement as if it was a good thing or a bad thing. Tess leaned in and kissed Clark on the cheek.

"Just follow your judgment."

* * *

Dinner at the Danvers household had been delayed by an attack from the Phantom Zone. Karen and Clark made their way, as Eliza invited them to dinner one more time, saying she hoped there wouldn't be any drama this time.

Clark knocked on the door. Kara opened the door a few seconds.

"Come in," Kara said. "Dinner might be a few minutes, though."

Kara, the older, looked at Kara, the younger, frowning. She saw something on the face of her cousin which Kara, either of them in fact, didn't like.

"Why?" Clark asked. "Is there something wrong?"

Kara put her hands on hips and sighed. "Well, you should define wrong."

She invited the two of them inside. Clark could hear snatches of a heated debate with his super hearing. He wasn't even trying to listen in. Clark closed his eyes and covered his ears.

"Yeah, it's a good thing I'm wearing these," Kara said. "Made to help dull my super senses….don't really need them, though, well for my eyesight. My eyesight is fine. It's always perfect when you're a Kryptonian."

Kara smiled and ran a finger down Clark's face looking into his eyes.

"Maybe you should start wearing a pair of glasses," Kara said. "It would make you look dignified."

Karen smiled. She would have to agree, but that was neither here nor there.

"Alex finally told Eliza the truth about her real job," Kara said. "And she's not too pleased about it….well, I don't think she's completely comfortable about the job Alex is working in for some reason. I think she's more unhappy about the fact Alex kept it from her for this long. Seriously, she's been keeping it from her for a long time."

The door leading to the upstairs opened. Carol made her way down the stairs. The chilling mood came down the steps.

"Alex told Mom, didn't she?" Carol asked.

Kara responded with a smile. "Yup."

Carol gave a strained smile. It would be her turn to catch hell next, she was sure. The only thing which would save her was guests.

"Clark, could you do me a favor, stay a couple of weeks or something?" Carol asked.

Clark could have laughed. The normally strong and sufficient woman almost resorted to begging him to stay. This was almost too much.

A knock on the door followed, and Carol opened the door. Daisy Johnson took about two steps inside before realizing there was a bit of an argument.

"So, this is a bad time for me to swing by?" Daisy asked.

Kara was torn between amusement and exasperation. "Pretty much, yeah."

Daisy turned her attention towards Clark. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you….the DEO wants to talk to you. Don't worry, you're not being investigated. But, you know more than anyone about the strange alien activity. And….well, I'll let the Director explain things to you."

Clark frowned, Tess's warning lingered fresh in his mind. He wanted to see what they had to offer before making any kind of decision.

Alex stepped out of the kitchen. She looked like someone who had just gotten an earful from their mother. Eliza stepped back and gave a warm smile.

"Karen, and Clark….and Daisy as well?" Eliza asked. "Are you here to see Alex?"

"Yeah, I've got to discuss work with her," Daisy said.

"Surely you can stay a few minutes for dinner?"

Daisy smiled. "Actually, dinner would be nice."

A home cooked meal would be a refreshing change from TV dinners and takeout seven days a week.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on April 3** **rd** **, 2017.**


	34. Chapter 34

**Chapter Thirty-Four: Counter Measures.**

* * *

Clark was pretty pleased dinner at the Danvers household went without any kind of incident which was the best he could have hoped for. Daisy asked Clark if he would like to join her on a trip to the DEO headquarters, and he agreed to meet her, along with Alex at a neutral location. Clark would be lying though if he didn't have any reservations. Those reservations had been canceled out by a fair amount of curiosity as Clark wondered if he could find out what the DEO was all about.

And most certainly, he would find out what the DEO could have wanted with him. Actually, Clark had his ideas what the DEO would have wanted.

Knowledge would be one of the best items to arm himself in this case, and it would be better if he had plenty of knowledge as opposed to just groping around in the dark. Perhaps, depending on how the meeting would go, Clark would consider an alliance. It would be pretty rude to rule one out at this point in time.

"I don't want to say I told you so, but I told you so."

Clark prepared to head out for the meeting location to the DEO. He turned around in time to see Tess who had been looking at him with a smile on her face. She crossed over and greeted Clark with a kiss. Short, to the point, and at the same time, it opened the door up for more later on, if Clark wanted to go down this particular road.

"And I'm guessing you're inviting yourself along," Clark said.

A smile came across Tess's face. She reached in and put a hand over Clark's with a smile.

"Well, I can't force you to take me," Tess said. "But, and I don't mean any offense to you at all, dealing with government organizations you don't have that much experience. I'll go as far to say you're just a little bit in over your head."

Tess held her fingers apart to demonstrate how much she thought Clark was in over his head. Clark frowned when looking at her. No matter how much Clark didn't want to admit there were some things which left him well over his head, Tess had a point as well.

He trusted Alex and Daisy enough to go along with them. However, he was not naïve enough to realize that their boss might have been something.

"If you really want to come?"

"If you'll have me, I'll be with you," Tess said. "I'm not going to handcuff myself to you and make you drag me along. No matter if I have a pair of handcuffs even you can't break."

The redhead businesswoman leaned over and touched her finger to Clark's chest. Clark grew a bit tense with the look on her face. Clark couldn't read Tess most of the time. Her gaze alternated between one of mischief and one of calculation, serious and playful, it was quite the contrast.

Then again, a genius level intellect like Tess had a lot going on her head. Someone that level would have to if they played Lex and Lionel Luthor like she did.

"Do you?"

Tess pulled away from Clark with a mock insightful look on her face. She leaned closer towards Clark, a smile playing on her lips. "Now, that would be telling, wouldn't it? Maybe if you're lucky, you'll find out one way or another. And who is to say you won't try and turn the tables."

The redhead always had opened herself up to new experiences, both literally and figuratively to be honest. Tess leaned a little bit towards Clark who wrapped an arm around her and pulled her in close.

"So, are you willing to take me?"

Clark reached an arm out for Tess and wrapped it around of her.

"Anywhere," Clark said. "Hang on."

Tess made sure her shoes were done up nice and tight, not wanting to have an incident like Patricia did. She held Clark tightly when he kicked up into the air and moved up, up and away. The flight might have been short, but Tess was holding onto him tightly.

She enjoyed the feel of the air simply blowing in her face, and the feel of Clark pressed against her. The two of them moved through the breezy summer air and dropped down on the ground. They moved over towards Alex and Daisy who had been waiting for them.

"See, I told you he would be here on time," Daisy said.

"Well, you never know," Alex said. "Things come up."

Alex was glad for the burden of her secret to being off of her shoulders in a way, and in another way, it was going to give her mother additional worries, as Alex might be gone for weeks or even a month or two at a time. The world was becoming more opened to alien threats.

She just hoped, prayed potentially there were people who were as good as Clark who came. Aliens could be classified as either good or even just as much as humans could. There were ones who helped out, ones that harmed, and those who just wanted to try and live a normal life free of distraction.

"And Ms. Mercer, you're here as well."

Daisy really wished she would have sounded surprised, but she wasn't. She turned around and walked towards a hill. Tess and Clark followed her with Alex walking a little bit off to the left. The quartet walked around, thinking. Alex moved towards Clark for a second.

"You might not remember this," Alex said. "But, you saved me a couple years ago….my car was overturned, I think it was during one of the meteor mutant rampages. It was before I joined the DEO, and boy were some very dark days."

Alex had trailed down a trip down memory lane. She looked towards Clark who cleared his throat. Alex found it hard not to get distracted by this larger than life figure.

"I mean, I understand perfectly if you don't remember," Alex said. "All of those random hapless people you had to save, it must run together. You must have saved hundreds of people over the years, maybe even thousands, with all of the problems."

"And you saved the entire world when you sent Zod back through the Phantom Zone," Daisy said.

Clark realized his rescue count did go up when sending Zod back home. He was not keeping track of it or anything. A part of him came to the realization if he did start keeping track of it, it would be hard to keep track of it.

Daisy parted the ground and a small set of stairs had been revealed to them.

"So, you're…a meteor mutant?" Clark asked.

That particular question caused Daisy to almost snicker. Clark raised an eyebrow.

"Not exactly," Daisy said. "It's a long story, and…..one where I'll tell you later, when we have more time, maybe over dinner sometime?"

Alex could have shaken her head in bemusement. Her friend sometimes had the subtlety of a runaway train on fire about ready to hurl into another runaway train also on fire. The metaphor had become lost in her mind, but in general, it was the case.

"Well, maybe," Clark responded.

They made their way to the lobby area. A guard, locking eyes on Clark, raised an eyebrow. He stuck his hand up as if to tell him to wait just one moment.

The man reappeared and disappeared, coming back outside. He nodded when directing his attention to the party who turned up at the DEO.

"Mr. Henshaw will see you now."

Clark waited for this particular meeting very eagerly. He stepped right into the center of an organization which had been dedicated to keeping the world safe, much like Clark. However, unlike Clark, there was official government backing, even though it was pretty much off of the books.

And Clark, recalling Lex, realized the desire to protect people could get twisted around into madness. The Kryptonian survivor wanted to give these people at the DEO the benefit of the doubt, even though they could be as corrupt as anyone else. Well, the people running the show anyway, actual agents on the field didn't seem too bad, as far as Clark could tell.

Still, Clark would find out one way or another what the DEO was all about all too soon.

* * *

The well-built dark skinned Director of the DEO looked down at Clark. He kept his eyes fixed on Tess Mercer, and the two of them made eye contact for the briefest of seconds. The man then turned his attention towards both of the DEO agents.

"Agent Danvers, Agent Johnson, thank you," Henshaw said. "Mr. Kent, it's an honor to finally meet you at last. Your tireless work has caused a lot of headaches and additional paperwork for my entire organization."

Clark frowned, and he didn't know whether this was a statement of criticism or just a little joke to break the ice. Regardless he stepped towards the man and accepted the handshake. Clark had been surprised about the firmness of the man's handshake. The two men shook hands and locked on with each other.

"Well, you wanted to see my Director Henshaw, and I've been taught it's rude to ignore a request for a meeting," Clark responded.

Tess eyed Henshaw, there was something different about him which she could not place. Did he seem a bit taller than the time she dealt with him in the old timeline? Tess didn't really know, and many questions went through her mind.

"So, why did you want to see me?"

Henshaw smiled and motioned for Clark to sit down. Clark looked around the room and saw no problems in the room around him. He sat down and Henshaw took a seat. Daisy, Tess, and Alex found places to seat.

"This organization was set up after the meteor shower event," Henshaw said. "Those who argued for the need to create an organization to police matters beyond the stars said Earth was at a crossroads. People interpreted some of the papers written by Virgil Swann about life out there, beyond the stars, as evidence there were aliens coming. The meteor shower proved to more people there was something beyond the stars, although the people running this country, and several others believed it was just a bunch of…..air."

Clark thought there might have been another word for what Henshaw would call these words. He was professional enough to not use that particular word.

"The meteor shower changed a lot of opinions," Henshaw said. "There were three groups of people. People who believed we should try and communication with the alien visitors, see what they know. Then there were people who thought there was still nothing to worry about, despite the fact there was evidence there was something out there."

Tess offered a frown. There would always be people who would stick their head in the sand and ignore the blatantly obvious. It was unfortunate many of them were in charge of key positions in this great country to this day and dictated policy which affected people.

"There's a third group," Clark said.

"Yes," Henshaw said. "The third group thought all aliens should be exterminated, and they should be hunted down because they were unnatural. At first, I belonged to this third group, but…..I became more educated and more enlightened. I changed, and became an entirely new man."

The DEO Director rose to his feet to look down at Clark.

"The point is, the Department of Extra-Ordinary Affairs is going to face greater threats, and we are looking for specialized agents which can deal with these greater threats," Henshaw said. "I recruited Agent Johnson first, and she won't be the last to join the DEO under our new drive."

"Do you have anyone else in mind?"

Clark asked this question, knowing fully well what the answer would be. Henshaw stepped closer towards him and looked Clark in the eye.

"I was hoping you would consider joining."

Here, Clark really didn't know what to think. He actually was surprised his opinion had been valued.

"I've…got some questions, and some concerns," Clark said. "You're keeping alien prisoners down here."

Henshaw could figure this would be a cause for concern.

"Yes, I know," Henshaw said. "Some of the aliens have adopted an aggressive stance against Earth. We are the only people who have the facilities which are capable of holding them."

' _The only people who have the facilities to hold them who will not just execute them or experiment on them,'_ Henshaw said.

Clark understood Henshaw's point on this one, but he had a point of his own.

"Have they received their due process?" Clark asked.

Henshaw smiled, he had been raised with values of truth, justice, and the American Way. Well, the American Way as America was intended to be. Ideally, what something should be and ideally what something would be, it was two different things.

"They will receive their due process. We don't have the resources to safely move them to trial and keep them safe and the people around them safe. The political climate is very hostile as you may have noticed."

Henshaw exhaled a deep breath and looked back towards Clark. He really hoped the young man would understand what he was going for, even though he understood why he might not.

"It's the same problem with the meteor mutants," Henshaw said. "Although the alien fugitives, it's safe to say their crimes go beyond the scope of Earth. Many entered this planet, some of them hiding amongst refugees who really did intend to get away from their horrific world to have a better life."

It saddened Henshaw how so many would take advantage of the goodwill of the people who welcomed them in and thus cast suspicion on those from outside of the planet.

"Well, I think if the political climate is hostile, there are going to be some in the government who won't be happy the DEO accepted the help of an alien," Clark said. "So, while I understand why your organization does some of the things you do, I'm afraid I can't join it. There are just too many questions, and people will have questions."

Clark had no desire to become some kind of bounty hunter for aliens and meteor mutants. He feared it could happen if he got into alignment with the DEO.

"I respect all of what you're trying to do, but I can agree with it, not now," Clark said.

Clark extended his hand and once again, Henshaw took his hand into a firm handshake. The two of them parted away.

The Director of the DEO, or rather the man underneath that guide, intended to keep a promise he made a very long time ago. It took him much longer to get here.

' _It's interesting to see the man you've become,'_ Henshaw thought. _'And I wish I could tell you the entire truth…but given your problems with Jor-El, I can see why that would only add gasoline on a fire.'_

Clark made his way out of the meeting, with Tess, Daisy, and Alex moving behind him. Tess walked up behind him, eyes locked onto him.

"You think I did the right thing?"

"If you think you did the right thing, you did the right thing," Tess said.

"It's a shame you won't be working with us, although I can understand where you're coming from," Daisy said. "I had my misgivings at first, Alex here pretty much had to twist my arm off to get me to agree to give the DEO a chance."

Clark responded with a nod, he could see where she was coming from, and maybe he had been a little harsh on the DEO, but there were just a lot of questions which needed to be answered, and he didn't really know what to do about it.

"Well, even if you don't decide to join, we're going to still be seeing a lot of each other," Alex said. "We've been assigned to duty in Smallville…and no, it's not exclusively to keep an eye on you, although that's an added benefit if I have to say so myself."

Daisy picked up where Alex left off. "The truth is, there's a lot of weirdness where we're going to have to keep taking a look at things. So, we'll be there if you need to the help, and I think it's safe to say you'll be there as well if we need to the help from you. Just we got to look out for each other."

The nice summer breeze continued to kick through Smallville. Clark turned around and leaned towards both women who wore some pretty anxious grins on their face. He offered them a smile and one word, simple as it might sound, but it said a lot.

"Always."

He would be lying if he did not want to get to know these two more. The DEO was needed. It was just there were a couple of things they were doing which Clark was not completely on board with.

* * *

Lara placed the orb containing the essence of the Phantom on a shelf on the Fortress. The Fortress would perform some deep scans which would hopefully point out to what the Phantom was all about. Lara had all of the confidence in the world this would work.

Raya walked up behind her. Lara showed her assistant she knew she was here.

"She's nothing like I expected," Raya said.

Lara turned around towards the assistant of the Fortress and smiled. "People really are what you expected. She may have been created for a certain purpose, but there's no reason whatsoever why she can't go behind that purpose, the purpose which she has bene defined to be for."

Raya answered by shaking her head. There was absolutely no reason why this Phantom could not be very different. Lara walked over and started to study the scans. Karen helped fill in the blanks, and speaking of her, she returned to the Fortress, walking up behind Lara.

"With any luck, we should be able to figure out what makes Clara tick, and then use the knowledge from her to deal with that monstrous creation of Zod's," Lara said.

Raya and Karen both shuddered in unison. Despite the differences they had, and there were many, both women could find common ground. And that common ground had to deal with the fact they did not want Zod's pet to escape from the box.

"If Zod's creation reaches his full potential, and there's every chance he might, it will be the end of anything," Lara said. "I was hoping to hunt him down and stop that from happening if at all possible."

Raya sighed. "The best-laid plans…"

The Kryptonian trailed off for a moment and Lara turned towards her, with a gentle squeeze of Raya's hand to follow. The two Kryptonian survivors relaxed each other.

"Yes, that's the real problem," Lara said. "We had these plans when we were back on Krypton, but they tended to go awry, whether it be by design, or something happened. We're righting the ship."

She could not have been more pleased with the development of her son, to be honest. Lara took herself to the edge of the Fortress and looked beyond it for a moment. Pleased was a pretty good description of how she was right now if she was perfectly honest.

"We have no desire to inflict Doomsday on the world," Karen said. "Some of my memories are coming back, and he caused much destruction and much heartache and….well, we don't want to come down this particular road."

"Don't force your memories to come back, just let them come back naturally," Lara said to her.

"We have a huge problem, though."

Raya's voice snapped Karen out of her thoughts and Karen answered with a brisk nod, huge problem really did define a lot of what they were doing.

"Yes, the problem is his human identity appears to have slipped off the grid," Karen responded. "And I have no idea where he might be, although…given recent news, we have a pretty good idea who might have snatched him."

Lara's expression darkened. They were working on a way to put Doomsday down, but it would only work if he had not been fully evolved. Someone was making that fact more than difficult.

If someone had gotten a hold of that destroyer, who knows what could have happened.

"We don't know for sure," Lara said. "Even though assuming the worst here isn't too far out of line, if I have to say so myself."

Lara returned towards the orb to study it. Soon, the person on the inside would come out.

"Clara should be a great asset once we remove the imperfections," Lara said.

"Clara?" Karen asked.

Lara turned towards her with a smile. "A combination of Clark and Kara, Clara….and let's face it, it seems a tad bit impersonal to keep referring to her as the Phantom or it, doesn't it? Especially when we're trying to help her."

Karen thought Lara had a point, but she had another point.

"You name it, you start to get attached to it."

"Well, she is practically my granddaughter," Lara said.

Attachment wasn't something which Kryptonians did very well with, due to their detached nature. Lara prided herself on being ahead of the pack and progressive enough.

* * *

Clark returned back home just to meet Chloe. Chloe always was good to be someone to bounce a few ideas off of. She pounced on him with a hug and a passionate kiss, which looked like she wanted more from, but her curiosity on how Clark's meeting with the DEO went.

"Hey, how did things go?" Chloe asked.

"Well, the DEO is interested in recruiting me," Clark said.

Chloe pulled away from Clark and astonishment filled the perky blonde woman's eyes.

"Really?" Chloe asked. "Well, they took interest in your skills, but that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?"

"No, it's not a bad thing, but I have no interest in working for them right now."

Chloe responded with a nod. Aliens had been in the news a lot lately, and there had been a lot of anti-alien sentiment from the people in the world. People feared the unknown which Chloe didn't like, but she could see what people were going on.

Most amusingly, she wondered if her perception of the world had been skewed.

"There's something off about Henshaw though," Clark said. "I don't know….there's just more to him than meets the eye."

Chloe had been taken aback by Clark's observations skills. Okay, it wasn't his observation skills, but the fact he seemed so trusting.

"I'll do some research on him if you want me to," Chloe said. "Do you think he might not be completely transparent?"

"I can tell he's hiding something, although I'm not sure what he might be hiding," Clark responded. "Just got to keep an eye on him."

The two of them made their way into the half-built Potter House. It served their purposes well enough, although Patricia mentioned something about arranging something more practical for Clark to supplement the Fortress.

Speaking of Patricia, Clark saw her number pop up on the cell phone.

"Hey, it wasn't easy, but I found it," Patricia said. "I had a friend who is a detective track down my father's journal and a couple of other items as well. We'll know what's in there, although I didn't want to open it without you here because it was kind of meant more for your eyes than mine."

"You should have a chance to take a look at it, it's your father's legacy," Clark said.

"Right, right, how fast can you be over here?"

"In a few minutes."

Clark hung up the phone, and Chloe looked towards him.

"Want to tag along?"

Chloe answered with a grin and extended a hand out. "I thought you'd never ask."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on April 9** **th** **, 2017.**


	35. Chapter 35

Head over to my blog for the chapter of the week poll, chapters released one day before anywhere else on the Internet, blog exclusive content, and much more. The link is underneath the page of important links in my profile.

 **Chapter Thirty-Five: The Asset.**

* * *

Time healed many wounds and Kara In-Ze, alias Karen Starr, wondered whether or not she would have been able to have this conversation a while back when the wounds of some of the things happened back on Krypton were fresh in her mind. The wounds continued to sting her and she really wished to have some form of clarity, but at the same time, she couldn't.

' _Just go and talk to her, Kara,'_ she thought. _'There you go, having an argument with yourself about her. Whatever happened back there, is back there. She's here on Earth, and you made it here fine. And she did help you back in the Phantom Zone.'_

The blonde inhaled a moment later and walked up towards Astra. Astra looked up towards the stars above her. She had just kept the eyes fixed on what was above her head.

"Each of them has their story. And all of them may someday burn out and die, just like Krypton did ages ago."

Karen stepped closer towards Astra. She did appreciate the serene beauty of the universe. Every single speck in the sky told their own story, and Astra could tell about many of them. She wanted to be an astronomer before she became a general, fitting given her name to be honest.

It would have been almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy in fact, and Karen wondered how things might have been.

"It's been a long time since we've had a chance to properly talk to each other," Astra said.

Karen's eyebrows shifted when she moved towards, the woman who gave birth to her. Given the fact they exchanged only a handful of conversations on Krypton, Karen did, and forever would acknowledge Alura as her mother, and Astra was more like a distant aunt. Still, maybe their relationship could be a lot different.

"Have we ever had a proper conversation with each other?"

Astra smiled, it would be a response like she would have given, had the situations been reversed. It was amazing how alike both of them were, and at the same time, how different they were.

"No, we haven't," Astra said. "I was tied up with my own exceptions, and I can't even begin to apologize. And I won't apologize for you for the past. All I can do is prove what I do in the future."

Bluntness was something Karen appreciated to be perfectly honest. The two shared a moment when the breezed went through. She didn't let Astra go too far from her.

"You don't trust me completely, do you?"

"I don't know," Karen said. "People change. You won't believe what I've been through to get here, to protect Kara and Kal and….to make sure everything is right."

The night was so peaceful, so beautiful, both women couldn't even begin to describe how amazing things were. Yet, there was some emotional distance with each other. Karen didn't know what to say. Astra sounded as sharp as ever.

"I've made some difficult choices, and by the sound of things you had to make some difficult choices yourself," Astra said. "One thing we know is true is how strong we are. We preserve during the darkest of times. I want you to know that, and understand that."

"Don't worry, I do."

Astra now knew where this conversation would go and braced herself. Time stood still as both of these women tried to figure out where they stood with each other. Astra made some mistakes which came back to haunt her in the worst possible way.

"I've made many difficult choices….."

"Yes, I believe we've established that."

Astra shook her head. She stood up firm and tall despite all of the regrets she had. "I may have made them, but I did them because of my need to preserve Krypton. Others might have blindly buried their head in the sand. I refused, however, to ignore what was in front of my nose. And for that, I had been sent to the Phantom Zone."

"The Council was scared," Karen said.

It was one way to put what the Council was. Astra would have had alternate terms to describe them and the way they acted.

"Yes, terror does lead to foolishness," Astra admitted. "And they were complete fools with how they allowed their terror to get the better of them. I didn't expect perfection, but I expected them to open their eyes. When a lot of smart people told them what was going on, it was their ignorance that killed them."

"Brainiac told them what they wanted to hear."

Astra hated these words coming from her daughter, no matter how true they were. That alien computer had gone rogue due to them taking Alura's original design beyond their specifications and a poor understanding. One misconfiguring could mean the end with a poorly configured AI.

"Now, I'm here, and I'll do anything to preserve what's left of Krypton," Astra said. "It wasn't how I imagined it, though."

Astra breathed in deeply and breathed out. She had been cut off from the rest of her army, who languished in the Phantom Zone. They might not have survived, though. Perhaps it was for the best.

"And that includes finding Kandor or whatever is left on it," Astra said. "Some of the strongest minds and best leaders were replicated inside that orb. It couldn't have perished with the rest of them."

Astra took a second to recall that, there was a duplicate of her sister in there as well, younger, but it was still her sister. Alura might not be the same Alura she left behind, but perhaps that would be for the best.

"We'll track it down."

Karen's strong words were appreciated by Astra. She knew her daughter was able to find it.

"Yes, we will, we have to," Lara said.

Astra turned to Lara, she always appreciated this particular woman, along with her strength and conviction. The two turned towards her other. Raya stood, with a firm nod. They might have had their differences in the past. It was time to put those aside for the preservation of Krypton.

"Between all of us, Tess, and Indy, we'll find it," Karen said. "If it's on Earth, we'll find it."

Astra had no question about it, the orb was in fact on Earth. The question was where on Earth was it? Renewed determination gave her a purpose to help rebuild the legacy of Krypton, which would be helpful to the future of Earth. Her plan wasn't extreme as before, with Lara having talked that particular ledge.

"And if Brainiac's still out there, I'll personally finish him off," Astra said.

"I don't doubt it for a second," Lara concluded.

Astra made a promise, and she was going to keep it, even after all sanity had left the building.

* * *

Lex Luthor thought both the power and knowledge, the two things he craved the most, would have been at the tip of his fingers. He could feel it to be honest, and it had been yanked away from him once again.

The last few days slipped away from him. The further they slipped, the harder Lex grabbed onto those memories. He would not fold from them, not if he could help it. Lex leaned back in the cell and drew in a deep breath before letting out of his body.

The good news was he no longer had to deal with Hugo Strange and is crazy theories about what made Lex tick. As if he could figure out how Lex Luthor's mind work.

' _Pure lunacy,'_ Lex thought.

Sunshine always had rain clouds and Lex recalled one particular storm cloud brewing, namely the very obvious fact he didn't know where he was. Lex always hated the unknown. He had been allowed minimal movement. The wall released a discharge of energy which discouraged Lex from poking around.

The only good thing was the wall was pretty much transparent and Lex could see from the outside. The bad thing was he could see his father on the other side. Talk about taking the bad with the good. Lex craned his neck to try and get a closer look.

Lionel Luthor barely even noticed the world around him ever since the day from the first meteor shower. Lex couldn't get free to take a look at his medical records. His father started to mutter nonsense numbers underneath his breath. Lex deduced they were coordinates of some sort at least that was the only thing which made sense to him.

For the past few hours, Lionel's constant muttering was the only thing which Lex heard from his cell. It was very disconcerting to hear it. Lex grimaced and put his hand on the wall.

' _There are no structural weaknesses, I'm trapped in here like a mouse in a cage. How infuriating is this?'_

Lionel started to babble from the other end of the hallway. He started to speak numbers, most of them binary now Lex thought about it. They weren't coordinates, they were binary, comparing zeros and ones.

Lex realized they all spelled out one word.

' _Doomsday?'_

Lex recalculated the pattern in his mind to make sure it was right. Lionel was saying that one particular world, Doomsday. He tapped a finger on the edge of the wall to try and get his father's attention.

It was like Lionel didn't even recognize Lex being there.

"DOOMSDAY!"

Lionel blurted out this one word and shivered. He started to say the word in binary, and every three minutes, he blurted it out in English. Lex listened to anyone, the guards down the hallway. Not that any of them would dare touch him.

"If any of you are out here, I need to speak with you at once," Lex said. "This arrangement isn't working out!"

Lex's words had fallen on deaf ears and why wouldn't they fall on deaf ears? Lex wanted to scream in pure frustration at these words coming from him.

' _I will find a way to get out here, and restore everything,'_ Lex thought. _'I will reclaim my former glory, this isn't over, not yet by a longshot.'_

Someone needed to save the world from the threats, from the unknown. Lex vowed to be the person who did this.

X-X-X

Tess sat back in her office chair and observed Lex. Lex seemed pretty lucid, even though the scans of his brain patterns had been returned erratic when she received them. Tess wasn't about to let him off of the hook that easy.

The doctors made sure to slip Lex the medication to keep him somewhat under when he was asleep, but it was only enough to make sure Lex remained calm. Tess only restricted this facility to a number one people. Despite the restrictions, she knew there was no such thing as foolproof security.

Those who assume security has been and would be foolproof often proved themselves to be a fool.

"Lionel's the more interesting one," Tess said.

"Yes, he's more erratic than Lex, which say something."

Indy understood the binary. There were coordinates, hidden in there, just like Lex muttered earlier. These coordinates led to the field where the ship containing Kal-El landed all these years ago. Something else landed in that field as they found out, unfortunately.

"I hoped would be able to take down Doomsday," Tess said. "Clark's suffered at his hand."

"That was another time, though," Indy said.

Tess remembered how Doomsday had been buried underneath Earth, and he was thought to be lost forever. He returned and caused havoc, taking out the entire Justice League in the process. Then, he and Superman went to a fight to the finish, where Doomsday was put down, but at a great cost.

They would have liked to avoid that particular battle as it caused a lot of fallout, which ended in Lex's run as President and the world almost ending in nuclear annihilation to wipe out the alien threats. Hopefully with Lex locked up, at least this part of the future was averted.

"Sending him to the Phantom Zone would be the safest bet," Tess said. "And it would also be the trickiest to pull off."

The best thing would be to find Doomsday in the guise he was in before he had turned full monster and sent him into the Phantom Zone there.

"You'll find a way."

Indy spoke a calm tone and Tess answered with a nod. She continued the observation of Lex, hoping she would find a way. With the help of Lara, Raya, Karen, Clark, and now Astra, they might be able to put something together.

Finding Bloom before he completely evolved into Doomsday would be a lot easier. The problem was, Tess had a burning suspicion about who picked him up, and Tess knew how awful it would be if they cooperated Doomsday for their own purposes.

' _Never easy, even with foresight.'_

* * *

Patricia knew this would be the moment where she would step fully into helping Clark, and she was ready to live up to her father's legacy. The last time the two talked, Virgil Swann mentioned if he didn't get to see Clark ascend to his full power, he wanted Patricia to ensure he got everything he needed.

It was a hell of a burden to hold, to be honest, but Patricia wasn't too sad about it. She looked up and saw Clark, with Chloe in tow dropping down on the ground. Both of them approached Patricia with smiles on their faces.

"You found it?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Patricia asked. "I have some friends, one of them out in Gotham City was able to track it down. It was….buried somewhere inside of Lionel Luthor's personal items. When I told Tess, she knew where it was right away, although another item she wanted was missing."

Clark had been taken aback. The fact Lionel Luthor held something vital made Clark wonder what was going on.

"Do you have any idea what he else he had there?"

Patricia looked towards Clark and shook her head. "I don't know, but I'm going to guess it wasn't anything good."

Clark had a strong suspicion, but he didn't want to discuss mere suspicions.

"So, your father's diary?" Clark asked.

"I have it right here….you don't mind if I make a copy to keep around for myself, do you?"

Clark shook his head and smiled before gripping her hand gently. "Of course, I don't mind, it's your father's diary, you should do with it as you see fit."

Patricia smiled, leaning in close to Clark and catching him with a kiss on the cheek. She was going to go further but stopped. Chloe appeared to have noticed it and grabbed Patricia around the waist to stop her. The redhead gasped when the younger, but very assertive, girl gripped her. She leaned towards Patricia with a smile coming on through.

"Hey, you either go big, or you go home, take your pick."

Chloe nudged Patricia so she fell into Clark's arms. Patricia's heart raced and butterflies flapped in her stomach.

"You tracked down a valuable item. I think that deserves a thank you."

Clark gave Patricia a kiss at Chloe's very obvious urging. The Redhead found it very hard to keep her head above water. It was almost like pleasure just entered her body and had been released from it. Patricia reached up, grabbing Clark and dragging him deeper into the kiss. Their tongues intertwined together, never once backing off from their position.

The two broke apart to leave a light trail of salvia. Patricia smiled and only could say one thing.

"Wow."

"He's just getting better," Chloe said. "That's only because we've trained him right."

Clark gave her a sidelong look, and Chloe just smiled before leaning in and kissing Clark briefly before pulling away.

Patricia performed some deep breathing exercises to keep her mind in order.

' _Business before pleasure, never forget that, ever.'_

She walked inside of the labs. It was a quiet day. Doctor Danvers had her day off pretty much. Patricia walked up to locate the journal, and also she noticed something in the sleeve. A DVD fell out onto the desk.

"That's new," Patricia said. "I'm surprised Lionel didn't…..find it."

"Maybe it wasn't in there before?" Chloe asked.

Patricia was curious about the DVD, was it her father's final recorded message before death or something else entirely? They would find out in a couple of minutes when Patricia put the DVD in the player.

The face of Virgil Swann, who looked older than Clark had ever seen him before, but also tranquil, appear on the scene.

"If you're seeing this, Kal-El, then I know my journal has been left in the right hands," Swann said. "I would like to extend my formal apology to you. When I started the group to prepare for the arrival of the Star Child, when I started Veritas, I had no idea their greed would get the better of them. And now, only a couple of us have survived due to all of this."

Swann looked over towards anyone watching it with a serious look on his face.

"Power can corrupt even the noblest of souls. There is an item which can be used for the salvation of both Earth or Krypton, or it could damage the legacies of both. It's an orb, I have not been able to determine what is inside. My studies indicate whatever is inside it may either bring forth your destruction, or summon a harbinger for your destruction, or both."

Virgil Swann never once blinked when looking at Clark.

"But, the orb may not be the real threat. A second party crashed in that field that day. We thought he might have been you, the Traveler, the Star Child, but unfortunately, he is not. The studies in the limited time we had access to him before we sent him off indicated he had the potential to be your most dangerous threat, your dark duplicate…the thing which could snuff out your light. I hoped by sending him away, we would squash those dark instincts, and prevent them from rising to the forefront."

Clark was curious about this, and he was certain a greater explanation was in his journal.

"We'll see whether or not nurture can triumph over nature," Swann said. "Be strong, and hold your friends and family close to you. You will be the hero the world needs in the darkest time, but there will always be those who will question their motives. They may do so out of fear of the unknown, or because they have a good reason. Regardless, stand strong, and if my daughter is here, I hope she will help you on your way and fulfill my final request."

Patricia nodded firmly and talked to the image of her father. "Don't worry, I will."

The DVD projection went dead and Patricia turned towards him. She heard the stories about him.

"I want to help you in any way," Patricia said. "Anything you need, I'll be here to give to you…anything."

Patricia leaned in and gave him a kiss. This time the kiss increased and Patricia could feel his hands slowly working underneath her blouse. She encouraged this behavior.

Chloe helpfully cleared off the desk so they had room to work. She knew where this was going and was glad she tagged along for the ride.

* * *

Patricia's skirt slid down her legs to reveal a pair of lacy panties which made Clark smiled. The redhead shivered when feeling Clark roll his eyes up her body. Clark rubbed his fingers down her panties and she rose her hips in encouragement when he felt her up.

"You really want this, don't you?"

Patricia gave him a sultry smile. "You have no idea, do you?"

Clark had plenty of an idea. The redhead's questing hands reached for Clark's belt and undid it. She dropped his pants to the ground and pulled out his hard and throbbing cock. Patricia looked at the huge piece of meat with lust burning in her eyes. Her lips licked.

The gorgeous woman dropped her jacket to the ground to give her a cushion to get on her knees to worship Clark. She grabbed his stiff rod with both hands and stroked it. Her wet mouth lavished kisses on the tip of it and then went down the base. Patricia traveled around his cock, before coming up and suckling his head hard.

Chloe dropped to the ground, not to be outdone. She took Clark's throbbing balls in hand and gave them a nice squeeze to see how full they were. Chloe took one of his balls in mouth and sucked them, looking up with a smile.

Clark closed his eyes and basked in the moment of Patricia sucking his hard cock and Chloe licking and sucking his throbbing balls as well. He could feel a rush of pleasure shooting all over his loins when both women went to town on him from this particular position.

"This is…good….keep it up!" Clark groaned.

Patricia flicked her tongue over Clark's massive rod, intending to do just that. She shoved more of Clark into her mouth and took the young man into the back of her throat. Clark held onto her head and rocked further into her mouth, moving in.

Chloe squeezed Clark's heavy balls, smiling at how thick they seemed. She closed her eyes and inhaled his balls, licking them for a few seconds.

Something had to give sooner than later. The ministrations both women gave Clark made him.

"Get ready."

Patricia didn't slow down and instead redoubled her sucking at the promise of getting her mouth filled up with Clark's cum. She looked up towards him, as did Chloe when both women went to town on Clark's nether regions. The sucking continued until the explosion.

Clark fired his load down Patricia's waiting throat. The never-ending bursts caught even Patricia off guard. She pulled away from Clark only to see him keep firing in her face as his cock had many long spurts.

Chloe took pity, and took over, engulfing Clark's hard meat with her mouth and suckling down several drinks of his fluid as well. Her hand snaked around Clark's balls and squeezed them, making sure she milked him dry.

The two women got up to their feet and turned around. Chloe engulfed Patricia in an embrace and turned into her with a passionate kiss. Chloe scraped Clark's cum off of Patrica's face. Several dripping fingers slid into Chloe's mouth when she sucked it.

Chloe made sure to lock eyes firmly with Clark when doing this. Her tongue licked her fingers clean and she looked at Clark.

A blink of an eye later, Clark had both of them on the desk. Patricia's panties flew off with Clark ramming his fingers deep inside her dripping cunt. The same thing happened to Chloe with her pants, and then her panties coming off. Clark fingered Chloe.

Patricia's pleasure increased with Clark thrusting into her. Her hips rose up, and Clark pulled back to deny her an orgasm, at least for now. The moment Patricia cooled down, Clark slid his fingers back inside her and thrust away. Patricia begged him.

"Damn it, Clark!"

Chloe's body twitched the moment Clark shoved his thick fingers inside her dripping hot body. It was amazing to feel him just penetrate her without any question with those fingers. She could also see his thick cock flipping against the desk, just begging to be shoved in a tight, hot, pussy.

Clark leaned into the super faster fingering. He wanted to leave both of the women on the desk dripping and ready for his cock. He kept up this ritual going for several minutes.

The two girls collapsed on the desk, breathing heavily. Their legs spread.

"Nice to see your training is panning out well."

Clark walked closer towards both of them. He decided to give Patricia the first taste of his cock because she had been dripping for it for so long. He put his prick at the edge of her slit and slowly worked inside her.

Patricia's pussy stretched out, never had something this big have entered it in her life. She lifted her hips off of the desk to accommodate Clark. Inch by inch he entered her. Patricia's tight cunt had been the perfect vessel for Clark's throbbing hard cock. She wanted more of this in her, she wanted every single inch inside her, if she could help it.

Clark gave her more than she could ever dream about. Patricia lifted her hips halfway off the desk and took him deep inside her. Clark rose out of her and thrust all the way back out of her.

"How are you feeling?"

Patricia squeezed him with her legs to encourage more.

"Good, so good, please."

Clark gave her so much, and she accepted everything he could give her. Their loins met together in a fiery movement. Clark rose up and pushed down into her. Patricia raked his back.

The orgasm inside her built it, and it was most certainly one she had been waiting for. Clark entered her in new ways. His hands almost moved, as if testing out the spots which would drive her to the most pleasure. The little spot in the back of her neck seemed to be the kicker. Clark slowly rotated his thumb on it and got Patricia gushing.

Her tight wet walls enclosed around him. Clark rose up into her and rode out her orgasm.

Chloe fingered herself to the scene of Clark fucking Patricia on the desk. She didn't have too long to wait before her fingers had been replaced by something else more wonderful. Clark edged over her pussy and slipped his throbbing hard cock inside her.

"YES!"

Chloe's hips ached and needed him inside her. He pushed down into her, with a long thrust. Chloe rose almost up off of the desk and took more of Clark inside her with each passing thrust.

Clark gave Patricia some time to recover by working inside Chloe's tight pussy. He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck, sucking on her ear lobe. This action drove Chloe particularly wild and her horniness reached a fever pitch the further Clark rammed his rod inside her tight body. Chloe worked her way around him. The two of them kept working at each other, never quite missing a beat with each other.

"Yes, right there, that's it, right there," Chloe encouraged him. Her hips clenched Clark and pushed him deeper inside her.

Every time those balls struck her wet pussy, Chloe grew moister with desire. The more pleasurable she got, the more cock she took inside her.

Clark worked his best friend up to an orgasm while also occasionally flickering Patricia's clit to keep her in the game. The older woman on the desk kept thrashing up and down.

The most amazing orgasm ever struck Chloe. Her tight walls clamped down on Clark and milked his tool until Clark decided to pull out of her.

Seconds later, Clark was now about ready to slip inside of Patricia once again and he did so without missing a beat. His throbbing balls hit her when Clark rose up and came down into her. He repeatedly spiked his way inside of Patricia's center, working her into a feverish state.

Patricia rose her hands and encouraged Clark to hammer her harder. Every time Clark thrust into her, she reached new depths of pleasure. Clark raking down her leg brought her pleasure to another new level as well. She closed down on him, with Clark keeping up his work handily.

Clark alternated between shoving his rod into the moist pussies of both of these beautiful women. He went back and forth between them, never once breaking up his momentum with them.

Chloe almost broke down with more pleasure than it was possible to handle. The fact Clark drove two women at the same time wild with pleasure made her pleased. She did wonder what could be done with three. The latest orgasm punctuated this thought when Clark pleasured her body and made Chloe's horniness increase.

Patricia thought she would like to experiment with Clark's capabilities on another day. For now, she was feeling filled completely full of his hard cock. Patricia's tight legs wrapped around Clark when he worked inside her body.

The hard ramming went on for a long time. Clark built up such a load he could empty a fair amount in both women. It was only appropriate he started to spurt inside of Chloe. He gave her several long spurts of cum.

"Fill me up!" Chloe yelled.

Clark did so, but he was still hard and throbbing, so he shoved himself inside Patricia. He gave her pussy as much of a workout as he would allow.

Patricia could feel the first bursts of warm cum shoot inside her. It caused a tingling feeling to explode down her nerve endings. Clark hung on and kept thrusting inside her until his balls emptied inside her tight, clenching pussy. Every thrust brought her further over the edge.

Both women looked pleased when Clark pulled away, at least for now.

* * *

Darkness surrounded a disoriented man who looked like he hadn't shaved in several weeks, if not a couple of months. His dark hair came down across the top of his face in greasy curls. The man's eyes flashed and he sensed something burning in his head. Something was trying to claw out.

He always had a problem holding his temper in. One time in school, he had been suspended for hurling a desk at a school bully in a fit of rage. The doctors kept him medicated due to his anger issues, and for a while, it worked.

The man chained to the wall was no longer a child and it no longer worked. He slapped his wrist against the wall in an attempt to break free.

"Please, you have to get me out of here...GET ME OUT OF HERE!"

"You're agitated, perfect."

The man chained to the wall had no idea what rational person thought him being angry was a very good thing. The thumping of the man's skull continued. He saw dim lights come out and several shadowed figures looking down, observing him.

"You feel trapped, your true self isn't out," one of them said. "You go by the name Davis Bloom, but we both know that's a mask for what you truly are."

The man chained to the wall tried to yank the chains off of the wall. The chain snapped back and he slumped against the wall.

"What are you talking about? My name is Davis Bloom, I worked as an EMT in Metropolis."

"Yes, and we appreciate irony above all else."

Bloom could feel something scratching, clawing at his mind, attempting to break out. He never felt anything more awful in his entire life.

"We aren't interested in the human camouflage you wear to hide your true self. It's nothing of consequence. We are more concerned with what you can and what you will become. We want to see how far you can push, under whatever harsh conditions you can be adapted. You will be the ultimate weapon."

"I'm not a monster. I'm not a weapon. I'm a man!"

Despite this statement, Bloom's voice came out in a monstrous growl. The figure leading the charge chuckled.

"You have hidden for too long, Swann made sure you kept away from the darkness, but let's face it, it was always one step ahead of you. And now, we're going to bring it face to face."

They had their ways of unlocking the monster within. Doomsday would be brought into the world and HIVE would rebuild over the ashes.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on May 7** **th** **, 2017.**


	36. Chapter 36

Okay, here's the deal here. The story alerts on this website are not working and haven't been working since last Tuesday. Therefore, if you're at this chapter, chances are that you got here due to remembering I said this story would return on the 7th. Or you just happened upon my profile. Or the chapter went through and alerts are working again.

For those who care, there is a way to fixed the published date for the stories. Yes, the other big problem, as chapters have been posting, but the published dates have been frozen at whenever they were prior to last Monday. It's a very crude way, but it simply involves posting a chapter, refreshing at the error message, deleting the posted chapter, and the posting your chapter again. For some reason, it fixes the published date thing. Alerts still won't work, but if you're OCD about dates like I am, that fixes that problem.

Now with that out of the way, on with our feature presentation.

* * *

 **Chapter Thirty-Six: Blockbuster Part One.**

* * *

Autumn was in full swing and classes at Metropolis University were about to wrap up for the day. Most of the students had been back over the last couple of weeks, so they knew all of the classes like the back of their hand by now, and they knew what classes worked well for them.

Clark Kent had enjoyed some rare downtime, getting his education. The last few months had been insane. He met more Kryptonian survivors, and not all of them wanted to kill him. He met some other interesting people over the past few months and he took the next step in his destiny.

Not everything was sunshine and roses though, his father, Jonathan Kent, suffered a heart attack, his third, which ended up being fatal. Jonathan was laid to rest a couple of months ago. Clark appreciated all of the sacrifices his adoptive father had made and he could never appreciate what he did enough.

Martha, on the other hand, she bounced back about as well as you could expect. Clark appreciated the resolve of his mother.

Clark also met some very remarkable women, two of which he would be meeting sooner, rather than later. Kara In-Ze, now known as Karen Starr, was his cousin, well technically speaking. It was very complicated because she had been given memories which she believed herself to be Kara Zor-El, who happened to be her cousin as well as Clark's. Kara was an extremely popular name on Krypton.

Karen had been raised by Kara's mother Alura, when her mother, the infamous General Astra In-Ze, rose up the ranks to Krypton. Astra had been sent to the Phantom Zone when attempting to take over the government through a coup. A bit extreme, but given how the Council acted from what Clark learned, one could hardly fault her for taking an action like this, no matter how extreme it might have been.

Then, the other person he met, was Diana, who was the princess of a race of warrior women on the island Themyscira. Diana was the heir to the throne, but also one of the most down to Earth people Clark ever met in his life. Given who her mother was, there was no mystery why Diana had such a solid upbringing.

Clark was about to join the two women, but something stopped him. Super hearing picked up a sound on the horizon of breaking glass. It was near one of the labs on the campus.

Curiosity got the better of Clark Kent when he approached the lab. He knew someone was breaking into the labs, for something.

"It's got to be around here somewhere!" one of them yelled in a frantic voice. "It can't have just grown legs and walked off….he said….."

"If he catches us in here…"

"He won't catch us if we fail…we're going to be in deeper trouble….."

The thugs continued to rummage through the lab, in an attempt to find what they were looking for. Clark's frown deepened when they were overturning furniture and moving through cabinets.

It looked like a job, well for him. Clark took about two steps towards the lab, but another wrinkle entered the picture.

A figure dressed in a green hood dropped down to the ground. Clark watched the figure's progress and one of the goons got an arrow right to the side of the neck. Another goon froze and received an arrow straight to the knee cap. The third drew a gun on his attacker. She fired an arrow at the side of his neck, dropping him to the ground.

Clark realized the hooded figure was a she instantly, he could pick up on things with how the hooded figure moved, no matter how much she tried to hide it.

The goons had been taken out, and the hooded vigilante opened the vault, before pulling out a vial with a glowing green fluid. She dropped a black metallic box down on the ground.

Clark decided whoever this attacker was, she was just another thief. He moved inside the lab and grabbed onto her.

Surprisingly, she broke free from his grasp and flipped into the air behind him. The hooded figure withdrew a crossbow and fired an arrow towards Clark. Clark caught the arrow before it hit him. She flinched but fired another arrow. Clark's keen reflexes blocked that one.

He snapped the two arrows in half.

"What are you doing?" Clark asked.

"You don't understand," she said.

"Then make me understand," Clark said.

She wasn't one for conversation given the arrow fired at him. In a flash, Clark stopped the arrow and then grabbed her, before pushing her back against the wall. The quiver had been hurled across the room.

"I need to destroy the lab, so these people don't get their hands on the formula," she said. "You need to understand….there are some very dangerous people who would like nothing better than to see the world burn….you don't….."

Clark had to interject otherwise they were just going around in circles.

"Help me understand," Clark said. "There are students on campus…"

"Well, you're here," she said. "And you're more than capable of getting them off campus."

Clark realized this person pretty much just implied she knew something about him and his abilities.

"You have three minutes, get cracking."

Clark calculated it in his head and realized, there wouldn't be enough time to interrogate the hooded figure, and get all of the students off of campus. He made a decision of what to do, and he wouldn't like it, but there were really no other options other than to move.

He went off in the other direction, to get all of the students out of the area. He might have shocked them rushing out of the blast radius, but he didn't stick around long enough for any of them to find out.

Clark returned and sure enough, as he expected, the figure dressed in the green hood disappeared into the night. The bomb ticked, and Clark realized there wasn't enough time to disarm it, at least the conventional way.

He grabbed the bomb, and jumped high into the sky, as high as he could go. The air pressure caused the bomb to prematurely explode just as he launched it further into the air.

Clark dropped down onto the ground, the wind knocked out of him. He dropped to his hands and knees, so many questions, and not enough answers.

' _Just another day in my life.'_

* * *

A scientist in his forties with slightly graying hair held the phone out and what he heard made him more enraged than ever before. His name was Mark Desmond and he had been working on a project which would help revolutionize the world as they knew it. Many people made the claim in the past, but Desmond was getting so close.

Yet, there were many problems which were pushing him so far away, and he didn't like it.

"What do you mean my lab at Metropolis University has been compromised?" Desmond asked. "It was here again, wasn't it?"

"Yes, sir…it's…..well we looked around the lab, and the Hood laid out three bodies."

Desmond knew having these goons steal his own formula would be the best way to get out without his benefactors realizing it. The entire plan blew up in his face in the most frustrating way possible.

"And the serum, it's gone," Desmond said. "And let me guess, a figure in the green hood was spotted in the area."

"Yes, but there's something else."

Desmond took in a deep breath, trying not to lose his cool. It would be so very easy for him to lose his mind in a situation like this. Desmond mentally counted to ten and drew in his breath.

"What….what else could there be?" Desmond asked. "What other problems could there be?"

"The blur…he was sighted."

Desmond's mood threatened to go from bad to very much worse. He held the phone in hand, clutching it very tightly. His fingers almost turned white.

"The sample's been lost, and the Blur interfered in my operations."

Desmond, being an educated man, knew better than to ask whether or not things could get any worse. It would be a way to invite trouble of the worst kind. Desmond breathed in and breathed out, taking a few seconds to calm himself down.

Did he have other samples to use? Yes, Desmond did have other samples which he could use. It didn't matter though, the principle of the matter showed how little he hated of being stolen from. Desmond's hands clutched together around the phone.

"Tell your men, we need it recovered, by any means necessary," Desmond said. "I don't even need to explain to you how important it is to get my serum back."

Desmond felt like a marathon runner who had been tripped just when nearly crossing the finish line. No, he refused to, he would have his serum back. And the power which went along with the serum, there would be no question about it. Desmond took a deep breath.

"Very important, don't worry, boss, we'll get it back, we swear."

Desmond started to tilt his head back and mentally counted to ten. A headache raising up in his head made it very hard to concentrate.

' _The hooded vigilante, and the blur, on top of everything else….and….'_

The phone rang three times before Desmond answered it.

"Doctor Desmond," the garbled voice on the other end of the phone.

Desmond didn't need to ask whether or not things could get worse because they just did. His benefactor was on the other end of the phone.

"Is our serum ready?"

It didn't get lost on Desmond how they always referred to the item as their serum. It caused Desmond's blood to boil with more prominence. All of the hard work he accomplished, and they still wanted to claim full control of the serum, they wanted to declare it to be their serum.

Desmond would play their sick little game, for the moment, no matter how much he didn't like it, and he didn't like it at all.

"I have a sample ready," Desmond responded. "Or I will have a sample ready, once I establish it from scratch. The vigilante…."

"She attacked one of your labs," the man on the other end of the phone said. "HIVE is concerned…we need your serum to help build our army."

"And here I thought you had your little Doomsday weapon."

Desmond's commentary had been as cutting as one might expect from the likes of him. The representative on the other end of the phone gave a long pause, so long, Desmond thought the conversation had been terminated. If only he could be so fortunate.

"We do," the HIVE representative said on the other end of the line. "It never hurts to have a failsafe."

* * *

The last day's adventures had been very mind-numbing for Clark, which left him with more questions. The entire campus had been cleared out, and classes had been canceled for the day. The concerns of a terrorist being on the campus were enough to put people in a fit.

Clark thought he going to Metropolis would be a little bit more peaceful. He didn't have to deal with the meteor mutant of the week on a regular basis. However, what Clark wanted, and what would happen in reality, were two very different things.

Tess and Patricia called him and asked him to attend a meeting. Clark thought it would be rude not to accept their request. He arrived at LuthorCorp, which was being revamped. The security guard let him in right away.

Clark came across two redheads, who had been joined by a very attractive brunette as well. They were deep in conversation.

"And there's the man of the hour," Patricia said.

"Clark, come in, take a seat, make yourself at home," Tess said.

Tess looked like she wanted to jump him. She stayed professional because of the other person in the room. Clark walked across the room and sat down.

"Clark, this is Thea Queen," Patricia said. "She's the heiress of the Queen Legacy."

Clark remembered something about Thea's brother and parents dying a few years back. Now she was of age, she was in control of Queen Industries.

"It's nice to meet you," Clark said.

"Hey, nice to meet you, especially after Patricia and Tess were singing your praises," Thea said. "You must be good if you met their very high expectations."

She smiled at him which Clark returned. She crossed her legs to give Clark a nice look at them. And they were pretty nice to look at especially wrapped in those sheer stockings.

"Well, I do what I can," Clark said.

"Thea's deciding to….inherit her family's legacy in more ways than one," Tess said. "She knows about your night job…what you do in your spare time."

"And I'm glad you are," Thea said. "Someone needs to protect those people who can't really protect themselves. And I'm glad you're one of those people…and you might not remember me, but…..you saved me from a bus crash, a couple of years back."

"I think I've saved a lot of people from a lot of bus crashes," Clark said. "But, you're welcome…it's just in a day's work."

"I know," Thea said.

She had been in a pretty bad place in her life after her brother and parents died. She blew a good chunk on her inheritance on recreational activities, but her near-death experience gave Thea the shock needed to try and put her life back together.

"Tess called me, and I was very glad she did," Thea said. "We can put together a business deal. The Queens and the Luthors used to be business partners…at least until they had some kind of falling out."

Tess knew what the falling out was, and she would have to bring Thea in on the news when things settled down.

"I had some problems with the Board which Tess helped me sort out," Thea said. "I don't want to know what you do to have them back off of me and let me take control."

"It's best you never do," Tess said.

' _That way you can't be charged for anything.'_

"I hope to get to know you better, "Thea said. "But, I guess it's going to have to wait."

Her cell phone went off and Thea received a text message. She frowned when looking over the message.

"Because, there are still a few things at Queen Industries I need to take care of, "Thea said. "They're arguing with my head of IT about the feasibility of secure….obviously she knows better than they do…but you know how businessmen are."

"All too well," Tess said.

"It was nice meeting you," Clark said.

"Well, you barely did," Thea said. "Still, maybe I can buy you coffee or something….if our schedules ever line up?"

Tess smiled knowingly at what Thea's intentions. Clark either was playing it cool or displaying one of his moments of cheerful boy scout naivety

"Coffee would be nice."

Thea moved out of the side exit, and Clark watched her leave. She moved with a renewed vigor, although there was something about her which rang familiar. She did mention Clark saved her from a bus wreck, but she doubted it was that much.

Tess watched Thea leaving. The great universal crisis shift of doom caused everything to change, almost in a blink of an eye.

"So, I understand you were in the center of the attack of Doctor Desmond's lab," Tess said. "And I can't say I'm unhappy someone messed up his lab."

"How so?" Clark asked.

Tess was only too happy to enlighten Clark on the facts as best she knew them. "Desmond's been involved in some pretty shady stuff lately, and he's made all sorts of friends, and not exactly in very high places either. I'd keep an eye on anything he does."

"I'm sure you already are," Patricia said.

Tess smiled, was she really this predictable? Regardless, she was glad they thought well enough of her to think she was always on the ball and always keep an eye on people. And for people who threaten Clark, Tess would always keep an eye out on people who would threaten his interests. Not just because his interests were her interests as well.

"I just wish I knew more about the vigilante in the hood."

"Hmm," Tess muttered.

Clark raised his eyebrow, wondering whether or not it was a good hmm or a bad hmm. Regardless, his eyes locked onto Tess.

"I'm thinking the answers might be closer than you think," Tess said. "They might be right underneath your nose this entire time."

He could not make heads or tails of what Tess said, although she may have just given him a hint. Clark frowned, and the theory he had earlier was gaining more prominence.

* * *

"Yeah, I've heard about the mysterious girl in the green hood, "Chloe said. "Not sure what Hoody Girl's problem….although she's been targeting some pretty high-level targets, most likely scientists."

Chloe walked down the hallway, dressed in a robe, having just gotten out of the shower just a few minutes before Clark showed up. It was a real shame Clark didn't show up sooner because he could join her. She, Lois, and Lana pulled an all-nighter, and they got in some work as well.

Well, Lana and Chloe did, at the very least , once Lois blacked out from a few too many drinks.

"And if the scientists are half as shady as Mark Desmond, I guess you can see she thinks she's justified," Clark said. "I guess."

"Desmond's about as shady as they come," Chloe remarked, cupping a hand underneath her chin and frowning. "The guy's been rumored to trying to create a super soldier serum….you know, to replicate the one time someone actually did a super soldier serum correctly, during World War II."

Every other time after, from what Chloe could tell, had been a dismal and extremely obvious failure. She sighed and shook her head, directing her gaze towards Clark.

"She took something from the vault," Clark said. "I couldn't get a closer look because I had been preoccupied."

"Hoodie Girl knew you were coming then," Chloe said. "And she prepared to keep your attention occupied."

Clark watched as Chloe trailed off. Both of them knew someone studying his movements for any reason would have been a pretty bad idea. Regardless, he held Chloe close.

"I met Thea Queen today," Clark said.

"You mean the daughter of billionaire industrialist, Robert Queen, don't you?" Chloe asked. "That, Thea Queen?"

"Yes, her," Clark said. "I find it very odd this Hooded Vigilante comes into town, just the moment she does."

"Clark, are you sure you're not leaping to conclusions?"

Chloe's question was a pretty good one and maybe Clark was leaping to conclusions of some kind, or maybe he had a pretty good idea what was going on. All he could do was frown and consider every angle of this situation in his mind. Thea could have been the hooded vigilante, it was very possible.

The side door opened, and Lana made her way out of the room. She dressed in lacy black lingerie, and the moment she saw Clark, she smiled.

"Clark," Lana said. "Well, this is something nice to wake up to."

Lana walked over and wrapped her arms around Clark's head. She looked a little bit tipsy, and Clark had to hold her up.

"You would think she would be able to hold her intake better, "Chloe said. "Lois is worse off."

Lana attacked Clark's mouth with a sensual kiss, working her tongue deep into the back of his mouth. Clark grabbed the back of her head and returned fire with a kiss of his own. He backed Lana up against the wall and she moaned in excitement, pressing her body against his.

Clark released her mouth, smiling. Lana was glad he kissed her, it felt really amazing. Chloe moved over.

"And I was rude enough to give you an appropriate greeting," Chloe said.

Chloe wanted some of Clark, and she was going to do what she could get it. Lana moved behind Clark and started to run her fingers down his stomach while kissing him on the back of the neck. Chloe leaned in and kissed Clark down the side of his neck. Both of the girls made quick work of Clark's shirt and guided him into the bedroom.

Lois pulled herself up to a sitting position on the bed and groaned obviously. The moment Clark stepped inside, Lois raised an eyebrow and shrugged.

"Oh, good morning, Smallville," Lois said.

She watched when Lana and Chloe guided Clark down on the bed. Lois crawled over, having fallen asleep in her jeans from the night before and a black bra. She couldn't be bothered to change into her night clothes.

Lana and Chloe already had Clark out of his pants, which Lois was grateful for because she doubted such complicated things like clothing would be good for her psyche these early in the morning.

' _They say sex is the best cure for a hangover,'_ Lois said. _'Well, I don't think anyone says it….but fuck it. Let's go with it."_

* * *

Lana and Chloe had Clark's boxer shorts off and his long cock extending to the heavens. Chloe leaned over towards him and wrapped her warm lips against the tip of Clark's throbbing manhood. She looked down at him, working her moist lips all the way down him.

Clark leaned back to enjoy the pleasure of Lana and Chloe alternating between a few sucks. Lois finally joined in and decided to take Clark's cock all the way down her throat. She pulled herself away from him and unclipped her bra. Her breasts bounced up and Lois leaned down to capture his cock.

"It feels so good, doesn't it?" Lois asked.

Lois wrapped her breasts around Clark's throbbing manhood, working his rod up and down. Every time Clark pushed between Lois's heaving chest pillows, she captured the head of his cock. She licked him and released Clark before moving down to stroke his balls.

Chloe took off her robe and already, Lana grabbed Chloe and kissed her. Chloe rolled over and returned fire with a deeper kiss. She pinned Lana underneath the bed. Her fingers rubbed down Lana's trim stomach and reached closer towards her heated mound.

"You're wet for me already?" Chloe asked.

Lana answered with a nod, biting down on her lip. Chloe shifted Lana's panties back a fraction of an inch and revealed her moist pussy. She didn't have enough after last night, not Chloe complained. She was just making an observation. Her first finger shifted an inch inside of Chloe's dripping mouth.

"That's right, take your big cock and pound my breasts! It makes me feel so good."

Lois forgot about the hangover and instead worked over Clark's throbbing manhood with her warm breasts. She rubbed his manhood in between her generous mountains of flesh. Clark closed his eyes and felt the rush of Lois's warm flesh enclosing him. She leaned down and kissed Clark's head, smiling when coming back up from him. She continued stroking Clark, making him harder.

Seconds later, Lois pulled away from Clark and got onto the bed. Clark climbed behind her and started to grab her body. His strong hands groped Lois's sizeable chest. She breathed heavily when Clark ran his hands down her ass, clad in jeans still from earlier.

Clark spanked Lois which caused her to whimper.

"Tell me how much you want it."

"Badly," Lois whimpered.

Clark peeled her jeans off. Her ass had been covered with transparent black panties which made Clark harden even more with desire.

Speaking of desire, Chloe buried her face between Lana's thighs and ate her out. Lana wrapped her thighs around Chloe's head and pumped herself into Chloe's waiting mouth.

"More," Lana murmured. "Give me more….so much more."

Lana reached the peak of pleasure with Chloe's tongue shifting deeper inside of her dripping hot cunt. She swirled around. The sound of Lois's screams only had been more.

Clark buried himself inside of Lois. She looked over her shoulder and smiled at him. Clark reached over to caress Lois's body, feeling the firmness underneath his hands. He cupped her breasts and rammed harder into her. He worked her up as slow as he could before alternating between some fast thrusts and some slow thrusts.

Lois closed her eyes, pleased when Clark buried his manhood working into her body. Clark's balls slapped against Lois's cunt. He explored the insides of her warm tightness, rocking deeper into her. Every thrust caused sparks to fly through her body.

Chloe moved over to put her thighs over Lana's face while still eating her out. Watching Clark drill her cousin on the other end of the bed made Chloe burn with desire and want him so badly.

Both Lana and Chloe ate each other out in a sixty-nine position. Their tongues swirled inside, both trying to scoop the nectar out. Chloe grabbed onto Lana and squeezed her ass which only encouraged Lana to drive her tongue further inside Chloe's very moist, dripping cunt.

Clark throbbed hard inside of Lois at the sound before him. He pushed deeper into her. The orgasm spreading through Lois's body resulted in a hard clamping down on his cock.

"Yes, it's a good hangover cure, isn't it?" Clark asked.

"What, getting your brains fucked out?" Lois asked.

Clark smiled and pushed his manhood deep inside of Lois's body.

Lois felt all of her sexual desires increase. Every time Clark pushed into her, she had been driven further to the brink of madness. Those balls reminded her of how much he had stored inside of her.

Clark reached his peak, but not before Lois reached hers. He pushed himself into her tight body, her insides squeezing down on Clark's probing prick.

The discharge of fluids fired inside of Lois's snatch. Lois saw stars after the orgasm to end all orgasms. He buried his hard rod deep inside of Lois's warm snatch, draining the seed inside of her. His balls contracted and released the seed inside of her.

Clark pulled away from Lois, allowing her to drop down on the bed.

The moment Clark had been done, Lana took advantage of the momentary distraction to walk over to Clark and take his hard rod into her mouth. Lana sucked him up to full strength.

Chloe, a bit miffed Lana cut in line, decided to take her aggressions out on Lois. She crawled on top of her cousin and grabbed Lois, before giving her a warm kiss.

Lois wasn't entirely surprised by Chloe kissing her, and she really did have to kiss back. The two of them exchanged a passionate kiss before Chloe moved down and started to kiss the side of Lois's neck. She traveled down to suck Lois's neck to cause some sharp moans.

"Chloe!"

"You know, you two look hot together, "Clark said.

Lana nodded her head in confirmation, but couldn't say much on the account of having Clark's throbbing hard rod in her mouth. She sucked in. The combination of Lois's juices with Clark's wasn't too bad, although Lana much preferred licking her own juices clean off of Clark's throbbing hard manhood.

She pulled back with a smile and spread her tanned thighs on the bed.

"Clark, I'm ready."

Lana flickered her finger in the inside of her pussy, giving Clark the invitation. His hardened cock needed to accept the charges and he did, working his way between Lana's thighs. Lana spread herself wide out and took Clark between her thighs.

"Yes!" Lana yelled.

Clark pushed into her, feeling how tight she was.

Lois thought she was going to die because of what Chloe did to her. Chloe used her mouth to worship Lois's nipples, and then squeezed her round breasts. She grabbed Chloe's breasts as well, larger from her additions in recent months.

Chloe smiled and planted more kisses down her cousin's body. Every time she touched Lois, there was a very obvious shudder coming from her body.

"Chloe, oh god!" Lois moaned.

Lana clenched Clark. He pulled from her body so the tip rested at Lana's entrance. A very long moment passed with Clark shoving his manhood deep inside of Clark. His balls almost bottomed out inside of Lana's tight, clenching snatch. Clark held her hips and rose up into her before bringing himself down into her.

The ritual had been repeated several times. Clark worked his rod deep inside of Lana. She grabbed onto Clark, breathing heavily.

The orgasm firing through her body felt so very good. Lana couldn't even describe how good she was feeling, the more Clark pushed himself into her.

"More,"

Lana grabbed the back of Clark's head and moaned in her ear. Clark shoved more of his thick tool deep inside of her moist, clenching snatch. The two of them exchanged pumps with each other.

"Fuck," Clark breathed. "You're so tight."

"And that's what you love."

Lana squeezed him hard as he pumped inside the dark-haired vixen with all of his might. Every thrust brought new pleasure. Clark's caressed her body when also driving his cock inside of her. She knew the end would be, but would she be awake enough to feel it?

She sure hoped so. Clark drove his massive phallus into her wet body. Lana clenched onto him, feeling the pleasure spreading through her body.

"Yes, more, more, please."

Lana's pussy throbbed with anticipation every single time Clark drove himself into her. He sped up a little bit, rocking her body with a fluid pattern. He massaged Lana's legs when rocking her. It just made her even wetter and wanted his cock even more.

Clark buried his throbbing hard cock deep inside of the moist cunt of his lover. For the second time tonight, his balls strained, and were about ready to unload inside of Lana. Clark picked up the pace, riding his lover's pussy to the edge.

Lana breathed in and breathed out, Clark was very close at unloading inside of her. She needed every drop of his seed buried inside of her like there was no tomorrow.

Clark clenched and released his bounty into Lana. Lana grabbed onto him to make sure he did not pull out until completely finished.

"I love you," Lana moaned.

She said these words before fading into the pleasure. Clark filled her up with so much seed, it already started to spurt out of Lana before he was done spurting into her.

"I always have loved you….all of you," Clark said.

Clark rolled off of her, leaving Lana's pussy spasm.

Chloe sensed Clark's movement and like a hungry tigress, she pounced on top of him.

"Well, are you ready for the main event?" Chloe asked.

She ground against Clark's throbbing hard cock, trapping it between her thighs. Clark reached up and grabbed Chloe by the back of her hair to hold her into place. He forcefully kissed Chloe, which she returned quite eagerly.

"You think highly of yourself."

Chloe smiled and rubbed herself against Clark's cock a little bit more. One more swift movement impaled Chloe down onto Clark's cock. The massive manhood filled her tight body. Pleasure exploded through every fiber of Chloe, from the top of her head down to the tips of her toes. Clark leaning in to suck her breasts made Chloe's toes practically cure in desire.

Clark showed he could still do it, after a couple of intense rounds with Lana and Lois. They still hadn't found his limits, which was a good thing. It gave plenty more room for experimentation.

Chloe and Clark became an entangled mess of limbs and lips, kissing and suckling each other. Chloe worked her tongue deeper into the back of Clark's mouth, working into him and then pulling out of him. They exchanged a hungry kiss with each other, which deepened every moment.

"Good," Chloe moaned. "More, please."

Chloe's nipple hardened and Clark took it between his fingers. He tweaked it with one hand and grabbed Chloe's rear end with one hand. He guided her up and down on him. She hugged his cock while bringing herself down onto his balls.

"So much," Chloe said.

She enjoyed Clark's big throbbing balls and the amount of seed which could be in them. Chloe bounced higher and higher, waiting for her orgasm to hit. And it did hit and hit in a very big way. Her breasts bounced and Clark leaned in, sucking her nipples very hard to bring more pleasure to her.

"Yes, very good," Chloe mewled hotly. "Give me all of your love."

Clark was going to give her everything she ever wanted and so much more. Chloe leaned in, shoving one nipple into Clark's eager mouth. Clark sucked it hard.

The exchanged their passionate love making for quite some time. Lana and Lois intertwined themselves in each other and waited for their turn.

Nothing mattered to Chloe, in the present, then giving Clark so much pleasure.

"You're amazing, Chloe," Clark said.

"Nice for you to see so," Chloe said. "Now, are you going to share some of the love? I know you have enough in those big balls for a couple of rounds….so why don't you shoot cum in my nice….tight…wet….pussy?"

Chloe brought her wet pussy down onto Clark and squeezed him very tightly. Her wet center grabbed Clark and released him with a few intense squeezes. Chloe rocked up and down on him, slowly bringing his hard cock into her with a fluid motion.

"I want all of your cum," Chloe said. "Please, Clark."

"Well, since you asked so nicely."

Clark gave one more thrust. The muscles tightened and he started to unleash seed inside of Chloe's wet cunt. She squeezed him and worked Clark's love muscle.

The two exchanged fluids with each other. Chloe milked Clark all the way to completion, every burst of cum shooting new pleasure in her body.

Clark gave Chloe one final kiss as she pulled herself away from his cock. She fell back onto the bed, with a smile on her face.

Lana and Lois pounced and took turns in licking Chloe's wet pussy. Clark took advantage of their open and willing pussies by finger-fucking swift and fast to kick off a new round of sexual bliss between the four.

* * *

Mark Desmond had the serum ready and several representatives of HIVE closed in to watch.

"Watch closely," Desmond responded. "You'll be amazed. You think I'm some run of the mill drone…but now I'm going to show you how successful my work is. I'll test it on myself."

"Yes, because it always works so well."

Desmond ignored the cutting remark from the HIVE representative and took a syringe before injecting the serum into himself.

"I can feel it, the changes….my body, my mind, they are all…changing."

Desmond's shirt rips off and he turns into a large brutish monster, skin an ugly color. He grabbed one of the HIVE representatives by the throat and choked the life out of him.

"Blockbuster will have power, that Desmond didn't have…."

Bones snapped. Some of the HIVE representatives departed from the scene. Others were not so lucky to do so.

Blockbuster ripped the spine of one of the goons out and his broken body dropped to the ground with a bang.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on 5/14/2017.**

* * *

 _So, to pull back the curtain with the Green Arrow, I had four different ideas of the person underneath the hood. The first would be a gender-swapped, Olivia Queen if you will. The second would have been Artemis Crock, which has been done in a couple of stories. The third one would have been Sara Lance, like in my Under the Hood stories. And then, it would bring Thea into this universe and make her the Green Arrow. I threw them in the Randomizer, and Thea won the deal, so there you go. It could have gone anyway though._


	37. Chapter 37

**Chapter Thirty-Seven: Blockbuster Part Two.**

* * *

The girl in green dropped down onto the ground. The door looked to have been ripped off of the hinges by some mysterious force, which she couldn't really tell what it was. Only, someone ripped the door of the hinges and did it in a less than sophisticated manner.

Further evidence of this person's rampage littered the room as she moved closer to position. The girl's heart beat even faster when moving into position.

' _Damn, this person really was playing for keeps.'_

A thought went through her mind, tormenting her about the fact that whoever did this, wasn't exactly playing with a full deck of cards. No, far from it, they were a very dangerous person. She made sure the quiver had been secured over her shoulder, bow in hand, and without another word, stepped inside to see what could be done. Her heart hammered hard when thinking about what she had to go up against this time.

' _Now, let's see what he stole. If he stole anything. It looks like he had gone on a rampage. Or they, this might have been an entire group of people._

Another set of chemicals which fit the patterns of all of the other thefts were here. The hooded vigilante took half of a step into the room and turned her head to the right, and then turned her head to the left, before lurching her head forward into the distance. Her heart kept beating firmly against her chest when moving further into the distance.

Several of the tables in the lab had been overturned. It gave her a perfect amount of cover to move into position. Her head thumped when moving into battle. She looked high into the air, craning her neck a fraction of an inch back, before craning it forward one more time.

Still, nothing, although there was still plenty of time to find something. She wondered if the person who broke in left the lab was still nearby.

' _Tread softly.'_

No, a sound of something crumbling in the lab next to her caused the archer to put on high alert. She stepped into the lab, moving in the shadows. Someone growled in a hideous manner, not bothering to say a single word outside of some loud growls.

The archer almost dropped the bow when walking closer to the situation. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and she could only mouth one thing.

"What the hell?"

She ran not into a man, but a hideous monster, standing a good eight feet tall, with leathery skin and claws in his hand. He shifted through the cabinets, without any word. His movements alternated between ruthless efficiency and manic, mindless searching.

The monster turned around and growled before rushing at the hooded girl. The hooded girl flipped and stuck a landing down on the edge of the table. The monster ran through the table, almost knocking it over. She landed down on the ground in front of him.

The monster lifted up a heavy piece of equipment and chucked it all the way across the room. She dodged out of the way, slid her quiver off of her shoulder, loaded up the bow, and fired an arrow. Two more arrows fired at a rapid succession, both of them bouncing off of the large chest of the creature.

The arrows had absolutely no effect on the monster. They just enraged the beast even more. Another sharp arrow caught the monster in the side and it only enraged him. She kept firing a rapid barrage of arrows, most of them only causing the monster's rage to increase. The regular arrows only had the effect of enraging the monster. One could say the monster had been completely and utterly pissed off.

She pulled out an arrow and shot it. The arrow released a combustion of fire which caused the monster to light up like a Roman candle. There's no effect on the monster, who rushed towards her.

She did a deadly ducking and dodging routine, to try and wear the monster down.

"Crush hood girl!" Blockbuster yelled. "You will pay for what you did! I will annihilate you!"

The monster appeared to be slipping back and forth between more intelligent speech, and also brutish speech. This very fact just confused the woman in question when dodging his attacks. Those attacks further tried to nail the girl.

The girl landed on her feet, the wind rocked out of her body. The monster grabbed her about the area of the head and hurled her down onto the ground. A large metal table slid into her ribs and knocked her into the wall. The woman flipped over and landed with a solid thud.

She tried to reach for her bow, not it worked well. The monster picked up the bow and crushed it into absolute nothingness. This action forced the hooded archer to take a step back.

' _Liked that bow….also like my face…..'_

The monster rose his fist and tried to bring it down to said face. She moved out of the way, just barely and he rattled the ground with a punch.

"Come on!"

"No! Crush!"

She stabbed him into the eye with an arrow which resulted in the creature recoiling in thinly veiled agony. The creature twisted his head around and snarled even more when rushing into position to attack his adversary.

Blockbuster was not going to let this one go without a fight. He grabbed onto the ankles of the girl in the hood and dragged her back towards the center of the room. She struggled against the grip of the menacing monster, but there was no way out from where she was going. She rose up, breathing heavily.

In a blink of an eye, a blur came into the room and caught Blockbuster in the face with a huge punch.

Clark skidded to a stop and looked towards Blockbuster. Blockbuster grunted when looked towards the man who punched him in the face.

"Let's see if you can make something against someone closer to your own weight class," Clark said.

"Crush you!"

Blockbuster charged Clark and punched at him. Clark blocked the punch from the monster and returned fire with an uppercut of his own. Blockbuster had been launched up into the air and knocked back. The creature bounced up, his durable flesh absorbing two more of Clark's best punches.

The Kryptonian speared him down to the ground at super-speed. The wind had been knocked out of Blockbuster, who rose back up. Despite the rib shattering attacks, he still had something left in him.

Clark went for a jab which Blockbuster blocked and he hoisted Clark up over his head.

The hooded vigilante reached into her quiver and grabbed an arrow. She reared back to jab the arrow into the back of Blockbuster's knee. The arrow connected firmly with its target point. The monster howled and dropped Clark down to the ground.

Clark knocked Blockbuster back with a haymaker punch. The monster rolled over, and grabbed two vials of chemicals, before dumping them into a bucket. The third chemical dumped into the bucket created a highly explosive chemical cocktail.

He had some level of intelligence left, and Clark looked at the bubbling pail. He leaned down and picked up the not so mysterious hooded girl underneath his arm and jumped into the sky, bringing her out of there.

The abandoned lab went sky high just as Clark cleared it. The injured woman leaned against him when Clark flew off into the distance.

* * *

Thea Queen's eyes slowly opened up and realized she was naked. Well, not naked in the way she didn't have any clothes on, but naked in the sense she wasn't wearing her hood. She changed into a tank top and a pair of black sweatpants. She rose to a standing position and coughed while looking around.

"I wouldn't stand, you suffered a serious rib injury which isn't fully healed."

Thea turned her attention towards the woman with blonde hair who smiled. She felt a few aches and pains, but other than that, it wasn't too bad. It would have been worse if she hadn't been saved. Yet, she should not have needed to get saved.

It was a serious and complete blow to her ego.

"So, how are you feeling?"

Clark turned up in front of her. Thea responded with a frown.

"Very exposed," Thea said. "You know who I am, underneath the hood."

The smile of the Kansas farm boy, and secret alien survivor of a dead planet, only increased.

"Well, I knew who you were before you had been brought here," Clark said. "But, this just confirmed what I thought."

Thea didn't really know what to say about it. She didn't think the secret identity thing would last forever, given the situation. The woman rose herself up almost to a standing position and collapsed down onto the bench, breathing heavily.

"You got knocked around very good, kid."

Thea turned her attention towards Tess, who stood at the edge of the Fortress. The lack of surprise on Tess's face just made Thea throw her head back.

"You knew as well, didn't you?" Thea asked.

"Well, it wasn't hard to put together who had the motive and the means," Tess said. "Who would be good enough to tie up all of those loose ends, to be honest?"

Thea leaned back a fraction of an inch to the side and really wished the rib injury would heal so she would get off and ground.

"I'd just be better off knowing what hit me and how " Thea said.

"Desmond might have found a way to create the super soldier serum," Tess said. "And in the tradition of all brilliant scientists, he tested it on itself."

"Whoa, whoa, wait whoa, time out?" Thea asked. "Are you telling me the monster I fought was Desmond?"

This bit of news completely and totally floored Thea in many ways. A mild-mannered scientist turning into a raging monster, a hulking beast, to be honest, it sounded like something out of a comic book. Yet, it was there, in real life.

"Yeah, it seems to be," Clark said. "He showed some skills, creating an explosive chemical to get some distance."

"Maybe he perished in the explosion, and we don't have to deal with him," Thea said.

The hope in her voice almost made Clark respond with a smile.

"Oh, we could only be so lucky," another voice said. Thea turned around and saw a busty blonde making her way towards the room. She was a sucker for blondes, especially ones that looked like that. "I'm Karen, by the way , or Kara….it's a long story…a very long story."

Thea could tell by the look on her face the long story involved something which would give her a headache. She saw a couple more people fluttering around the Fortress. Thea leaned back and tried to keep herself calm. So many people knew her secret identity, which she thought might be a bad thing.

Of course, they figured it out already, in the case of Clark and Tess, the others, she couldn't say. Plus, as Thea reminded herself, she knew what Clark was all about for years before she decided to start dressing up like a Gender Bent Robin Hood and shooting people with arrows.

"Desmond going off of his leash is a problem," Tess said. "He was working with HIVE."

"Past tense?" Thea asked.

"Yes, past tense," Tess responded. "Do you really think they would have authorized him going on a rampage like he did?"

Thea responded by shaking her head in response. She didn't know much about HIVE, other than what her sources backed up. They had their hands in all sorts of illegal activities, and they would want to change the world, by bending it to their own image. To Thea, this all held the ingredients for a recipe of disaster.

"His HIVE masters are going to want damage control," Thea said. "And Desmond is smart enough to…."

"I'm not sure if he's smart much longer," Tess said.

"Oh, I don't know," Clark responded. "He seemed plenty smart enough when he whipped up the chemical cocktail and tried to blow us straight into another world."

HIVE popping up with more regularity made Clark concerned. Claire mentioned them in an almost offhand matter during the first time they met several months ago. HIVE's danger and menace factor increased the more Clark thought about them.

' _They are being a problem.'_

"Actually, I think if he's doing what I think he's doing, then his intelligence is fading every time he uses his strength."

The group turned to give their full attention to Raya, who stepped into the picture. Raya blew back a lock of her blonde hair when walking forward.

"You think he's losing his intelligence?" Clark asked.

"With these super soldier serums, they give the person extreme strength and durability," Raya said. "All at the cost of causing their intelligence to fade."

"Why would anyone do something like that to themselves?" Clark asked.

"Greed, and bragging rights to be the strongest there is," Karen offered.

"Krypton has done these experiments a few times," Lara said. "They haven't ended well. The Council finally wised up and banned then after a while."

"So, we're going to have a rampaging monster without any thought of destruction on our hand," Clark said.

"Yes, but we have no idea how long it's going to take," Tess said. "And he can be going anywhere in the world."

Tess closed her eyes and tried to figure out where they were going to go next. One thing was for certain, they were dealing with a very dangerous threat.

"HIVE has powerful brokers in almost thirty different countries, including this one," Tess said. "At least, as far as I know."

Clark assumed, perhaps not wrongly, Tess knew more than most.

"I might also have a good idea where Desmond is heading next if he's following his established patterns," Thea said. "If you…"

Thea really wished she could move around a lot easier, but with her ribs still being tender, it was very hard for her to even breathe. Hopefully, everyone would improve for her.

* * *

Desmond hunched over a chalkboard where he scratched out the formula. He read it over a couple of times.

"No, not right….need to stabilize, before it's too late!" Desmond growled. "BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"

The serum worked out rather well at first, it increased the man's strength and made him able to handle anyone. Including the HIVE goons who ended up trying to take him down, Desmond clung onto the memories of ripping them completely to shreds.

Desmond gritted his teeth when scratching more of the formula down on the board. He tried to raise a fist and smashed it through the board.

"Got to keep calm."

Every single moment he worked on the formula, less of Desmond clung onto his mind, and more of Blockbuster tried to appear through the surface. The monster scratched on the other side.

"Calm down."

Desmond picked up a vial, and looked it, struggling to comprehend what this formula did. More facts slowly slid out of his mind the more he looked at the vial. His shaking hand almost dropped the chemical down and it smashed to the ground.

The chemical smoked on the ground. Desmond reared back his head and howled like a crazed madman.

The window opened, and he turned around. Desmond turned around and came face to face with the girl dressed in green. The same girl who failed his men, and jabbed an arrow through his knee, he remembered this woman. It healed, but he wasn't going to ever forgive the woman for that.

"You!" Desmond yelled. "Crush you and then fix me!"

Desmond needed to finish her off quickly, so he could get back to finish the formula to boost his brain power before said brain power.

"Come on, I'm right here."

Blockbuster rushed towards the hooded figure and she jumped out of the way. She watched Blockbuster fly out of the window and land on a set of rocks. He bounced back up to a standing position, right in time to see the hooded archer drop down several steps aside from him.

"Come on, get me!"

Thea hoped this plan, as mad as it seemed on the surface, would actually work. She followed the progress of Blockbuster charging her. Blockbuster swung a huge punch towards her. The hood dropped down onto the ground and fired an arrow towards him. The arrow enraged the monster, which was her plan to get him to move closer towards him.

"Just a little closer, come on!" she yelled.

Blockbuster rushed towards the attacker again. More of Desmond slipped away with each passing second and he became an unmistakable ball of rage. His huge hands charged towards her, swinging like a wrecking ball. The Hooded figure dropped down to avoid the attack.

"Blockbuster crush Green Arrow."

"No, Green Arrow lure Blockbuster into trap."

Blockbuster looked up to the sky. A blonde haired blur came in and nailed Blockbuster in the side of the face. The imprint of a fist had been nailed.

Karen flew back, hand sore from the impact. Blockbuster's face felt like it had been carved out of stone!

Clark came right into the battle, going faster than a speeding bullet. He nailed Blockbuster and sent him flying. Blockbuster flipped over the ground and turned around just in time to get another punch from Clark.

The two Kryptonians used their heat vision in tandem to back Blockbuster back. He growled in response when stepping back.

Both of them reared back and caught Blockbuster with a double punch which sent him flying into the lab.

"No, must get stronger...much crush….super people!"

Blockbuster gagged and gasped when trying to bring himself back to a standing position. He took two of the chemicals and hastily mixed them together into a syringe.

Clark came on through to put the finishing touches on him, just in time to see Blockbuster jab himself with something. His body swelled up, bulging with heavy muscles everywhere. He turned into a more grotesque version of himself, bulging like a monster.

Karen took a step back to fully see the degeneration of this monster. What little intelligence he had, burned away as he grew more grotesque.

"The formula was incomplete, wasn't it?" Karen asked. "I don't think this is going to work out."

"Desmond, listen to me!" Clark yelled. "You need to….."

Desmond picked up the entire table, chemicals and all. They splashed on the ground and the mixture caused a huge fire through the lab. The monster hurled the table towards the two Kryptonians, who forced them to scatter.

Karen coughed, the chemicals made her eyes water. She took one look at Desmond who inflated to grotesque and almost cartoonish proportions. His head swelled larger, despite his intelligence being less than ever before. The monster swung those huge flying pan hands towards both of the Kryptonians.

"His organs, they're swelling up," Karen said. "They're going to burst."

Blockbuster's punches also packed more of a punch. He started to smash through the lab.

Thea watched when the new and improved Blockbuster lumbered around. He moved slow, but when he connected, it looked like his fists could punch mountains. One of them rocked the ground where she stood on. Thea shook back.

Thea doubted any of her arrows could pack a punch enough to take down Blockbuster.

"Desmond, you're going to…."

Karen jumped into the air and nailed Blockbuster in the side of the neck before he attacked. Blockbuster howled and then leaned back, clutching his chest.

"We better get out of here!" Karen yelled.

Both of them backed off, as Blockbuster looked like he was going to reach critical mass. The two of them moved over, with Clark picking up Thea, and scooping him under his arm.

The three of them moved off to a safe distance, just in time to see the lab go up in a fiery wreckage. The hell and carnage displayed a fair amount of chaos.

"And that's the end of him," Thea said.

Clark would have liked to interrogate him, to figure out what his bosses were up to, but at the same time, didn't think it would be possible, even if they could get Desmond out of here.

* * *

"Well, we've managed to salvage some of Desmond, including a usable blood sample," Tess responded. "So, we'll be able to figure out if we can find out anything."

Tess joined Clark and Karen in studying the remains of Desmond. Most had perished, but there was just enough to hopefully figure out some answers. Or just raise even more questions, it was very possible as well.

She slipped the sample of blood underneath the microscope and looked at it. Every second Tess studied the blood, her frown deepened and darkened.

"Let me guess, there's some bad news," Karen said.

"Take a look at the blood samples, and you tell me," Tess said.

The vagueness of Tess's statement worried Karen greatly. She took Tess's place behind the microscope and peered down, studying the blood.

"Damn," Karen said. "Some of the cells in here look very Kryptonian, at least in base."

She moved forward so Clark could take a closer look. Clark bent down and studied the cells.

"So, HIVE got their hands on some Kryptonian DNA," Clark said.

"I'm pretty sure it isn't yours, and like Kara said, it's Kryptonian in base only," Tess said. "There are a lot of intangibles….and I wonder if this is based on someone's research to try and replicate you."

"Meaning?" Clark asked.

"Meaning, I'm going to have to have a talk with Lex and Lionel," Tess said. "One or both might know something, even if they aren't saying anything."

Lionel had been saying the word "Doomsday" with more frequency and more urgency than ever before. Lex, they didn't even get that much from. It made Tess very frustrated because two men, who always had a lot to say, turned into mutes.

' _When you don't want them to talk, they never shut up. When you want them to talk, they won't say a peep.'_

Tess only could terrorize what happened, and she did have her theories.

A light knock on the door caused the three of them to turn around. Thea stood, looking like she had just walked out of a board meeting the way she was dressed.

"Can I borrow Clark for a minute?" Thea asked.

"As long as you return him in one piece," Tess said. "We kind of need him."

The two women exchanged smiles with each other.

"Hey, you don't need to tell me, I already know," Thea said.

The two of them walked in. Thea smiled when turning to Clark.

"Thank you for saving me from getting flattened," Thea said. "I really want to thank you in fact, and show you how much your heroism is appreciated."

"It's not a problem," Clark said. "All in a day's work."

"The least you can do is let me buy you dinner," Thea said.

"I'd be honored, "Clark said.

Thea looked up for a moment. Her parents and brother were long gone, and she was the final part of the Queen dynasty. She almost snuffed it out by throwing her life away.

It was time to step up and join Tess and Patricia in their assistance of the Traveler.

"I wonder what HIVE's going to be up to next," Thea said.

"Well, whatever it is, it's not good."

"And we'll stop them," Thea said.

After all of HIVE had done, all she heard, they needed to be stopped. And Thea only heard a few things, so she doubted they very scratched the surface.

"Thanks again, and….we'll make arrangements for dinner later."

Thea kissed Clark on the cheek, paused, before leaning back and giving him a proper kiss on the lips. Clark had been surprised at her daring.

She moved off without another word, leaving him to ponder on their little encounter.

"Oh, we certainly well, Ms. Queen."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on May 21** **st** **, 2017.**


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter Thirty-Eight: Let's Play a Game Part One**

* * *

Thea Queen leaned back in a chair, her hand almost slipping off of her chin. She thought these board meetings should be called "bored" meetings because it was mind-numbing and boring to be sitting here, listening to a bunch of stuffed suits droning on about facts, figures, and projections. They could make a report on bloody carnage seem dull and lifeless, honestly.

' _Well, it looks like we're doing good this quarter. A bit better than the last one. Not as good as the one before it. Way better than the one before that. But, if you could get to the point that would be great.'_

She really wanted to get out of there. Thea's eyes glazed over. It was like being back in school, only somehow worse, and also somehow, more mind-numbingly boring. Thea leaned back, cupping a hand underneath her chin, and trying not to fall asleep. It had been easy.

The loud droning voice dropped a lot of facts and figures on her constantly.

Thea looked alert when the members of the Board looked towards her. Tess sat at the edge of the table and gave Thea a sympathetic smile as if to say it would all be over soon enough.

' _Just grin it and bear it, Queen. It will be over before you know it.'_

"While last month's quarter has had a significant upkeep from the month before, we still are well beneath projections," one of the men droned in his obviously monotone voice. "We should consider cutting further costs by releasing at least a quarter of our workforce…"

"I told you, we aren't doing that," Thea said.

It was their solution to everything. Cut people from the workforce. They were cutting productivity out. Thea knew if they stayed the course, they would increase their profitability in a year or so.

Unfortunately, these people looked at what the books would look like a quarter from now.

"Ms. Queen, you need to understand, sacrifices have to be made. Your parents would have done the same thing."

"Yes, they would have, but I'm taking Queen Industries in a new direction, and it doesn't involve cutting people just so we can make projections," Thea said. "We don't need to cut people, to make money. We need to encourage the people we have to be more productive and come up with new fresh ideas. Our partnership with LuthorCorp will help us, as you see by Ms. Mercer's presence at today's board meeting."

The members of the board made themselves fully aware of Tess's presence there, and they didn't like how she came in and pretty much told them how things were going to work from here all out. The woman had been very savvy in telling them the facts of the matter.

"I think Ms. Queen has a point," Tess said. "Those who cut a large amount of their workforce are just putting a band-aid over an amputated arm. You aren't addressing the problems in this company. Everyone in this company has a vital part to play, a large role within this company."

They all nodded in response as the Queen heiress picked up where the head of LuthorCorp left off.

"And you did say profits were slightly up last month," Thea said. "If we keep with the current course, then they can be up even higher this month. We just need to keep moving forward in the right direction."

Thea might as well have been speaking Greek to the members of the Board. They looked at her like she grew a second head. Thea might not have had their fancy business degrees, but she learned a thing or two about human nature.

She honestly hoped her words drilled into the skulls of these people, even though Thea suspected they would be very stubborn, to be honest. Tess explained about her own challenges of the LuthorCorp Board of Directions, and how Tess had to dig up incriminating information them to put them in line. Thea wouldn't want to go as far as Tess did, but there was something which needed to be done.

"So, let's put it to a vote…should we start cutting people?"

"Well, if you want to start cutting costs," Thea said. "Let's start by cutting the salaries of some of the highest paid people in this company."

The wind had been taken out of the sails of the Board, given some of the people with the highest salaries sat around the table. None of them wanted to give up their fancy salaries for even a minute. Some of them looked nervous at what Thea said. All Thea could do was flash a little smile. Their discomfort improved her mood.

' _Checkmate,'_ Thea thought to herself, gleefully.

The members of the Board anxiously shifted around the table, waiting to see where they would go next.

"Perhaps we should table the motion until next month, and see how this company grows before we do anything so irrational," one of the Board Members said. "And I think we can draw this meeting to a conclusion. Until the same time, the third Friday of the month."

"I can hardly wait," Thea dryly responded.

She would be dreading every single second before going into the Board Meeting with these people. Regardless, at least it was done, and Thea could finally sit back and relax, at least she hoped so.

Tess waited until all of the Board Members left before turning towards her young protégé with a smile.

"Well, you really made them nervous."

Thea just smiled at Tess. They were not really someone she liked to deal with. Therefore making them nervous was a victory. They clung to the old ways and saw her as nothing but another heiress who did not understand how business worked. Thea understood perfectly more than most thought of how to play the game.

"It was a gambit, and I wasn't sure it would work," Thea said. "They really are eating too much money, for what they bring to the company, which isn't at all."

When her parents and brother had died, and Thea was in a bad place, the members of the Board decided to sink the company in the ground, by giving themselves raises, laying off half of the workforce, and eliminating several projects which could actually have promise, if they had been given half of the chance.

"They're being their usual stubborn selves, I'm afraid," Thea said.

"Yes," Tess said. "It's one of the common hazards of dealing with the Board of Directors in any company."

A knock on the door caused Thea to look up. She was about ready to leave because she had a very important date with a handsome young man. And she did not want to be late.

"Come on," Thea said.

A delivery man entered the room with a package in hand. He marched the package over to the table and set it down in front of Thea. Thea frowned when looking at the package.

"Who is it from?" Thea asked.

"He didn't say, only he's an admirer," the delivery man said.

A dark grimace flowed over Thea's face. She clutched onto the edge of the table and let out a very uncomfortable sigh.

' _Great,'_ Thea thought. _'My stalker strikes again.'_

The delivery man departed from the room. Thea didn't even bother to open the package. She instead put it down on the desk and was about ready to drop it in the trash. Only two red lights appeared on the package. She turned to Tess, who moved up to her feet.

The package burned into cinders and released a three-foot tall model of a toy soldier. The soldier's eyes glowed and slowly turned to Thea in a creepy and very obsessed way.

"Hello, Thea, it's time to play a game."

Thea turned around and saw outside of the window, several drones hovering around. The drones blocked all of the exits of the building.

One of the board members rushed inside of the room. He threw his arms about like a madman, and the other Board members had been backed off, by another drone which entered the room.

"Did you see it, someone has blocked all of the exits of the building?" one of the board members asked.

The urge to roll her eyes had to be squashed down by Thea.

"Wow, you don't say?" Thea asked.

One of the Board Members tried to jump out of the window despite it being about seven stories up. He received a stun laser blast between the shoulder blades, being dropped to his knees in the process. The man's body rode with agony when dropping to the ground.

Thea looked over her shoulder, and put two and two together.

"Schott."

* * *

The younger version of Kara looked around the Fortress in thinly disguised awe. She looked from one side to the other, and looked around. The changes Lara made impressed Kara, and she wished she had an extra set of eyes to really soak in all of the Fortress had to offer.

Clark chuckled at the look of wonderment on the face of the younger girl. She had been pretty impressed, to say the least. Clark leaned over, putting a hand on Kara's shoulder which caused her to look up.

"So, what do you think of the place?" Clark asked. "You like what we've done."

"Like it, it's amazing," Kara said. "If I didn't know any better, it was like I was back on Krypton!"

Clark smiled when looking at her. He allowed her to look around. Kara took a step forward to see a device on the table. She approached the device, arms swinging before leaning down. The younger girl's mouth hung open in thinly veiled awe.

"You have it?" Kara asked. "Mother's device, you have it…her AI?"

"Yes, we do," Clark responded. "We haven't been able to get it working though."

"Yes, I can see how that might be a problem," Kara answered, leaning down and looking over the object. She was giddy with excitement, to be honest. "I'm sure someday we'll get it working!"

Clark hoped as well, from what Karen and Lara told him, it was way too damaged after the crash on Earth. The same energy which put Karen's ship in stasis, for that many years until the second meteor shower jarred her loose.

"So, my cousin…she traveled through time," Kara said. "And she ended up in her past body."

And now, Kara reminded him of the convoluted nature of how Karen showed up. Clark gave his cousin a pained smile and wondered how he was going to explain this.

"Well, we're ninety-five percent sure that happened, but we're not completely sure," Clark said. "I don't know the first thing about time travel."

Kara nodded in understanding; it was a taboo for the people on Krypton to mess with time. There were many laws and traditions which Kara didn't understand. Their engineered births always made Kara ask way too many questions, to the point where Alura had to take her to the side and explain how certain questions should not be asked. Kara had been born naturally, as had her cousins, and a couple others, and they would always be considered outsiders beyond your average Kryptonian.

"Most people don't know a lot about time-travel," Kara said. "I guess, it wasn't meant to be understood, and really, you have to be a twelfth level intellect to even get the basics."

Clark thought it seemed right. He enjoyed how much the Fortress had been put together. Being in bed with the current CEO of LuthorCorp also got him a few more resources which would help monitor for trouble, and Patricia's continued help was a benefit to them.

"I think you're impressed."

Speaking of cousins, Kara almost jumped halfway up in the air when seeing Karen walk around the corner. Kara's eyes locked onto Karen's chest, she couldn't really help it. They had some kind of magnetic pull which kept dragging Karen in.

"I know you're distracted," Karen said, almost teasingly. "My eyes are up here, though."

Kara sputtered, looking kind of flushed, kind of flustered, and very frustrated; actually, she long since passed the point of frustration.

"I don't necessarily mind," Karen said. "So, to answer your question, the lead on Kandor was a bust."

Clark reached over and put a hand on Karen's shoulder. She relaxed underneath his comforting grip.

"I thought it was a good lead," Clark said.

"Oh, believe me, so did I," Karen said. "I'm not sure what state Kandor will be in when we find it, if we could find it, that is."

"Oh, I don't know….maybe you should ask Astra, she could have a few ideas."

"She had ideas, but Kandor was taken after she had been sent to the Phantom Zone," Karen said.

Karen's relationship with her mother had been rather cool. The older Kara didn't understand half of the things Astra did and half of the decisions she made.

"So, how are you doing in school?" Karen asked.

"Oh, school is great, sometimes the teachers….well they can be a bit boring," Kara said. "Overall, I'm doing fine."

"Fine, that's good."

Kara nodded in response. She had some trouble fitting in at first.

"If you're having any trouble, I can always tutor you privately," Karen said. "I want to spend a bit more time with you….to get to know you better, or to get to know you again."

Kara smiled, it had been a very long time for Karen since she saw her. It had been long time for Kara as well, but not as long with the time travel, which made Karen's temples throb with a very obvious headache.

"I just want to make sure you are comfortable," Karen said. "And I'll do anything for you, you just need to ask….don't be shy."

Kara was almost certain her cousin flirted with her, which caused her to become flustered because both of her cousins were hot. Kara had many dreams which resulted in a quick change of the sheets. She might have been a bit too young for them, at least at least another year, or two.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to dream, and boy did Kara ever dream about what her cousins could potentially do to her. She tried to hide the extremely devious smile appearing on her face.

Karen caught her cousin off in la-la land, and no doubt her request for help spawned many devious little ideas. She was a bit too young, but it didn't hurt to plant the seeds for later.

A signal cut through the Fortress and Clark turned around. He recognized it as a sound only he and other Kryptonians could hear.

"Tess," Clark said. "There's trouble."

Karen nodded and soon enough, Clark moved off into the other direction. He would get in touch with her when he had the opportunity. Karen turned her attention towards Kara.

"Let me show you the sleeping quarters next. I think you'll find the beds are to your liking."

* * *

Winslow Schott had been fired from Queen Industries years ago for an attitude problem, and also because his inventions had been considered to be too dangerous. He now had the Queen Board of Directors, one heiress in there, and also the owner of LuthorCorp, which would make a very nice and high profile hostage.

"Queen Industries has spent the last few years denying the excellence of some of their greatest resources, "Schott said. "And I'm no exception."

Thea tried to access the security network. She wasn't a world class hacker, so she couldn't override what Schott used to override the security in the building. Unfortunately, her best hacker was currently unavailable, and Thea couldn't contact her outside of the building.

' _Guess, I'm going to have to improvise,'_ Thea thought. _'Well, at least him ranting and raving is going to give me plenty of time to think.'_

Granted, Thea wondered if she could think over the headache she received.

"I suppose you don't know what you truly have until it's gone," Schott said. "But, let's face it, you never understood what you had, ever. You always thought of me as a misfit, not worthy of your time. My genius could have brought Queen Industries to the next level."

"Your genius brought Queen Industries to a new level, but that level was at the bottom!" one of the members of the Board said.

The toy soldier cocked his gun and shot a miniature tranquilizer dart at the Board member. He fell over, thumping to the ground, the wind having been completely driven to him.

"I wouldn't expect politeness out of someone of your level," Schott said. "You've always been rude, and condescending to me. I'm just a humble inventor, and you considered me to be a dangerous, obsessed freak playing with his toys!"

Thea thought the words coming from Schott really did underline the opinion most, herself included, had the man. She tried to once again access the network. Tess looked over towards her, tapped on the watch she wore, and nodded in response.

Help had been on the way, and Thea really wished she could he reassured it could be there. Tess leaned back and listened to him. Listened to whatever madness would spew out of his depraved mouth.

"I now have a captive audience, and now I can get a king's ransom, or a Queen's rather….." Schott said. He chuckled at his own joke even though no one else involved find his antics funny. "One million dollars per head in the board room seems fair."

"You're trying to extort us!" the man yelled.

"Yeah, yeah, sure I'll give you the million, just let me go….."

"No, you don't understand," Schott said. "It's all or nothing…and it's paid at the expense of the lovely Ms. Thea Queen herself. Hello, Ms. Queen, I trust you enjoyed my gifts."

Disgust spread over Thea's face. She almost reached for the trash can off to the side to throw up in.

"There's nothing about you I enjoy," Thea said. "You're a depraved lunatic, nothing but a psychopath. Why don't you tell them the real reason why you've been fired by this company? Your constant harassment, your stalking, you spent ten years in prison. You make me sick."

"It's a shame you feel this way because your words hurt me the most of all," Schott said.

Thea's revulsion increased at his simpering tone. What she wouldn't give to put an arrow through his head right now. But, unfortunately, mild-mannered businesswoman Thea Queen couldn't be seen suiting up as a vigilante here, it would raise too many questions.

The girl came to one conclusion, which she was sure any hero would agree. There were some days where having a secret identity quite frankly sucked.

"The people running this company threw me out, despite profiting off of my genius for years," Schott said. "And they turn around and sold my designs to the government to make weapons. Did I see one penny of it? NO!"

Thea looked out of the corner of her eye and saw a spider drone appearing outside. The drone caused a red grid appear around the entrance of the building.

"Well, Ms. Queen, either you're going to play, or you're going to pay?" Schott asked. "You either give me the money I want, or you will have to play my game, and solve my puzzle."

Thea's fierce determination burned through. She took one long look at Schott, never backing down from her stance.

"You know as well as I do, Queen Industries has a strict policy which we never negotiate with terrorists," Thea coldly stated. "Or whackjobs."

"Oh, so you're going to play," Schott said. "Very well, look to the side at my little present to you."

The soldier opened up and showed a keypad with several red lines.

"You'll notice the keypad corresponds with sensors on the drone," Schott responded. "I'll make you a deal, Ms. Queen. If you're able to solve my puzzle, then you'll save everyone in this building. Fail, and the drones outside go critical."

The board members looked at Thea, wishing she had caved into Schott's demands and just paid him whatever money he wanted to do.

"The clock is ticking, thirty minutes."

* * *

Clark flew from the Fortress, only to bounce headlong into a force field between two security drones which hovered over the building. The impact caused him to get sent back a couple of inches, and land down on the ground. Clark moved back a few feet and then tried to fly against the force-field. The force-field erupted around him and knocked Clark back a few inches.

"I'm going to say getting into Queen Industries a conventional way is a no go, isn't it?" Chloe asked.

"No, and there are toy soldiers on the roof, patrolling, and there's some kind of spider drone on the building, it's created a web," Clark said.

"I'm picking up some energy signatures which could be explosive," Lara said. "I think he plans to blow up the building…..Tess managed to relay a signal to the Fortress with her watch. I think it's the only way she can communicate out."

Clark had been busy rebounding his head off of a force-field wall to notice Tess's attempts to get in touch with him. He pushed his hair back, closed his eyes, and opened his ears to listen.

He saw the toy soldiers. The moment the police got close enough, the toy soldiers started to fire miniature rockets at the police, thus forcing them to back off.

Clark listened intently to Tess's message, which she started to beep through using Morse code with the signal watch.

"The man's name is Winslow Schott, he's locked into the security network...Thea has thirty minutes to solve his puzzle, or we're all screwed."

"Schott, wasn't he arrested for threatening for blowing up a Queen Industries's facility years ago?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, among other things, he's a certifiable lunatic," Chloe said. "And he's just one finger away from the trigger…and it looks like he has some powerful friends which hooked him up with some new toys….that's what they called him in the papers. They called him the Toyman."

Before Clark had a chance to react, one of the drones came in and locked onto him. Clark waited for the drone to fire, but it didn't fire. Instead, the head of a man who looked middle-aged with spectacles appeared and stared him down.

"So, you're him, aren't you?" Schott asked. "The do-gooder who has been interfering in the business of my new playmates?"

Clark had been thrown completely off guard by this statement. Surely…wait, Schott was working with HIVE?

"You know, I can't have you interfere with the game I'm playing with Ms. Queen," Schott said. "I'm sure she's my equal and will solve the puzzle, but I want a fair and just game…and you know something….I've always liked playing with trains."

A bad feeling slipped into the pit of Clark's stomach, which got only worse.

"Yes, I loved playing with trains, but you know what the most joyous part about playing with trains is?" Schott asked. "When I crashed them together!"

Schott looked wistful, those memories of childhood nostalgia hitting her in an instant.

"And two real life trains are about to collide," Schott said. "And now, much like I gave Thea a choice, I'm going to give you a choice. You can either save the lives of hundreds of innocents, or you can save the lives of a few people inside that building…wait, did I say hundreds? Judging by the trajectory these trains are colliding, they could kill countless innocent civilians in Metropolis as well."

Schott pointed to his watch.

"Chloe, see if you can get inside of the security network," Clark said. "I have a couple of trains to catch."

Clark moved off, he didn't know when the trains were about to collide, but he did know every second counted.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on May 28** **th** **, 2017.**


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter Thirty-Nine: Let's Go Play a Game Part Two.**

* * *

Thea placed her fingers underneath her chin, digging them into mull over the situation in her mind, and the situation no matter how many ways she could mull it over was not a good one. They had been trapped in the middle of the board room by some obsessed madman. Said obsessed madman put a bomb on the building and gave her a choice. Either she solved his puzzle, disable the bomb. Or she pay up an extraordinary amount of money per head. Or they would all lose their heads.

These options were not the best in the world. They were the options which Thea had to work with.

Queen Industries had a long-standing policy not to negotiate with terrorists of any time. This policy left Thea biting down on her lip in frustration. She also had a pretty good set of principles not to play the sick game. There was no hint even if she did solve this sadistic puzzle, the madman would relinquish control of the building. Just like there was no hint if she paid, he would relinquish control of the building.

' _Of all of the weeks for my best hacker to be out of the country, it would have to be now,'_ Thea thought. _'Okay, kid, let's see what we have now.'_

Thea didn't make a misstep in solving the puzzle so far. At least she had some small level of problem-solving skills buried in her brain. Good, at least she thought as much. Thea chewed down on her lip and kept typing away at it.

"You better not mess up, it will be the end of us all."

"I understand, my life is in danger as well, "Thea said.

Thea was fully aware the Board members, many of them trembling, didn't think too much about her ability to solve certain problems. Thea shut out their negative thoughts and just typed in several commands. Her heart skipped a heavy beat.

' _Almost there,'_ Thea thought to herself, frowning in frustration.

Thea took a half of a step back and suddenly, the map began to blink. Whether or not it was a good thing or a bad thing the map blinked, Thea would learn just as much in a matter of seconds. Her nerves were this close to slipping over the edge though, just like her hand gripped the table.

"Okay, kid, you got to focus," Thea muttered underneath her breath. "One wrong move, and it could be the end of everything."

Tess leaned closer towards Thea, who had been hammering away at the keyboard. Thea really showed something when she was typing away, although she didn't really know how good it was. The side of her watch began to blow and began to beep lightly.

She had been able to get out a signal with the watch and now, the watch started to return fire, sending a signal back to her. Tess leaned back in the chair, the watch blipping and giving off more weird signals. She pulled out a sketch pad and wrote down the information.

Now, she jotted down the information, it was from Chloe. Chloe said Clark would have been on his way, but he got trapped. Schott managed to appeal to Clark's heroics by setting up a train collision on the other side of town. Tess suspected just as much.

Thea wondered how much time she had left. Her heart beat even more firmly. The map glowed one more time as she moved the dot into the center of the map. She slipped now, and it would be all of their lives. Schott no doubt relished how much she sweated, and how everyone was no in the palm of her head.

' _No pressure or anything,'_ Thea thought.

"What are you doing? Hurry up."

The board members got very anxious. They complained about how Thea was doing her job. Yet, none of the lifted a finger to help her in any way whatsoever.

"Why don't you stand back and just let the woman do her job?" Tess asked. "I don't see any of you rushing to help her solve Schott's puzzle."

"We shouldn't be solving his puzzle," one of the board members said. "We should have been giving him whatever money he wanted. We shouldn't play these games with a terrorist."

"Oh, but it's fun, and some of you should get out a little bit more, it might brighten up your lives," the voice said. "And look, Ms. Queen is almost there….she's as brilliant as I remembered."

"Flattery won't help when I'm through with you," Thea said through gritted teeth.

Thea fully intended to put an arrow through Schott and put him out of everyone's misery. He was sick, twisted, and someone who was a danger to others, including himself. Right now though, Thea's number one concern was to find a way to hack out of the building.

' _Almost there, don't slip now, kid.'_

Thea sighed, and she watched, the map glowed bright and then shimmered out of existence. Dare she blink? Thea didn't even know anymore what to do.

"Congratulations, Ms. Queen, you've solved the first of seven puzzles."

"Seven?" Thea asked.

"Oh, did I not mention there were seven puzzles?" Schott asked in mock remorse. "The clock's ticking on Queen Industries, you better hurry."

Thea realized they were in a no-win situation. The other members of the board grew very restless and had she been in their positions, Thea would have been right next to them. Her breathing increased when leaned over onto the table and she went for the second puzzle.

This was going to be harder than Thea thought. And she had to be up for it.

' _Just because the situation seems hopeless, it doesn't mean I'm just going to lie down and give up.'_

* * *

Two trains were about on a collision course, and this looked like a job for Clark Kent. He flew at a speed of light and made his way to the train station. He dropped down onto the ground, and he saw the man controlling the tracks looking very flummoxed.

"The trains are going to collide with each other unless we find a way to stop them," the man said. His heart started to race quickly.

"Let me have a shot."

The man looked up, and suddenly, Clark put a hand on his shoulder. The man drifted off into a deep sleep by the merest touch.

"Astra's been teaching you tricks, hasn't she?" Chloe asked.

"Well, it works in a pinch, and it's harmless," Clark said. "It just simulates a sudden need to sleep, for at least the next two hours, and by then, I should be able to figure it out."

Clark moved over to the controls, glad Chloe was able to get in because he could not make heads or tails out of the madness which was in front of him.

"So, are you ready?"

"Patch me in."

Clark patched Chloe in and waited for her to work her hacker magic. There was pretty much nothing he could do, other than wait, listen, and hope Chloe had it under control. Chloe always found a way to keep it under control, for better or for worse.

Only this time, there had been a groan coming from Chloe's very being. Clark understood something was very much wrong, he didn't have to be a mind-reader to do so.

"The trains are already on a collision course with each other," Chloe said. "They passed the crossing point, and they're going to hit."

Clark tried to keep it all together, they just couldn't get this done the elegant, clean way. So he would have to do this the other way.

"I'm going to have to redirect the trains on the track manually," Clark said. "And I'm going to have to do it within about a minute, thirteen seconds, by my latest calculations."

"Well, I'll shut up, so you can get to work."

Clark flew at the speed of light towards the train tracks. He saw one of the trains about ready to hit. It was the smaller train. The other train was carrying military supplies, of the very explosive kind. Clark knew if that particular train hit, there were going to be all sorts of issues.

He would not allow the trains to hit with each other, not if he could help in. The Man of Steel flew towards the smaller, passenger train, and moved underneath it. He grabbed the train by the front and redirected it. Those on the train might feel a slight bumping sound, but it was far and away more preferred to having run off the tracks or getting crashed onto the train.

Seconds before the two trains would have collided with each other, Clark moved the smaller train back of course, and he moved it back towards the tracks leading away from him. Clark's heart beat heavily when he pulled back. Maybe he was out of the woods.

Sure enough, the large train passed while the smaller train was moving towards its destination without any problems. Clark flew through at the speed of light, creating a miniature sonic boom. He stopped only short.

Lois Lane almost dropped her coffee on the train when she saw Clark flying right next to her. She figured something was up when the train headed a bit off course.

' _Okay, do I really want to know?'_ Lois asked. _'Why do I think I was just a couple of inches away from a near death experience?'_

Clark hoped he didn't have any more problems, but knowing this Schott, the Toyman, there would be more problems along the way. Clark flew the unfriendly skies.

"Hello, Kal-El," Indigo said, breaking into his communication length.

"Indigo, how did you get into my system?" Clark asked.

"I am a sufficiently advanced computer program created by Alura In-Ze," Indigo responded. "Therefore, there is nothing out of my reach, well there are few things out of my reach. But your communication system is not out of my reach. I do have some news to share with you, which you might find both interesting and illuminating."

Clark stopped, only to see the drones being guided safely to the ground. With the exception of the large spider drone which had been latched onto the Queen Industries building.

"I managed to hack into the drone technology," Indigo said.

"Hey, I was about ready to," Chloe said, almost hurt.

"My apologies, but my methods are more sophisticated, and I think you can agree of their success," Indigo said. "Plus, as the humans say, time was in fact of the essence, and we only had an extremely small statistical margin of error."

Clark moved towards the drone.

"I do have more bad news though," Indigo said. "Even if Thea Queen does solve the puzzles in time, Schott will still vaporize the building. It's the end of his game, the rules indicate there is no success, only revenge in mind for Schott. He wanted to give them hope before crushing it."

Clark groaned at how depraved Schott seemed. He flew closer towards the edge of the building and saw the drone.

"See, every one minute and eighteen seconds, there is a moment where the drone detaches, where you can safely extract it from the building," Indigo said. "It will occur right about now."

Clark shot through the air like a cork, and grabbed the drone, pulling it off of the edge of the building. His entire body lit up in fire when he pulled the drone off of the building.

"And now, you have twenty seconds to get rid of it before it explodes."

Clark never flew this high, this fast, but there was a first time for everything. He shot like a roman candle up into the skies of Metropolis, heart hammering against his chest.

A small explosion rocked Clark and caused him to hurl to the ground. Clark closed his eyes for a second, and he saw something fly at him, catching him before he dropped down onto the ground.

"Kara?" Clark asked.

"No, not quite."

Clark had been brought down onto firm Earth by the person who caught him. He dropped down to the ground and saw the woman. She dressed in a red uniform which had a cut out to show her firm stomach. Her nice legs were on display, and the outfit empathized the best parts of her. It took Clark a couple of moments to realize who he was talking to.

"Carol?"

"Yes," Carol said. "Although, you may call me Captain Marvel, long story there. And I just happened to be in the neighborhood."

"Lucky thing," Clark said.

"Lucky thing indeed," Carol said. "My sisters would murder me if I let you splatter against the pavement….and besides, I would hate to see something happen to you anyway."

* * *

Clark ensured Queen Industries had been secured, with all of the people having been saved. He had a mission, to track down the sick, depraved individual. One of his drones issued a clue.

"Would I be cliché to say...IT'S A TRAP!" Chloe yelled.

"Yes, a little bit," Clark said.

Clark had a pretty good idea it was a trap, but he wasn't going into the trap alone. At least, if it was a trap, he wasn't going into it blindly. He took a half of a second to take a deep breath.

"There is a high statistical probability it is a trap," Indigo commented. "But it is also a small statistical probability you will find out further information about what Schott is up to."

He stepped through the doors which were unlocked. Clark thought this was a red flag. He saw a man sitting in the computer chair, never once blinking. Clark stepped a half of a step closer towards where he needed to go.

"Okay, Schott, the game's over."

The chair turned around on its own accord and revealed a large smiling doll which resembled the pictures of Schott. The doll wore a huge shit eating grin on its face, along with wide eyes which flashed with pure and complete malice.

"Playtime's over," Schott's voice droned. "But, I hope you will come around and play again someday…providing of course, you survive the little surprise I've left for me, my good friend."

The front chest plate of the doll opened up and revealed a bomb. The bomb started to blink and Clark could have breathed in heavily. He reached towards the bomb and started to deactivate it. It was a tricky little device.

"You need to disengage the red wire, and then the blue wire, within five seconds of each other," Indigo said.

"Yes, thank you," Clark said.

"He's using a bomb partially made of alien technology," Indigo said. "It's very curious how he got his hands on such technology."

Clark found it very curious as well, but he didn't have much time , other than to start disconnecting bits and pieces of the bomb in front of him. He closed his eyes and started to disengage from this particular position. The wire held underneath his hand when he moved then around.

The bomb had been disabled just seconds before the door opened. Carol stepped into the room first, followed by Daisy and also by Alex. The two girls looked around the room.

"No sign of Schott," Carol said.

"No, no sign of him," Clark responded. "He left before I had a chance to grab him, and it looks like we're back at square one."

Clark couldn't even begin to explain the frustrations he's received. His fingers clutched together, a second later. Daisy moved over to take a look around.

"HIVE," Daisy said. "They aren't the first criminals they backed either."

"Hive?" Clark asked. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, we're positive," Alex responded. "And there are some parts of HIVE's technology which certainly isn't of this Earth. So, I think you can figure out, it makes it a DEO manner."

So Clark gathered, so Clark gathered. He didn't really know where to go from here, other than the fact they were just going around in circles without any thought of where they would go next. He looked towards Alex who bent over, frowning when looking at several of the pieces of equipment.

"We're going to have to call this one in," Alex said. "Good job, we really appreciated the help…and I'm sure we'll get the bottom of whatever happened."

Clark had a very bad feeling this particular situation was going to get worse. He already encountered the manipulations of HIVE twitch, with Blockbuster and also now with Toyman. He wondered how many more criminals there would be before they decided to take a more direct stance with him.

* * *

Thea returned back to the Boardroom after having a discussing with Maggie Sawyer of the Metropolis Police Department. Schott disappeared into the night, and Thea looked, several hours later, her date had been shot.

"Well, I don't think this is the night you envisioned."

Tess popped around the corner to go and look towards Thea. Thea shook her head for a moment. She made her way to her office, underneath her desk. She had given up most of her vices to try and turn her life around.

"I wouldn't be a bad person if I had a drink right now, would I?" Thea asked.

"After the night you had?" Tess asked. "I think people would be confused if you didn't need a drink."

Thea took a half of a second to consider her options, all of them. She bent down and poured both herself and Tess and drink. Tess took it half of a moment away.

"He's gone," Tess said.

"Yes, but like a cockroach, he'll come back."

"Yes, especially with his new friends."

Clark turned up at the door. Thea turned towards him and invited him to sit down.

"I'd offer you a drink, but you don't seem like the type," Thea said.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Clark wasn't even certain he could get drunk with his abilities, not he bothered to even make an attempt. He looked at Thea, who looked both extremely frustrated, and very stressed out about the night which was. He decided to give her the bad news.

"I tracked Schott to his base and…"

"He disappeared," Thea said. "He left you a little present, didn't he? Of course, he did, because he's always one step ahead. He should have been locked up the first time, or put in a deep dark pit."

"Ah, that's the problem with the justice system, it protects both the innocent, and sometimes it enables the guilty," Tess said.

Boy did she ever know the truth. Tess tilted back on her chair and took a long drink to survey the situation. She could tell Clark had to tell them more.

"The DEO is investigating things, Schott's technology was made from pieces of an alien weapon," Clark said. "And Schott's benefactors just happened to be HIVE."

Thea downed the rest of her drink and kicked back in the chair.

"Great, both of my hated enemies joining up," Thea said. "Could this day get any worse…and I was all geared for a date as well."

Thea had a couple of drinks in her and strongly considered her lot in life. As long as Schott was out there, she could not rest, and it meant any time she had a date, that nutcase could be right around the corner, threatening her life, stalking her, doing any number of nasty things to her.

"Well, it's….."

"Not tonight, unfortunately," Thea responded. "And Schott's still out there, and I will not be happy until he's back in prison, or worse."

"You're not going to track him down in costume, are you?" Tess asked.

"Well, kind of hard to track him down when he's not around," Thea said.

Thea sighed, the past became back to taunt her. She stood up and paced around. Clark stood up and put his hands on her shoulders gently. There was a moment where Thea paused and looked in his eyes. Clark cupped Thea's face and turned him towards her.

"We're just going to have to take this, step by step," Clark responded.

"Right," Thea said. "And believe me, I really feel bad about the date being ruined….especially when you saved my life again."

"Well, you're here, and he is," Tess said. "You should thank him."

Thea thought it was a pretty good idea to give Clark thanks, especially after a couple of drinks in her. She leaned forward and kissed Clark. Clark put his hand gently on the back of her head and very slightly deepened the kiss. He leaned back and delved his tongue inside of her mouth.

Clark smiled when the passionate kiss happened. He felt a pair of hands start to work off his pants and another set of lips kissing the back of his neck.

"She isn't the only one who wants to show her appreciation," Tess said.

* * *

Thea unbuttoned Clark's shirt and started to kiss down his chest. She moved down to the promising point. Tess already had Clark's cock out of his pants.

"Thanks, I'm too horny to worry about that," Thea said. "I need his cock now."

"Yes, I figured as much," Tess responded.

Thea dropped down onto her knees before Clark and prepared to worship her god. She licked the length of his cock with her wet tongue, while Tess pressed her breasts against Clark's back, kissing the back of his neck.

Clark had been pinned between two beautiful women, and he didn't think it was the worst arrangement to be in, to be perfectly honest. Thea sucked the tip of his head.

"Go, ahead, take your time though."

The young man gently guided the back of Thea's head and her mouth around his cock. Her warm lips wrapped around his cock, taking about as much of his manhood in her mouth. Thea reached between Clark's legs and gave his balls a firm squeeze which caused him to jump and swell a couple of inches.

Clark closed his eyes for a second. Thea's wet mouth ensnared and released his manhood, sucking him.

"Why let you two have all of the fun?"

Tess seductively crawled on the ground and reached Clark's balls to squeeze them. She leaned further and kissed the balls. She sucked Clark's right ball and then switched to the left ball. The sultry redhead kissed and sucked his balls. Tess stroked his balls and sucked them.

Clark had been in heaven. Thea slurped his manhood while Tess sucked on his balls. The warm and wet sensations on his crotch made him want to cum. His balls throbbed when both of the women went to town on them. Tess squeezed them.

"Go ahead, cum in her mouth, she wants it," Tess said.

Clark groaned a few seconds later. His balls throbbed and Tess guided Clark's manhood deep inside of her mouth. A few seconds passed with Clark slamming deep into Thea's open wide mouth. He unleashed some cum into Thea's mouth and spilled into her.

He closed his eyes and splashed the seed into Thea's mouth. Thea wrapped her lips tighter around him to suck the warm liquids when it spilled out of him. She grabbed Clark's balls and stroked it. The manhood slammed into the back of her throat. Thea leaned back a few seconds and sucked his manhood completely dry.

"Yummy."

Thea released his cock and gave it a party kiss. She climbed to her feet, just in time to turn to Tess. Tess grabbed the back of Thea's head and kissed her hard. Their tongues pushed hard against each other, with both of them kissing each other hungrily.

Clark's cock hardened. He grabbed Tess and Thea around the heads and pulled them back. They smiled, their lips and tongues dripped with salvia.

"On the desk, and remove your panties."

Tess and Thea turned around and slid their panties down. Clark got a look at their dripping wet pussies. His fingers started to vibrate, slowly, which caused both women to shiver.

For the first time, Thea received the fingers deep inside of her dripping hot cunt. And it felt really good. Clark palmed her pussy, squeezing it. She breathed in and breathed out heavily with Clark shoving his fingers into her gushing warm depths. Clark pushed his fingers in and out of her dripping hot pussy.

Tess smiled, and her body got hot because of Thea's moaning along with the delving of Clark's pussy. Tess clamped her pussy around him and released it. Clark pushed deeper into her womanhood and shoved into her.

Clark fingered both of them. Tess and Thea squeezed his fingers and sent their juices after her. Clark smiled and pulled his fingers out of them after bringing them to a mind numbing orgasm.

He shifted his fingers, feeding Tess's juices to Thea, and Thea's to Tess. Both of them sucked the juices from Clark's fingers, moaning. Thea gripped Clark's manhood and squeezed it, jerking him off while she sucked his fingers.

"I need your cock," Thea breathed. "I need it badly."

Clark took a seat on the desk, with Tess moving over. She smiled and wrapped her arms around Clark to the side, kissing the side of his neck. Thea pushed herself onto Clark's body. Tess reached over and fingered Thea for a couple of moments, working her pussy open.

"It's going to be a tight fit," Tess said, licking Clark's ear. "But it's going to do."

Thea worked her hips around Clark's throbbing hard cock. Clark reached Thea's hips and she pushed down onto him. Thea pushed her womanhood up and slid down on Clark's throbbing hard cock. The wet pussy gripped Clark and squeezed him.

Clark grabbed Thea's breasts and squeezed them when she wrapped her curvy hips around Clark's manhood. Clark turned to the side and licked Tess's pussy while Thea rode his cock.

"Oh, this is a nice ride!" Thea yelled. "You have such a nice, big cock, and I bet it feels good to have my tight pussy wrapped around your cock, doesn't it?"

Clark wasn't going to argue with her words. He grabbed her ass with his free hand, not once breaking free from eating Tess out.

His oral efforts made Tess moist. Clark gripped the sides of her legs and ran his fingers down them. He buried his face between Tess's thighs and sucked her womanhood. Clark hungrily ate her out, and Tess encouraged him. The horny redhead lifted her thighs and encouraged Clark.

Her Superman ate her out, and Tess's pleasure centers exploded. Every time he shoved his tongue inside of her, she grew intense.

Thea picked up the pace and impaled herself all the way to pleasure town. Clark rose up against her and picked up the pace. Her tight pussy wrapped around his throbbing hard cock. Thea gripped him tightly. Her toned body wrapping against his own again and again.

Clark buried his tongue in Tess and his cock in Thea. The throbbing coming through his balls were intense. He balanced Thea on top of him. Thea bounced onto his manhood, taking Clark as deep into her as possible. Thea squeezed and released him.

"Right, right, oh it feels good," Thea moaned at the top of her lungs. "Buried, your cock in my body, it feels so good, give it to me, Clark!"

Thea brought her hips down onto Clark's throbbing manhood and pushed him inside of her. She gripped and released him. Her climaxes hit one after another.

Clark groaned with Thea gripping him, milking him. Thea breathed heavily, feeling the base of his cock slamming into her. Clark buried his manhood inside of her, gripping her.

"Stay with us, kid," Tess said, barely able to get out her words because of a very sensual moan.

The Queen Heiress didn't intend to go anywhere, to be honest. She held onto Clark, holding onto his throbbing manhood. She pushed his rod into her wet pussy, and then released it. She gripped, released, gripped, and released him in successive motion. Thea leaned down and bounced onto him harder.

"Baby, you feel so good, please….ooooh, that's so good!"

Clark allowed Tess to collapse and looked up at Thea. He reached up to play with Thea's perky breasts. Thea closed her eyes and moaned. The moisture of her pussy slid down onto his manhood.

"Fuck," Clark breathed. "You feel so good, I don't think I can hold back much longer."

"Oh, please, cum!" Thea yelled.

Thea screamed in more pleasurable ways. She ensnared Clark inside of her warm sheath with Thea rising up and down onto him, bouncing higher by every single second. Clark reached up to hold onto her hips. Thea drove her womanhood down onto him with a couple of bouncing drops. Thea's wet pussy clamped down onto him and released him.

The balls clenched and released to send Clark's seed spewing into Thea. Thea clenched him, going through another couple of orgasms.

Thea just barely managed to avoid rolling off of the desk. She rolled over onto her back, legs spread, and now Tess slowly crawled over towards Thea. Her dripping pussy, overflowing with cum was open. Tess climbed on top of Thea, rubbing her cunt against Thea's which made her moan. She kissed the younger girl on the side of the neck a couple of times, before kissing down.

The LuthorCorp owner buried her face between Thea's beautiful thighs and started to suck on her womanhood. Her own thighs spread.

Clark's long rod extended because of Tess's wet, tight pussy being presented to him. He grabbed her around the waist and buried inside of her body. Clark shoved his manhood deep inside of her body.

It was so hot, and Tess moaned appreciatively, feeling Clark's manhood shoving into her smoldering hot depths. Clark held her hips, pushing up and then pushing back. Clark rocked inside of her womanhood. Her pussy gripped and released him a couple of times.

Clark reached up and grabbed Tess by one of her breasts, bringing his throbbing rod inside of her moist womanhood. He picked up the pace with a couple of long, steady thrusts. Clark shoved his manhood deep inside of Tess's warm body. Tess held onto Thea's breasts.

"Both of you are so hot," Clark said. "I like the way you thanked me."

Tess liked the way she was thanking him as well. His manhood clamped around him and released. Clark pushed his rod inside of Tess's gripping womanhood. She squeezed him and released him a couple of times, burying himself deep inside of her.

"Fuck, it feels so good," Tess breathed heavily. "So, good, I like your cock…"

"Don't neglect my pussy," Thea responded. "You better not neglect me."

Tess kissed Thea's nether lips and released them, bringing her tongue deep inside of the mouth. She moaned deeply at Tess's working over Thea's womanhood. Thea reached the back of Tess's head and buried her face inside of her womanhood.

Clark buried his cock deeper inside of Tess. Every time, her pussy grabbed him and released him. Clark brought his cock almost all the way out and then slammed into her. Her pussy gripped Clark harder the more he worked into her. He did a few slow thrusts, working the orgasm.

The well-lubricated prick reached Tess's center. Clark grabbed Tess's round breasts and squeezed her nipples. He picked up the pace, shoving his manhood inside of her wet center. Her core squeezed him and released him. The balls slapped against her.

"I'm ready, but are you?"

More orgasms hit Tess, three small ones, and then one big one. She clutched around Clark's hard manhood when he rammed deep inside of her. Clark held onto her hips, and pumped his rod inside of her, harder and faster from behind. His thick balls struck her womanhood, getting closer.

Close enough to push his way into Tess. Her gripping hips squeezed him, and Clark spilled his seed inside of the woman. Tess held onto Thea, moaning hungrily when Clark emptied his balls inside of her.

Clark pulled out of Tess, with her body fluttering down to the ground. The cum oozed, and stained Thea's desk.

Speaking of which, Thea looked up with a grin on her face, and she pushed Tess away from her. She crawled towards Clark for round two.

* * *

"So, Schott served as a diversion very nicely."

"Yes, even though the DEO now knows we have the alien technology."

"Let them suspect what they want to."

Several of the HIVE drones carried in a large case and put it down on the table. The contents of the case would be revealed in a moment. One of the HIVE leaders stepped forward.

"Lionel Luthor took great lengths to conceal the item in the case," he said. "And once we figure out how to utilize it….."

"We will turn the Traveler into one of HIVE's greatest agents."

The case cracked open to reveal a blinding silver orb. It was beautiful, and it was deadly.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 4** **th** **, 2017.**


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter Forty: The Old Gang.**

* * *

Tess knew one thing to be certain and that was opportunity was around the corner, they just needed to have the proper chance to seize it. The two times HIVE has been directly involved in plans which impacted her and the others, greatly worried Tess. The fact they backed up someone like Winslow Schott, well Tess's frustration with them hit an even greater level to be perfectly honest.

She called a meeting to see what they would do next. Tess waited for them to arrive. Thea joined them first, followed by Patricia Swann. The other two members of their meeting did not show up just yet. Tess could wait, she was patient, playing a very long game for quite some time.

"So, did you manage to pull her away from her cave?" Patricia asked.

Tess answered with half of a smile and shook her head. "I did the best I could to extract her, but she's half in her own world and she still has a lot on her plate. So, she'll be here when she can and not a second before."

"And people call me obsessed," Thea said.

Patricia responded with a very dry chuckle.

Tess waved off her statement. "Obsession isn't necessarily a bad thing, to be perfectly honest. It gives people plenty of focus, but yes, when you have your mind on a single-minded objection, it tends to make you lose track of the more important things in life."

The businesswoman drew out a deep breath, the obsession of both Lex and Lionel as it regarded to Clark and his secrets were all too fresh in her mind. Both of them had been locked up. Lionel still yelled about Doomsday. Lex barely had anything to say at all, and Tess knew he faked the nature of his problems. There was a lot more going on in Lex's head than people realized.

It was just a matter of trying to get those thoughts out of his mind. The next play would be a very interesting one, to be honest. Tess just wished they had more lock.

"Sorry, I'm late."

Tess, Thea, and Patricia looked up towards Clark who showed up.

"I had a bit of a problem over in Smallville, another one of the meteor-infected, and he….well he had quite the temper on him."

"I can imagine," Tess said. "And there's no need to apologize for being late. You got here when you could get here."

"So, why did you want to see me?" Clark asked.

Tess waved off Clark's words, not out of being rude, but out of the fact she thought they should wait for another party to show up and join the fun and games. Tess leaned a fraction of an inch back on the table, hands pressed as firmly against it as possible.

"We're actually waiting for someone else to show up," Tess said. "And she's wanted to meet you for a very long time."

Clark answered with a raised eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yes, and she should…."

Thea and Patricia turned around a second later and saw the figure making her way into the room. Patricia shook her head, chuckled, and dropped for a second to hide the look of complete bemusement which started to pass over her face. She could say something about this particular woman, no matter what the circumstances, she always could make an entrance. She got it from her father.

"Welcome, Helena."

A beautiful dark haired woman stepped into the room, with blue eyes. She dressed in the same business attire as the other women in the room. A smile crossed over her face when she approached the room, and also her eyes locked onto Clark. Clark got a sense of being scanned, but perhaps it was just him. His eyes drifted to a pair of stocking-clad legs which moved on for miles. She stood out, which said something in a room with three other beautiful women in their own right. It just had to do with some kind of cult of personality vibe, Clark suspected.

"It's good to be here," Helena said.

"Clark, this is Helena Wayne," Patricia said. "Helena, this is….."

"Clark Kent, it's long overdue, but I'm glad to finally have had an opportunity to meet you," Helena said, extending her hand out for Clark to shake.

Clark shook her hand in response. He could tell her grip had been firm, well pretty firm for a human. He decided not to tighten his any more than needed to.

"So, what was the urgent news?" Helena asked.

"It has to do with the orb….with the Kandorians."

Tess's bombshell had caused Clark to stand up straight, and he wasn't the only one. Thea and Patricia looked very interested. No person in the room appeared to be more interested at this particular point than Helena did. Helena's lips curled into one of the more obvious frowns possible.

"You found it?"

"I wish," Tess answered with a sigh. "Unfortunately, Kandor slipped a little bit out of my grasp…..it should be….well it should be around, but it isn't. I really wish I had it though. It should have been in the Luthor Mansion, but so much has changed. I searched high and low, and it wasn't there."

"HIVE has it," Helena said.

The conclusion they came to was pretty bad news. Clark's blood ran cold.

"The only good news is, we know they hadn't opened it, at least not just yet," Tess said. "When they open it, it will be bad news, for us all."

All they had to do now is figure out their next play. The ball, or the orb rather, ended up in the hands of HIVE. They had a few big problems leading there. Clark, in particular, could not understand how a group like HIVE managed to outmaneuver them at every turn, especially with some pretty smart people.

"As much as I hate to admit it, HIVE has it together more than I like to admit," Tess said. "It's bad news for us all."

"It's worse news if they open the orb," Patricia said.

* * *

The silent night showed there wasn't anyone around for miles. It didn't matter to the person aboard the helicopter though. Said helicopter landed down onto the ground in the middle of nowhere, in some desolate area.

The cargo had been unloaded and one Davis Bloom stepped out of the helicopter. He had just been a normal paramedic a few months ago until a bunch of goons grabbed him. They told him he had a greater purpose, and they would serve their agenda first. There was some kind of darkness deep inside him, bursting, longing to get out.

Bloom didn't want to believe them at all. Yet, months later, his temperament changed. There was a sense of coldness inside of him, and a sense of darkness which increased. His bloodlust could not be tempered, no matter how much he wanted it to.

The man had been dropped into the middle of a desert to fend for himself. A loud thump came across the back of his head. The thumping got extremely loud, with his breathing increasing. Bloom took a moment to gauge his surroundings.

There were no people around for miles. Which might have been a good thing should the monster clawing away deep inside of his being get out.

' _I'm normal, I'm a person, I'm not this hideous….'_

Something thumped against the head of Bloom. His handlers stood a few feet ahead of them.

"Stand tight, you won't be alone for long," one of the handlers said.

They laughed and Bloom had been left alone to contemplate their words when left in the desert. He rushed to the helicopter but didn't have the strength. He expanded all of the effort possible to keep the monster completely at bay. The monster continued to hammer, claw, try and break free from himself.

No way he could let it out, there was absolutely no way Bloom could let this particular monster loose.

' _No, I'm not going to be their pawn, I'm no one's pawn.'_

The thought made Bloom's eye flicker in thinly disguised rage. His fingers clutched together when he started to breath more heavily, in and out, his heart pounding intensely against his chest. Bloom looked around and started to walk. The cold air bit down on his body.

Yet, the harsh conditions didn't seem to bother him. Harsh weather never did. It put him on edge, he expected to be bothered. He could step inside in the middle of winter in short sleeves without any problem. He was completely durable.

The dust nailing him in the face backed Bloom up a couple of steps. He breathed the air around him, burning his lungs. It was hard to breathe around this particular area.

Bloom took a half of a step to stand around, realizing he wasn't alone. A man dressed in a black hood stood at the edge of the desert. His eyes glowed from underneath the hood and he stepped a little bit closer to Bloom. Bloom turned towards the man.

"Go, away, I can't control it!"

The man didn't say anything, he just lifted one hand. Dust particles manipulated in the air and shot towards Bloom. The dust particles slammed into his body like a rocket attack. Bloom screamed in pure, unbridled agony with the dust particles caught him in the chest.

Another figure dropped down next to him. Two silver spikes retracted from her wrists. The figure shot the spikes towards Bloom. Two of them impaled the man in the chest and knocked all of the starch out of him. Blood hunched over onto the ground.

He had been impaled by the spikes. Bloom instinctively grabbed the spikes and pulled them out of his chest. His body burned with agony, but yet, he was still alive, still breathing, and still very strong.

Another spike blocked by his hand. It didn't even break his skin. Bloom stood up high in the air.

The mutant next to him kicked up a sandstorm, but Bloom walked through the storm like there was no big problem. He grabbed the mutant around the neck and pushed him down to the ground. The loud sound of bones snapping echoed over the winds in the desert. Bloom lifted his hand and pounded the man's face.

Bloom retracted his hand, blood splattered against his knuckles. His breathing grew even harsher. He did…he attacked someone and drew their blood. And he felt more liberated in doing so.

* * *

Astra spent some time looking around the Fortress for the next few minutes. She would have to say it was a marvel of Kryptonian perfection. A smile crossed her face when she studied every single inch of what the Fortress had to offer, wishing she could spend more time breaking everything down.

A figure appeared at Astra's shoulder and she turned around to greet him.

"Kal-El," Astra said.

"I just returned from a meeting with….well, is my mother around?" Clark asked.

Astra shook her head, Kal-El didn't one hundred percent trust her yet. Given Astra spent a very long time inside the Phantom Zone, battling the harshest conditions, she couldn't say she blamed the young man. Trust would be something which was very hard to get at the best of times.

"Yes, I'm here."

Lara and Raya made their way around the corner. Raya gave Clark a warm smile in greeting, although it faded.

"You've received some bad news," Raya said.

"HIVE has the orb."

Astra's blood burned at this particular news. Those barbarians having control over such a delicate object, they didn't really know the power they had in their hands, and how dangerous said power would be. All they had was their simple little schemes, to gain more control over the world.

At one time, Astra may have agreed and seen some merit in those schemes, but she spent a fair amount of time inside of the Phantom Zone, therefore she had plenty of time to think and even more time to reflect.

"You know we have to get it back," Astra said.

"Is it because Alura's DNA is in the orb?" Lara asked.

"Among other reasons," Astra said. "Then letting out certain elements within the orb is troubling. I don't want him to come out….despite the fact he's saner, younger, and hasn't been as broken, he still could grow into that particular monster."

Everyone inside the Fortress knew Astra referred to only one person, that being the one and only General Zod. She turned around and looked towards the map.

"We need to find HIVE now."

Clark would have to agree time was of the essence. HIVE was responsible for two major events. Those people opening the orb, or even attempting to did not bode well in Clark's mind.

"Yes, we have to find them," Lara said, gently. "And we will find them, you just need to calm down."

One look from Astra showed Lara she was about as calm as she ever was going to get in circumstances like this. Lara took a half of a step back and allowed Astra room to rage and rant.

"They have the orb and they have the monster," Astra said. "Zod intended for him to be a weapon, and in some twisted way, a son."

Astra could not even begin to fathom the twisted thoughts in Zod's mind, to be honest. Zod had grown extremely bent in the end, and the insanity increased during the rare times Astra met him in the Phantom Zone. Zod seemed to think he alone was destined to build a brand new Krypton.

Personally, Astra thought Zod's plans had a couple of very fundamental flaws in them, which she might have had to rip apart in due time.

"Alura did tamper with that orb, didn't she?" Lara asked.

"Maybe," Astra said. "I don't think my DNA is in there…but at the same time, not many of the people knew what they were giving their DNA for. The experiment was very controversial, and by the time it got back to the Council, they raged on for years about the ethical implications of it."

"The council thinking something was controversial?" Lara asked. She scoffed and shook her head. "Imagine that."

"Yes," Astra agreed. "It does seem a bit far-fetched, doesn't it?"

The sarcasm burning through her voice took Clark a little bit off guard, but he knew of Astra's opinions of the Council. To the point where she attempted to overthrow them, which got her landed into the Phantom Zone in the first place. The more Clark learned about the Kryptonian Council, the more he sympathized with some of Astra's ideas.

A beep echoed and Clark moved over.

"It's from the DEO," Raya inputted helpfully. "Agent Johnson and Agent Danvers want to meet with you, ASAP…whatever that means."

"As soon as possible," Clark said.

"Right," Raya said.

Human quirks still had been lost on her a lot of time, but spelling it out, it made perfect sense.

* * *

Weirdness might have been Chloe's middle name over the past couple of years. And things got real weirder when a mysterious figure was sighted in the countryside, heading over to Smallville. It was very close, too close to the Kent Farmhouse.

Given the warning Clark gave her, Chloe thought it would be just as well she would check up on Martha, to see if she was safe. Chloe was not alone when entering the Kent Farmhouse, Lana tagged along with her for the ride.

"So, what do you think it's all about?" Lana asked.

"I can't even begin to imagine," Chloe said.

It could be some kind of meteor mutant, at least Chloe thought it could be. Or it could be something else, something very awful. Chloe shuddered at the thought of what it might be. Regardless, she walked over to the door and knocked on it a couple of times.

Martha opened the door and smiled.

"Chloe, Lana, it's good to see both of you," Martha said. "I've just been….well, I've been listening to the radio, and they're talking about the weird man which is stalking the countryside."

"Yeah," Chloe said. "We heard about him too. I don't know what his deal is, but if he's coming here….we were going to give you the heads on."

Martha raised an eyebrow and sat down. She offered both of the girls something to eat and drink as well. They looked like they could use something relaxing tonight, especially given how long they came.

"And what gave you that idea?"

Chloe answered by shrugging. "I really don't know, just a hunch or something, I guess. It's really hard to explain."

Martha shook her head in response, she was pretty sure Chloe would have some kind of explanation, one way or another if she sat down and thought about it. She looked outside of the window. The night had been peaceful, perhaps too peaceful.

The day Clark arrived, the day was nice and clear as well, it was peaceful, tranquil, just your typical fall day in Smallville. Their lives all changed forever on that particular day, in ways Martha couldn't imagine.

A rapping sound on the door made them all tense up. Chloe decided to come and get the door. She had her finger near the watch she wore, which transmitted a supersonic signal which only Kryptonians could hear. Tess developed them, and handed them out among the girls, just in case.

The door opened and Chloe relaxed when she saw Diana.

"Hello, Chloe," Diana said.

"Hey, Diana, long time no see," Chloe said. "But, I'm glad it's you…and not someone else."

"You're talking about the monster roaming around outside, aren't you?" Diana asked.

"Yes," Chloe responded. "Was it obvious I was?"

Diana smiled, put her thumb and forefinger together. "Just a little bit."

"Diana, don't stand out there, come in," Martha said.

The Princess of the Amazons always could say one thing about Martha Kent, she really was inviting to all of Clark's mates, and she took this entire thing with stride. Then again, when you raised someone like Clark, you had to expect the unexpected.

"Thank you, Martha," Diana said with a smile. "And I'm always grateful for you to welcome me into your home…and it's as nice as usual."

Diana crossed the barrier of the door and sat down on the chair in front of them.

"You don't mind if I stick around, do you?" Diana asked. "I think Clark's mind would be more at ease if I'm here, while he's out there going after….that thing."

"Clark's out there?" Martha asked.

Martha knew her son was more than capable of fighting anything out there. Still, always, a mother worried, deep down what her son might have been running into.

"I'm sure he'll deal with it," Chloe said.

Chloe half-thought it might be just some other super powered meteor mutant, but something told her differently. It was just a feeling she could not shake off. She tried not to betray the darker, deeper worries to Martha, not to give her more to fret over. Chloe knew she would be very upset if the situation had been reversed.

Hell, she always had apprehension, despite Clark proving himself constantly.

' _What was the word Lionel kept using?'_ Chloe thought. _'Oh, yeah, Doomsday, that's the word.'_

Chloe doubted anyone or anything which called itself Doomsday invited images of warm fuzziness. She could have been wrong, but somehow she doubted she was.

* * *

Daisy and Alex waited for their backup. They could go in there with a small army of DEO agents, but their boss suggested a different approach might be necessary, especially considering the caliber of the enemy they were going up against.

"Did you ever have a feeling?" Alex asked. "Did you ever have a feeling there's some bad storm coming?"

"Oh, all night tonight," Daisy said. "Trust me, he'll find a way to stop it."

Alex hoped she was right. The few sightings of this creature and his path of destruction made her more than nervous. There were a lot of regrets in the DEO, wishing they could track the man behind the monster down, and cage him.

Was it inevitable the beast would come out? Or was HIVE's tampering the thing which forced him out.

Alex looked up a second later and braced herself. Clark dropped down in front of them.

"So, you got our message," Daisy said.

Clark couldn't help, but give them a teasing smile. "Would I be here if I didn't?"

No, they supposed he wouldn't be here if they didn't receive the message. Regardless, both girls leaned back. Alex decided to be the one to break the bad news.

"You want to see these photos."

Alex handed Clark the photos. It was much worse than Chloe mentioned to him on his way here when she got in touch with him. Clark's mind was more at ease now Diana was keeping an eye on his mother.

"What do you think?" Daisy asked.

"I think we've found Doomsday," Clark said. "He's not completely evolved…but all bets are off, depending on what HIVE did to him."

Alex decided to cut through the scene with an unfortunate question.

"And what happens when he does evolve?"

Clark's grim assessment made both girls shiver.

"Rao, help us all."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 9** **th** **, 2017.**


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter Forty-One: Predatory Instincts**

* * *

Clark learned enough about Doomsday to realize the very moment he dropped down, he was not going to face his average adversary. He was going to fight something much more dangerous than the normal class of enemies he normally fought on a day to day basis. Clark didn't really know what to make of it, only there was going to be trouble, plenty of trouble.

He stood side by side with Daisy and Alex. Alex had her ear to the latest news in an attempt to find enough information to properly take down Doomsday. It wasn't going to be an easy task, not by a longshot. Alex leaned her neck out for a few seconds and then leaned her neck forward a few seconds later, looking out into the distance from where she stood. Nothing, not one thing, at least until they walked over the hill.

The busted windmill and the overturned tractor were the first signs of something being extremely wrong, and there being a very bad situation. The trio walked further into the distance and saw a fence. Clark looked up and saw an old man down on the ground. He still breathed, although the man was shaking.

"Get him away from me!" the man yelled. "Smallville used to be so beautiful until the meteor showers? What happened? WHAT HAPPENED!'

The man threw his head back and kept screaming and ranting about a much better time before the meteor shower in Smallville.

"Doomsday has been here," Daisy said.

Alex clicked her tongue and turned towards her friend. "Yeah, I gathered about as much, Doomsday had been here, and now he's gone. And he's left a huge path of destruction in his wake."

The other DEO agent sighed in response. It looked like something had been ripped apart by some natural disaster. Tornados would come through this area from time to time, but it wouldn't do too much damage. Doomsday was far more destructive than any tornado could ever hope to be. He left a huge path of carnage in his wake and he would not stop for anything, for no reason, not even for a second.

Another long second passed before Daisy threw her head back and looked up into the sky. She looked back towards Clark.

"So, do you have any ideas where he might have gone off to?

Oh, Clark, despite not being a monster's keeper, had more than a few ideas. None of them had been remotely good, but yes, he had his ideas. Clark turned his attention to the area of the field and then back towards Daisy and Alex. Then he threw his neck back a second later.

"It has to do with where Doomsday comes from, or rather where he arrived," Clark said.

"He landed in the same field you did all those years ago?" Alex asked.

Clark responded with a nod. "Exactly."

He followed the trail left by Doomsday with his X-Ray vision. They needed a little bit more of a walk. It was hard to predict the patterns of an attack by something which was a virtual force of nature, although Clark really did try and give it his best shot, despite all sense telling him there was no way to predict something like Doomsday. And as Astra warned him, as Raya, Lara, and Indigo warned him, there was nothing like Doomsday.

With HIVE's tampering, Clark didn't really know how much of a chance he stood. But, just because he didn't stand a chance, did not mean Clark would just sit back and let the monster roll over him and everything he held dear. Clark had plenty of principles and he would be damned if he would allow Doomsday to compromise them.

' _I'm in for the very long haul.'_

"He might be hunting for you," Daisy said. "If Brainiac sent him here, somehow, his programming might have been altered to hunt you down."

Clark really didn't feel too much better about a situation like this. He just looked over and saw the field where he had dropped. Someone had dug up clumps of the field. He looked off into the distance. Two trees had been ripped off by the roots, and then another fence collapsed from someone smashing through it with all of the subtly of a runaway freight train. Clark inched further down the line, frowning in response.

' _Okay, he's very dangerous, I'll give him that,'_ Clark answered. _'I don't think….well, it doesn't really matter now, does it?'_

Clark's mind veered off in another potential direction. He could get in a lot of trouble depending on where he went.

"We're going to run into this monster sooner or later," Alex said. "Do you have a plan?"

"I would think the DEO is the one who has the plan," Clark said.

Both girls looked at each other. While they had protocols to deal with situations like this, there really was not anything like this creature.

"Maybe we do have one, but I was hoping you would have one," Alex said.

"Neither of us has a solid plan, do we?"

Daisy's words cut through the air. Clark set his jaw and turned back towards the dark-haired woman, nodding in response.

"We have a containment unit prepared in the Fortress, for Doomsday, but we're not sure it's going to work. It's not something we can exactly test."

Both of the DEO agents bought. All they could do would continue the hunt. Clark decided to switch and check in with Diana, who should have made it to the Kent Residence at this point, at least it's what Clark assumed. He recalled what many people said about assumptions.

Still, Clark pressed in the ear piece and it activated for Diana. "Diana, are you there?"

"Am, I at the Kents?" Diana asked. "Yes, your mother, is out, along with Chloe, Lois, and Lana, they're all up to the road, at the Potter Residence…..it's been rebuilt last time, and Lara….may have fortified the security a little bit."

"There's no might have about it, she did fortify the security after last time," Clark said. "So, you're there, right, ready to fight?"

"As an Amazon always is."

Clark could have chuckled at her words. Diana always projected so much confidence, it made Clark think she had it together a lot of time. Regardless though, Clark would be lying if he didn't say he was pretty worried about this situation.

"Do I need to tell you to be careful?"

Diana sighed in response. "No, you don't need to tell me. I'm ready for anything Doomsday can throw at me…..I've fought monsters before, you know."

The Last Son of Krypton didn't have it within him to tell the Princess of the Amazons there was not a monster the caliber of Doomsday. He didn't want to undermine Diana's confidence, not if he could help it.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that."

"Well, if it does, I'll be ready," Diana said.

Daisy turned to Clark a second later. She had come to an awful conclusion, and she was pretty sure the others came to the same awful conclusion as well.

"We might not have the luxury of bringing this one in alive."

* * *

Karen looked over the containment unit Astra prepared with a very critical eye. She didn't see eye to eye with her estranged mother, who she grew up thinking was her aunt, on a lot. However, she was impressed with the make of the containment unit. It should hold, even a rampaging monster of mass destruction like Doomsday.

Kara stood a few inches away from it. She really hoped that this would hold. The alternate idea was really not a good one.

"All of the vital systems are online," Kara said. "I think we're good to the go….my mother would have approved of it, I think."

The younger Kryptonian cast an eye towards the broken mass of crystals on a nearby table which was Alura's damaged AI. She tried to help fix it, as did Karen, as did Astra, Lara, and Raya. Still, despite some of Kryptonians best minds putting their heads together, they couldn't have fixed it even if they tried.

They all came to a conclusion the only person in living memory who could fix such an item was Alura. And unfortunately for them, Alura stepped in to survey her own handiwork, well, part of her own handiwork.

"Don't worry, she'll still live," Astra said. "Even if Alura herself is the only one who can fix it, it will be fixed."

Astra didn't want to get anyone's hopes up. She was capable of some rather cruel things, and she would have to be capable of some even crueler things if she hoped to take down Doomsday, but she didn't want to get the false hope of anyone up, especially if those people were her daughter or her niece.

"I have to say, you've done a remarkable enough job," Karen said.

"Praise?" Astra asked. "I feel we've turned the corner in our relationship."

"Don't get too cocky yet," Karen responded. "You still have a lot to make up for….even though I can tell the reason why you were the way you are. Trapped in a marriage with someone well beneath your standard, even if you made the most of it."

"Don't remind me of Non, and don't remind me of….how I strayed and spent one night with him," Astra said. "Although I have to say, the results ended up working out for the better, but it's just my opinion."

Lara stepped in, not wanting to break up this very touching family moment.

"Lot of work to be done, and we're running a simulation of how the containment unit should work," Lara said. "It should stop the monster its tracks and hold him into place. Then, we can send him to one of the Forbidden Zones of the universe."

The aptly named Forbidden Zones were named such because it was forbidden by many planets to go there. The planets were toxic, some of them had some of the worst monsters in the universe. Doomsday would fit right in, in a place like the Forbidden Zone, at least Lara assumed so. She knew what they said about assumptions.

"So, once the monster has been contained, it will transport him to the Forbidden Zone," Raya said. "It's a shame we can't test it, but it is a one-way trip."

Karen turned a second away and closed her eyes. So much could go wrong in a situation like this, but yet, she was confident they were doing the right thing. She saw her younger cousin waiting.

"All we have to do is wait for Kal to find him."

Astra didn't want to say the obvious thing, about there not being a problem with Kal finding the monster. The monster finding Kal concerned Astra greatly than ever before.

"He's following an established, if not an unconventional pattern," Raya said. "He's tearing through Smallville, on a rampage, and he's trying to perform an objective. Whatever HIVE has done to him in their custody, has made him more uncontrollable and dangerous."

All of the Kryptonian females in the fortress thought about the same exact thing. Doomsday being uncontrollable meant there was pretty much no way to reign him in, should go on his path of destruction elsewhere. HIVE had unleashed a huge demon.

"So, all we have to do is wait," Karen said.

"The least interesting part of any campaign, but essentially and functionally correct," Astra said.

Astra detested the wait more than many other things. She always was a woman of action, with the consequences resulting from these actions coming later.

Lara turned her attention to a blip on the screen.

"Kal, he's on the move," Lara said. "Prepare, and be careful….stand close to Alex and Daisy, and let them help you, but don't let Doomsday get to them."

She knew Daisy was empowered, and Alex was very skilled, even though she didn't have super powers, but it did not keep her from worrying. Lara didn't want to see either of those girls harmed, for both selfish and genuine reasons. She thought they would be perfect matches for Kal-El and good allies overall for the House of El.

"Are you even match-making during a time like this?" Astra asked.

"Oh, don't worry , you'll get your chance."

Astra frowned, she wasn't sure how Lara thought she wanted a chance. Anyone who satisfied her daughter would be worthy of consideration, but Astra didn't know.

"Let's deal with Doomsday first, and date night later," Karen said.

"Best idea I've heard in a long time," Raya said.

* * *

The council of HIVE leaned in close to the view screen to monitor the situation. They unleashed Doomsday out into the wild, hoping he would show what he was made of. The situation could not have gone any better, it went perfect, well not necessarily perfect.

"He is on the move to the exact same spot where he came to be," one of them said. "And the path of destruction is encouraging. Our tests have stripped away his humanity and turned him into something else. We turned him into someone else."

"And soon his instincts will be further triggered."

"Yes, once he runs into him."

HIVE's plans had been stopped by the protector of Smallville on multiple occasions, and now they needed to take him down before he became an even more pressing problem. The members of HIVE prepared for anything. They monitored their monster.

"We did lose valuable resources against him."

"All part of a greater plan. We will have more monsters, an army which will put control of this world underneath our rightful masters. Why stop at one Doomsday?"

"Let's ensure this one finishes his objective before we move forward," a woman said from the shadows. "And for your sakes, you better control him when he's done."

The members of the HIVE organization all frowned and continued to monitor the situation. The woman who lead them, the one who dubbed herself the HIVE Queen, refused to appreciate their hard and dedicated work. They had a few leaders over the years of HIVE, and despite the changes made to the management, the direction of HIVE didn't really change.

The HIVE Queen looked over her drones. She brushed the strand of blonde hair out of her eyes and took a half of a step over to the side. There were many experiments going on in the HIVE facility, the HIVE hive, at any given time. It took some time to gain control of the world, and she would be damned if the control would have been lost.

She looked towards the footage of the blur. There had been very few images of him because he moved too fast for a camera to pick him up. The few pieces of footage the HIVE Queen uncovered, she studied in a very obsessive and insane detail. Her lips curled a few inches.

' _You are very interesting…but I'm certain you'll be more interesting when I pick you apart.'_

The HIVE Queen walked down the hallway and pressed her palm onto a hole on the wall. The wall lit to light and the bricks slid apart. She stepped in to walk towards the scientists. All of the had bent over the orb. The orb which they needed to figure out how to open.

"You still haven't figured out how to open the orb?" The HIVE Queen asked.

"Please, forgive us."

The HIVE Queen raised a hand. There would be no forgiveness for these men, who had failed her. She would not tolerate failure, at any time, especially today. The HIVE Queen took half of a step in and surveyed these scientists. They all worked steadily at the orb, like busy little worker bees, ready to serve the HIVE.

"I know why we can't get the orb open."

The man stood up to face the HIVE Queen.

"Tell me why," The HIVE Queen said. "Tell me why you have failed so far to open the orb. Tell me, now!"

The man swallowed a lump in his throat which grew with each passing second. The HIVE Queen didn't look pleased with the man in question and his inability to explain things properly.

"Yes," the man said. "We need the DNA of a person of similar origin for the orb."

'In other words, Kryptonian," HIVE Queen said. "So, are you telling me, you need his DNA to open it up?"

The HIVE Queen waited for him. He nodded in response.

"Very well, once the predator kills the prey, you will have a sufficient amount of DNA. And then, I will have no further excuses. Is that clear?"

The man answered with a nod.

"Crystal."

The HIVE Queen smiled and turned around, perfectly glad they came to an accord, an understanding. And they would be able to move forward with their next move sooner rather than later.

' _As it should be,'_ The HIVE Queen thought. _'We are the masters who rule the world.'_

* * *

Clark had a feeling he was close, and now he was right across from the Kent Farmhouse. Diana waited to pounce should Doomsday attack. She was the last line of defense to keep her away from Lana, Lois, Chloe, and his mother. As far as last lines of defense went, Clark could do far worse than the Princess of the Amazons.

"I'm still here," Diana said. "And he isn't."

"Stand by," Clark said.

A loud growl cut through the air. Clark slowly turned his attention towards a figure in the shadows. Alex and Daisy stood on either side of Clark, if not standing a slight amount behind him. The two women's eyes widened when they saw Doomsday.

They saw what looked like a human moving in, although his skin looked to be turning grey and a couple of spikes protruded from his back. His long finger like claws rose out when walking forward.

"YOU!" the monster yelled. "Kill me…..put me out of my misery….before I become it completely!"

Clark had been caught off guard by the request. Daisy and Alex stood an inch behind him, mouths open. The Last Son of Krypton walked forward to engage the monster. The monster threw his hands into the air and growled in response. His fists nailed the ground, and he snarled in an even more insane manner.

"You must kill me!" Doomsday yelled. "Kill me…"

An electrical pulse shot through Doomsday. A lethal blast of electricity caught Doomsday off guard and launched him off of the ground. The monster collapsed down onto the ground, heavy breathing increasing. The monster's eyes closed and he started to breathe heavily. In and out, his pulsing hands squeezing together.

"It's too late!"

"Clark, take Alex, and get off the ground!"

Clark scooped Alex off of the ground and jumped off. Daisy put her hand on the ground and it shook underneath Doomsday. The ground had become a little bit less level. Doomsday tried to push himself out through the ground. He launched up and crashed down onto the ground.

Daisy tried to bury the monster into the ground. The monster rose up from a standing position.

Alex reached for a gun and fired. Tranquilizer darts connected to the chest of Doomsday. The monster just howled in frustration and rushed towards Daisy, avoiding the rocks which rose out of the ground.

"No effect," Alex said. "Damn it!"

Daisy came inches away from getting rocked by Doomsday. Clark swept down and pulled her off of the guard. He pulled her away and dropped both Daisy and Alex at the end of the road.

"You want me?" Clark asked. "Well, here I am!"

Doomsday threw his hands up and howled. He charged towards Clark and went for the biggest punch ever. Clark ducked the punch and returned fire with one of his own. The Last Son of Krypton dodged behind Doomsday and jabbed away at the lower back. Doomsday kept swinging at Clark, coming precious inches from taking his head off.

Clark ducked, dodged, moved, and just pretty much kept away from Doomsday. The monster rushed towards Clark and Clark dodged out of the way. He picked up a piece of fence and wrapped it around Doomsday. He trapped Doomsday's arms behind his back in the fence and started to ram his hand into Doomsday's chest. Every single punch echoed the more Clark attempted to take the monster down.

Doomsday ripped himself from containment and picked up Clark. He lifted him up into the air by one hand by the throat and spiked him down with a huge choke slam type throw. He picked up Clark over his head and rag dolled him around, throwing Clark halfway across the road. He flew through a billboard and landed on the other side.

The monster jumped into the air and landed on the other side of the billboard. He smashed his hands on the other side of Clark's neck.

Clark jabbed Doomsday in the neck and doubled him over. Doomsday stepped back and Clark nailed him with a series of punches.

He decided to try something Astra showed him in the battle simulator. Clark grabbed Doomsday's hand and crushed it before rearing back and nailing Doomsday in the chest where the heart was. The monster was human enough to have his heart stopped and dropped down to the ground.

Clark stepped back, wiping the blood from his mouth. The monster was down on the ground and it appeared the breath had finally stopped going through his body.

"Kara….Karen, get the containment unit ready," Clark said. "Please tell me it's ready."

"Yes, it's….."

One bleary eye opened up and Doomsday reached up to grab Clark by the throat, before hoisting him up off of his feet. Doomsday dragged Clark across the field, digging into the dirt.

Daisy tried to nail Doomsday with a full brunt attack with her powers. No effect and Doomsday refused to let go of Clark. The monster howled and threw him towards the girls, who were forced to scatter.

The second Doomsday went for him one more time, a figure dropped down to the ground in front of Doomsday. Doomsday stepped back, in confusion.

Another Kryptonian, he would destroy them, before destroying the Son of Jor-El as per his objective.

Astra, however, would not go down so easily.

"Let's see how dangerous you really are," Astra said. "That's right, come after me."

Doomsday charged Astra with a blood stained hatred burning through his eyes.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 13** **th** **, 2017.**


	42. Chapter 42

**Chapter Forty-Two: Scavenger**

* * *

Astra got one look at the creature in front of her and saw how miserable the monster known as Doomsday looked. She almost felt empathy for it, at least she would have if she didn't know for a fact empathy would be something which would get her killed. She looked at Doomsday with one eye, the monster looking back at her with the same blood lust dancing in his eyes, directed towards her.

The General made a move for Doomsday at an instant and charged him. The monster took one of her best strikes. Said strike was only a way to gauge how dangerous Doomsday was and more importantly, how well he could take a punch. Astra drew back her fist and caught Doomsday with another punch. A third punch rocked the monster and almost launched him off of his feet.

Doomsday threw his hands back with a solid growl and charged directly towards Astra. Astra blocked the next attack and came back with a series of lighting fast jabs. Each of them came inches away from striking Doomsday in a very vital part. Astra drew back and tried to nail Doomsday with a violent shot. Doomsday blocked the shot. The block left him open for another shot which crumpled Doomsday over onto the back of his head.

He was made by nature, made to be a hunter, a scavenger, and a destroyer. Astra thought, at least in the back of her mind, he would adapt to fight. The woman's eyes closed when she looked at Doomsday.

' _Time to see if his resistance to heat is there, at least right now.'_

Astra launched a beam of heat from her eyes, directed straight at the monster. Doomsday howled in misery when dropping down to one knee. Astra opened her eyes and blasted the monster with another solid blast of heat vision, doubling him over. Doomsday attempted to hold himself up in a standing position. He growled when almost being pulled up to his feet.

Doomsday took half of a second to get to his feet. Astra caught him with numerous punches directly to the side of the head. All of the punches rocked Doomsday and caused the skin around her knuckles to redden. The monster took half of a step back and charged towards Astra.

She jumped into the air, landed behind Doomsday, and grabbed him in a neck hold from behind.

Clark rolled over off of the ground just in time to see Astra throwing down with Doomsday. The two of them attacking each other was very violent. Clark rubbed the side of his neck and tried to get back into the fray. He flew towards Doomsday and clipped him with one attack.

Doomsday swung his large arm around to go for Clark. It left him open to an attack from Astra.

"Good, distract him," Astra said. "He has a single-minded objective directed towards you. Therefore, it's the best and potentially only way to take him down."

Clark would have to take these words from Astra as a compliment. Doomsday tried to grab a handful of Clark's face.

Daisy's frantic cry of "jump" resulted in Astra and Clark doing just that. She caught Doomsday with a seismic blast which doubled him over. The monster staggered a half of a step forward, almost collapsing down onto the ground. Daisy blasted him with a seismic blast down across the chest and almost put him down to the ground.

Doomsday popped up and rushed towards the woman. Clark swooped over, lifted Daisy off of the group, and yanked her away from Doomsday.

He flew right into direction of the General, who hoisted Doomsday off of the ground, and hurled him into the air. Astra zipped in from of Doomsday. The monster caught her around the waist from the air and plowed her into the ground with a vicious spear like a takedown. The wind had been knocked out of both parties when they fell down to the ground.

Clark wiped the blood off of his mouth and turned around just in time to see a very frantic Alex running up the road.

"Just got a call from Henshaw, the military's aware of what's happening in Smallville," Alex said.

Daisy's brow crumpled up and she frowned. "I thought Henshaw said he was doing his best to keep a lid on the situation in Smallville."

"He was," Alex said. "But, it's kind of hard to keep a lid on a force of destruction like Doomsday."

Clark zipped down the road just in time to see Astra flip into the air. She landed in a not so graceful manner. Doomsday rushed down the road, destruction in mind. Clark put himself between Doomsday and Astra and took a deep breath.

Doomsday tried to rush through the gale force of Clark's super breath. The monster took swipes in mid-air directed towards Clark when he made his attempt to get through the barrier. Clark didn't once let up on Doomsday, and in fact, he hoisted him up off of the ground and launched him back a couple of feet.

The dust kicked up and for a few seconds, there was a lack of visibility. Clark could see the creature moving into position. Doomsday landed down onto the ground.

"Herd him over towards the field!" Astra yelled.

Both Clark and Astra worked in tandem with heat vision. Doomsday's resistant skin put up a fight, despite the fact he put up a fight. Both of the Kryptonians had to work together to get Doomsday over to a certain point, towards the field. The monster struggled against their attacks and took many swings at both of them on his way there.

The monster's heart beat steadily against his chest. Doomsday almost backed up towards the field where energy crystals waited for him, close to firing up.

He stepped onto the point where the containment field erupted, sending paralyzing gas around the creature. Clark and Astra zipped off to the side.

"A portal is going to open in thirty seconds," Astra said. "It would be prudent if we cleared the area before them."

Clark scooped Daisy up off of the ground and Astra did the same for Alex. The four of them disappeared off into the night.

Doomsday struggled against the invisible force holding him back. The crystals reached their full charge and an energy portal brought Doomsday through. The monster sucked into oblivion from his location.

The HIVE agent standing in the shadows watching, slightly disappointed at such a valuable asset having been lost.

' _And yet, the study of the creature's DNA proved to be quite illuminating.'_

He did not know whether or not Doomsday would find his way back from wherever they sent him. All he could say was the HIVE leaders pretty much had what they needed now, and he could move on.

And should move on, before either one of the Kryptonians or a DEO agent managed to catch on to the fact he was here.

* * *

Queen Hippolyta would say her daughter, Diana, had never been the most patient girl in the world. She disagreed with her mother's assessment, quite boldly in fact. The truth of the matter was, Diana was not very patient when growing up, but she matured.

Still, playing the waiting game for a fight was always something which stirred up Diana's worst qualities of impatience. She leaned back in the chair and drummed her fingers, very anxiously.

The sounds of battle could mostly have been heard. And then there was silence. Silence always made Diana uneasy for numerous reasons. The Amazon rose up to her feet and took a look outside of the windows of the Kent Farmhouse, So far, nothing coming up the street.

Diana could not say with one hundred percent certainty whether or not someone coming up the street was a good thing. All the Amazon Princess could do was wait, watch, and hope, hope something would happen, which would result in there is good news.

' _And if there's a fight, I'll be ready for it.'_

The Amazon looked up to something coming down the street. Her relief and disappointment combined in one when Karen made her way down the street and landed in front of the farmhouse door. She dressed in a white tank top , a pair of jeans, a jacket, and hand her hair pulled back. The Amazon opened the door before Karen opened it up.

"I take it the danger has passed," Diana said.

A sigh of relief passed over Karen's body. She nodded and touched a hand to the top of Diana's.

"Yes," Karen said. "Clark's back to the Fortress, being checked over. He got cracked by the monster pretty good."

"He's okay, though?" Diana asked.

"It will take a couple more than a few hard hits to put Clark down for the count," Karen said. "And if he was here, he would like to thank you for keeping an eye on the house."

Diana smiled as if to show it was not a problem.

"I thought the containment unit wouldn't work for a minute," Karen admitted. "Still, I've been proven wrong before, so there's that."

The two women stepped out of the back door and made their way down the street towards the Potter House, where Lana, Lois, Chloe, and Martha were all hanging out. They would have to inform them the danger has passed.

Karen moved and knocked on the door. The door opened, and Lois answered, with a crowbar being held behind her back. Karen didn't think a crowbar would do much good against the likes of Doomsday, but she had to admire Lois for being prepared all of the same.

"Hey," Lois said. "So, the monster is gone, right?"

The weirdness in Smallville was just getting weirder. Then again, Lois had no room to talk about the unconventional, given she was in a polygamous relationship which included her cousin. Something she would never have believed herself to be a part of, almost a year ago.

In a blink of an eye, everything changed.

"Yeah, he's been sent off," Karen said. "And I think we can all agree, he never returns."

Lois wasn't about to argue against that particular point. She had spent her time watching the news and caught a glimpse of the monster's path of rage. The destruction the monster underwent was more than immense.

"Clark's fine?"

Martha Kent stepped outside in the room to join the girls. She smiled when seeing Karen and Diana there.

"Yes, your son's fine," Karen said. "He took a couple of bad hits, but it could have been much worse."

Martha wasn't about to argue against this point, things could have gone much worse for her son if things had gone differently. She needed more than two hands for a number of times something like this could happen.

Lana and Chloe made their way out, and Karen and Diana smiled and greeted both of the girls. Karen locked eyes with Chloe, and Chloe looked like she had information.

"Do you think the two of us could talk?" Chloe asked.

"No problem," Karen said.

The two girls made their way outside. Now it was completely devoid of any rampaging forces of destruction, the area around Smallville was very peaceful. Karen would go as far as to say it was a very nice night.

"I've been doing some digging into HIVE. Shocking, I know."

Karen wasn't shocked at all. She just opened her hand and gave Chloe the opportunity to keep talking. When she had the opening, Chloe persisted in going along.

"None of the information I've received is any good," Chloe said. "They're working with the government as well…..they've been commissioned to find ways to build stronger soldiers, to combat terrorism."

"You mean the entire government?" Karen asked.

"Well, not every person in the government is working with HIVE, but they have their supporters in Congress, the Senate, and it stretches out to the White House staff," Chloe said. "Not sure if it goes to the president himself, but….isn't the president these days just a puppet for big business anyway?"

Karen couldn't say.

"And HIVE is backed by some big businesses," Chloe said. "I haven't been able to go too deep thought. It's lucky I found as much as I did here….and don't worry, I covered my tracks."

An experienced hacker like Chloe covering her tracks was only part of the territory. She wasn't about to leave behind any footprints that could come back to bite her.

"I've got all of the information here," Chloe said. "Maybe you and Clark can take a look at it."

Karen smiled, they would have to cross-reference the information Chloe found, with the information Thea's hacker dug up on HIVE as well. Working from two sides, maybe they could find something.

"Doesn't look good."

Chloe shrugged. "Well, given how they're playing with fire with Doomsday, isn't that obvious?"

* * *

Alex Danvers returned to the DEO. She was very lucky not to have been flattened like a pancake going up into battle against Doomsday. She turned over towards Daisy who stepped towards her. Her partner, best friend, and unofficial third sister leaned down against the wall, sipping a cup of coffee, and wincing in response.

"So, you got rocked pretty hard?" Alex asked.

"I've had worse."

Alex shook her head at her partner's stubbornness. "It doesn't mean you haven't gotten whacked pretty hard."

"Like I said, I've had worse," Daisy said. "Bruised ribs aren't fun, but like I said, I've had much worse."

Alex couldn't exactly argue with Daisy's point, of the other woman having a lot worse. Both of them had their fair share of bumps, bruises, and scrapes out on the field. It came with the territory of being super-secret government agents.

"I'm glad I'm in here, and I'm not going to be the one who is going to scrape the field of all of the DNA, both of Clark's and Doomsday's," Daisy said.

Alex answered with a light shrug while shaking her head. "It's a good thing they're cleansing the field. The last thing we need is some kind of Superman/Doomsday hybrid."

"Superman?" Daisy asked.

"Well, do you have a better name to refer to Clark as?" Alex asked. "What would you call him, the Blur?"

Daisy shook her head. She couldn't really think of a better name, to be honest. Then again, most superhero names weren't exactly the bastion of creativity, something man, or something boy, or something woman, or something girl. Thankfully, she adopted the simple and abrupt "Quake" for her codename. Being called Quakegirl or Quakewoman didn't just roll off of the tongue.

"So, that's what we're calling him," Daisy said.

"To be fair, I blatantly stole it from Tess Mercer," Alex said. "Speaking of which, she's here at headquarters, overseeing everything. I get the feeling she doesn't completely trust the DEO."

Daisy acted all shocked and appalled. To be honest, the DEO had to take some steps to ensure the world was safe which she was not entirely comfortable with. Still, as much as Daisy hated to admit it, everything like this really did have to be done.

"So, you're fine?" Alex asked.

"Yes," Daisy said. "If you want to though…you can check me over. Give me a full exam to make sure everything is functioning as I should."

Daisy looked over in the direction of the television screen. The usual fear mongering of the press was in full force. They were news reports about how aliens infiltrated their world and might have already been in the deepest reaches. She was glad the sound was on mute, such reports just made her want to punch the television screen.

"They should be worried about HIVE," Daisy said.

"To be fair, HIVE is a lot more of a shadow threat than aliens," Alex answered with a shrug.

One of the DEO agents made their way down the hallway and stopped just in front of Alex and Daisy at the end of the hallway. Daisy raised an eyebrow when looking at the DEO agent.

"Yes, can I help you?"

He looked to be a new recruit, poor guy. If dealing with something like Doomsday was something his first day brought, Daisy, didn't really know what to say. She felt a little bit of sympathy for the poor man.

"The Director wants to see you two, he's giving a briefing to the senior agents."

The man shivered and looked about ready to pass out.

"Thanks," Daisy said. "You should get a cup of coffee, you look like you really need one."

"But, it's almost midnight."

The sternness in Daisy's voice could not be fault or argued against. "Trust me, you really need a cup of coffee."

He needed something significantly stronger than a cup of coffee if Daisy was blunt. Still, DEO regulations prevented them from drinking on the job. A shame, because this job made a few drinks necessary.

* * *

Tess's supervision of the DEO's work allowed them to obtain a small strand of Doomsday's DNA. A small strand told them a lot, as Astra thought when she was looking over it.

HIVE could do a lot with such a tiny sample of DNA, and she was pretty certain they had more than a tiny sample. They would be extremely foolish if they did not hold onto some of Doomsday's DNA in the process. Astra leaned closer towards the central point, frowning when she looked things over everything.

' _This DNA could be used for good, in curing diseases, if utilized properly.'_

Perhaps Tess should have picked up more. However, Astra also realized there would be bad for the good. The way Doomsday was created made him unstable. He took on a human camouflage to adapt to certain surroundings. Astra's frown deepened when looking over every single point of the Doomsday DNA. She came to one very interesting, and also very frustrating conclusion.

' _It can be used for both the good, in curing diseases. And also, the bad in creating a very twisted army of Doomsday clones.'_

Astra had no desire to replicate such a monster. It was the furthest thing from her mind. One of them was more than enough. The battle wrecked her even enough.

The DNA strand looked more alive than most did. Astra took extra care to seal it away and took extra steps to make sure it had been secured. Only a Kryptonian could access the locks. No member of HIVE could even get close to breaking through the DNA's seal, at least in Astra's mind, they couldn't.

Astra stepped away from the DNA chamber and looked over her shoulder. She noticed her daughter standing outside, walking back and forth. Astra took half of a step outside and came face to face with Karen on the other side.

"Yes, Kara?"

"You were very unfocused for you out there."

Karen's blunt statement caught Astra off guard. She raised an eyebrow when looking towards Karen.

"What do you mean I was unfocused?" Astra asked.

"You would have taken Doomsday down a lot sooner if you had been focused," Karen said. "He would have been brought into the Forbidden Zone in pieces."

"Maybe," Astra said. "Or maybe you just underestimate how powerful a creature the likes of Doomsday could be."

Karen smiled; she thought it could be just as much. She stepped closer towards Astra, their eyes meeting up against each other.

"Maybe," Karen said. "But, I think your mind is elsewhere. You've been denied certain pleasures your entire life, and most certainly since you've been in the Phantom Zone."

"I don't think life…"

"Yes, you have," Karen said with a smile. "It's time for you to have something more stable in your life. If you don't, you could go off the rails again."

"I didn't think you thought about my personal well-being that much," Astra said.

Karen shook her head. Just because there were many things she disagreed with, what her mother did, it did not mean Karen wasn't concerned. She had thought about it for a very long time.

"Come with me."

Karen didn't speak in a request, no she ordered Astra to come along with her. Astra stepped around the corner, just in time to come face to face with Clark who was waiting.

"So, how are you feeling?" Astra asked.

She looked over his body, realizing he was not wearing a shirt. There were a couple of bruises on his body, but they healed. Astra spent some time analyzing every inch of the younger man's body, for the purpose of science.

"Your marriage is one of arrangement," Karen said. "I've talked to Clark, and Lara and they've both agreed you could use something more satisfying in your life."

"Yes, if you want to be a part of this," Clark said.

"Do you think I should?" Astra asked.

Clark and Karen both could see she stalled, almost afraid of what would happen if she took the plunge. The older Kara and Clark both looked at her with smiles.

Finally, the Last Son of Krypton answered her question. "What I think really doesn't matter, does it? It's what you want?"

Clark took a step forward, it was now or never. Astra leaned towards him, looking surprisingly anxious, almost afraid of disappointing such a specimen in front of her. Clark gripped the back of her head and guided her into a kiss. The first true kiss she ever received in her life.

Everything had been so formal before. Clark's tongue delving into his mouth made her feel, and she had been guided onto the bed, with him kissing her. She could only return the kiss with more of a feverish exchange of saliva. Both of them wanted this more than anything.

"Let me see you, all of you."

Karen already went behind Clark and started to undo his pants with a smile to show Astra what she was missing.

* * *

Twelve inches of prime, thick throbbing meat unleashed in front of Astra's face. She looked at it, in surprisingly wonder. She put a hand on it to feel it up in surprise.

"Maybe I should show you how to handle him?"

Karen dropped down to her knees and took Clark into her mouth with practiced ease. The warm mouth surrounding Clark's manhood caused him to grunt. His throbbing hard rod pushed deep inside of Karen's waiting mouth. She wrapped her lips around his hard rod, sucked him in, and released his cock.

Astra watched, greedily following the process of Clark's hard rod inside of her daughter's mouth. She needed it, every single last inch, buried inside of her mouth, and inside of her.

"Try it?"

The General was determined not to disappoint. She kneeled before Kal-El and took the mighty rod inside her mouth. A tight seal formed around Clark's throbbing hard cock.

"Damn," Clark breathed heavily. "She's good, a natural, it must run in the family."

Astra was pleased he was pleased. Her warm mouth proceeded to explore every throbbing inch of Kal-El's mighty rod. She wanted to get it nice and wet for intrusion in her body. Astra swirled her tongue around him, tasting the aching manhood all of the way. She sucked him into her mouth and released him.

Clark could tell by the lust in her eyes she wanted it, and Clark wanted it too. He wanted a nice, fresh, Kryptonian cunt for him to explore. He pulled away from her mouth and smiled.

Karen moved behind Astra when she got up and rubbed her breasts through the woman's uniform. The Kryptonian General practically melted underneath her lovely daughter's ministrations. Karen pulled down the uniform for her, revealing Astra's firm, tight body, with perfect breasts, a toned stomach, a pussy with a strip of dark hair coming down it, a thick toned ass, and long legs.

"Look at her, she's dripping," Karen said. "She's wet."

The jamming of the daughter's fingers into her mother's pussy made Clark nice and erect for him. His cock called for Astra's warm center to be driven into. He couldn't hold back his lust for the beautiful older woman any longer. He needed a piece of her, and he needed a piece of her in the worst possible way. Clark's hunger grew even more prominent when he stepped closer towards Astra.

"Yes, oh baby, take me," Astra mewed hungrily. "My pussy, it wants you so badly."

Her thighs spreading apart invited Clark to take the plunge. He stepped closer towards Astra who laid back on the bed, ready to receive. Clark was more than ready to give.

The first few inches of Clark's cock stretched Astra out and caused her to scream in pleasure. Clark drove himself down into him.

"Oh, you beautiful man!" Astra yelled. "Fuck me, senseless….fuck the bitch out of me!"

Clark pulled himself out of her and then jammed inside of her. Astra's strong legs gripped Clark in a way they would crush the ribs and pelvis of a non-Kryptonian. Clark slid almost all the way out of her and pushed deeper into Astra.

Karen watched the of them. Astra's screams escalated. Karen slid off her shirt, and jeans, along with her panties, and bra as well. She rubbed her pussy, watching Clark drill Astra from underneath.

"Fuck," Astra said. "You're so good…..I didn't even have to teach you….."

"No, that was your daughter's job," Clark said. "She's such a good cock-sucker, good at taking a cock in her pussy, and in her ass as well. I wonder if you're good in taking a cock in your ass as well."

Astra clenched him at the thought of all of the dirty, raunchy things her daughter did with the man she considered her cousin. And also the thought of, as Clark so eloquently put it, taking a cock in her ass. But, not just any cock, Kal-El's meaty, thick rod.

Clark rammed into Astra, fully away from Karen furiously masturbating off to one side. Her heart beat faster. Clark motioned for Karen to get on her hands and knees, and she did.

The moment Astra recovered from this particular orgasm, would be the moment where Clark would take his plunge into Karen, and work her pussy hard with his rod. He picked up the pace and drilled Astra into the bed. Astra's hips rolled up to meet Clark's intruding manhood.

The orgasm to end all orgasm's cascaded through Astra's body. Her body sized up and shuddered with a multiple doses of pleasure.

Clark slid out of Astra and aimed his rod towards Karen's willing center. He pushed his cock into her opened lips and rammed deep inside of her.

The moment Clark's cock entered Karen, she came unglued and screamed. Clark balanced his leverage on her hips and pushed deep inside of her. The manhood shoved deep inside of Karen's body, and she worked him, worked him so hard Clark thought he was going to lose it with multiple thrusts inside of the goddess beneath him. Karen clamped down onto Clark when he pushed his rod inside of her waiting body. He pulled back and shoved inside of her.

Karen's hair flew wildly in a ponytail. She considered cutting her hair, but given how Clark grabbed onto her ponytail and fucked her from behind, she was glad she didn't. Long hair really did have some great leverage in being rammed from behind.

"Fuck me!" Karen mewled at the top of her lungs.

She had a particularly devious thought and leaned in to take her mother's breasts. She licked and sucked on them, the stiffening nipples pushed into her mouth. Astra jolted back to life.

Clark rode Karen the rest of the way, feeling the pressure of her clamping thighs around his cock. Astra demanded his attention once again, and Clark wouldn't be the one to deny her certain pleasures.

Karen realized her time was up the second Clark's cock left her. There would be more than enough time to be pleasured once Clark fucked Astra sideways.

The mature Kryptonian woman on the bed looked up at the young stud who was about to enter her one more time. She smiled and enjoyed the feeling of the man's handsome face buried between her ample chest just seconds before his manhood pierced her all the way.

Their hips collided together in a passionate exchange of them thrusting back and forth against each other. The concussive sounds could be heard.

"Make me yours, Kal-El," Astra moaned in his ear. "I want to feel you, all of you, buried inside me. Don't hold back on me, please, don't hold back on in."

Clark had no intention whatsoever of holding back on Astra. He just kept working his hips back and forth against hers. She clenched him hard inside of her and released him. Astra looked intent to milk his breeding rod.

Astra thought prolonged exposure to the Phantom Zone may have compromised her ability to reproduce, which was a shame. Then again, she hadn't had a chance to test that particular theory, until now. Clark pushed deep inside of her and pulled almost out of her. The head of the cock rested on Astra's entrance just a second before he lowered inside of her with the longest, most powerful thrust possible.

Their bodies collided together. Astra's voice was muffled and realized it was because Karen hovered over her face. Temptation visited Astra, along with her daughter's sweet pussy.

Karen titled her head back and the sensation of Astra's tongue delving inside of her pussy drove her absolutely bonkers with pleasure. Her mother picked up on what she wanted.

"Good, thank you, it feels so good," Karen said. "But, if the rumors are true….you have far more experience with licking a pussy than you do with a cock."

Astra refused to confirm or deny this particular fact. She delved herself into Karen's center and tasted the tangy juices coming from the inside.

As nice and sweet as her daughter's pussy was, the very large and very powerful cock slamming into her could not be denied. Clark gripped onto the side of Astra's legs and almost pulled her off of the bed before he brought the point of himself back inside of her. The two side slapped together in a very pleasurable encounter with each other.

Astra slid her warm walls all the way up on Clark. He gripped onto her so hard.

"You're going to make me lose it, you know," Clark said. "But, that's what you want, isn't it?"

The General could not answer on the account of wrapping her warm lips around Karen's hot, juicy pussy. She sucked her lips nice and hard, and then shoved a tongue inside of her.

Still, the long, throbbing cock working her insides over made Astra get very close to becoming undone. One more long thrust would send her over the edge.

"Fill, her up," Karen said. "Fill her up with your cum."

Clark pushed his manhood and bottomed out inside of Astra. The warmth of her inviting body made him want to bury himself into her forever. Unfortunately, even Clark had his limits. The heavy load threatened to burst and be released inside of Astra.

He bottomed out inside of the Kryptonian beneath him. Astra held onto Clark with her legs which wrapped around him and pumped a sticky, gushing load of cum inside of her pussy.

Karen pulled away from Astra and left her driven breathless. She moved over onto Clark's lap no sooner than he pulled away from Astra. Her inviting breasts pushed in Clark's face. Clark cupped the wonders in his hand and gave them a nice, firm squeeze.

"You know what I want," Karen said. "And you know what I need."

Clark wasn't about to argue with Karen now, he knew what she wanted, and what she needed. Her wet slit lowered over Clark's cock who got rather hard. The two Kryptonians joined together at the loins like it was always meant to be.

His long, throbbing cock slid deep inside Karen's most depths.

"It turned me on how you fucked my mother really good," the older Kara purred in his ear. "I want you to do the same to me. I want you to show me what you can do with your big, strong cock."

Clark showed her before, numerous times what he could do, but he wouldn't be opposed to giving Karen a refresher course. He grabbed onto the hips of the goddess sliding up and down on his pole. His throbbing manhood shoved deep inside and went out of her. Clark lifted his hips up and slid it completely out of her.

"How's that?"

"Mmm, good honey," Karen said. "A little bit harder as well...LIKE THAT!"

Clark buried himself into Karen. She responded by bouncing higher and higher on him with an endless amount of energy dancing through her eyes. She bounded up and brought herself down onto the point of his crotch. It buried inside of Karen's gripping center.

The ample chest of Karen in Clark's hands made him feel really excited about what he was doing. He took those round breasts and gave them a nice little squeeze. Karen screamed out loud. He could tell how much she loved Clark playing with her tits, and Clark paid special attention to those juicy nipples and firm breasts.

Astra looked up at the sight. Her thighs were rammed raw by Clark, but it did not mean she couldn't watch, and she would watch. She would watch Clark go all day and all night with her beautiful daughter until there was nothing else for him to do.

"Fuck her," Astra managed.

Clark's roaming hands played with every lovely inch of Karen. He explored her body, nook, and cranny, and allowed her to moan out when coming down onto his cock. Her wet center tensed around him and released with a flood around Clark's manhood.

"Your turn."

The dance escalated a little bit more with the two of them joining together at the hip with each other. Karen came one more time before Clark prepared to do so himself.

The tension inside of his balls reached a fever pitch and had been unleashed inside of Karen's dripping womanhood. She slid halfway down onto him and released him with a series of fluid pumps inside of her body. He flooded her body with an obscene amount of seed.

Karen thanked herself for the nano-technology they used to prevent pregnancy. She did want to bare Kal's child one day, but for now, she wanted to focus on her studies.

The two of them shuddered to a stop, their mutual orgasm sealed. It felt so good to achieve optimal release.

One look at Astra's smile indicated she was not quite done for the night. Karen opened up Clark's cock for Astra to take her control.

* * *

The younger Kara stood on the outside of the next room, face red, palms shaking, and heart racing pretty fast. She went to check up on Clark to see how he was doing, and she realized her cousin and aunt made sure he was doing fine. Kara reached up and checked for a nose bleed, but realized she didn't have one.

' _I watch way too much anime,'_ she thought to herself. _'How else do I explain the tentacle dreams?'_

"Kara?"

Kara jumped a little bit. Raya stood a few inches behind her.

"Do you think you can help me with something?" Raya asked. "We have a lead on the Kandorian orb….and I wanted to see if you could assist me in tracking it."

"Yeah, sure."

Kara moved down the hallway, not noticing someone watching from the next chamber with a shit-eating grin on her face.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 16** **th** **, 2017.**


	43. Chapter 43

**Chapter Forty-Three: Parasite Part One**

* * *

Claire Selton, codename Volcana, slipped her way past the city limits into Smallville. Her palms sweated, her heart beat, and it was very difficult for Claire to hold her head up high, no matter how much she tried. She thought about heading to Smallville for quite some time to meet up with an old friend. Unfortunately for Claire, her trip to Smallville showed she was not alone.

Several agents from the group known as HIVE stalked her every move. Claire didn't dare use her powers, despite the fact it would be an easy way to give the slip. She quickened, following the pathway. She knew they would keep following her.

She managed to uncover one of their operations during a job she had. They were part of the same government organization which increased Claire's powers, and they didn't like when someone exposed their actions. Claire learned just as much when she spent the last couple of months in an endless and never ending game of ducking and dodging.

' _These guys don't know the meaning of the word, no.'_

The redhead tried not to lose her temper no matter how hard it was to stay a few inches away from her adversary. Claire's mind hammered even harder at the thought. She had to find him.

The problem was, he was not too easy to find. She didn't have any way to signal him, and especially not a wait which was discreet and would keep these HIVE assholes off of her back for a couple of minutes. Claire closed her eyes when running further away from them.

' _Almost there….no, damn it!'_

Claire was so close to slipping away from them, her heart sped up even more when running. The redhead woman turned around a corner and continued to run.

A truck skidded to a stop directly in front of her. Claire took half of a step back and dodged behind the sign.

' _Maybe if I stay perfectly still, and don't say a word, they won't find me.'_

The sound of a gun clicking put Claire on edge. She guessed it would not be as easy as keeping in the shadows and more importantly, staying out of trouble.

"Alright, we know you're there, Volcana. You just come quietly, and there's no need to hurt you."

"You should return to us. You were a valuable asset, and you could be a valuable asset again."

Claire shook her head. They really were good at the sweet talking. Okay, not really. She caught sight of one of the HIVE agents pointing a cannon at the edge of the sign she stood underneath.

' _Yeah, I better move.'_

The cannon bombarded the side of the sign and knocked it completely over. Claire managed to make her way all the way to a fence. They fired at the woman's back. Claire had been forced to duck and evade the attack. The gifted woman flipped over to the ground.

It took her a few seconds to take a deep breath and a few more seconds to properly assess the situation.

' _Okay, I'm pinned down, and they know I'm here. Stealth really isn't my strong suit.'_

"You want to see how dangerous I can be?"

Claire's dangerous words followed her eyes lighting to a glowing orange light. She lifted her hands in the air and shot balls of flames from the tips of her fingers. The flames flew across the field towards the AIM agents.

They dodged the balls of flames which came inches away from incinerating them. Claire controlled the fire and made another attempt to run down her adversaries. Said adversaries scrambled away from the flames which threatened to wipe them out.

The pyrokinetic woman dodged off into the other direction and scrambled as far as she could. She ducked into the woods, hoping to lose them under the cover of trees. It actually brought her further away from the destination. Sometimes it could not be helped though. Claire bolted further into the forest, heart racing even faster when she made her way to her particular destination.

The agents of HIVE moved in, with many of them none too happy about losing that particular asset. The leader of the group of drones bunched his fists up with a very obvious scowl, which grew in prominence. The lack of patience he exhibited made the other members of the team becaome uneasy just as much.

"What should we do?"

One of the drones spoke up. It was a very rare event when one of the drones asked questions. That drone had been lucky enough not to get burned to fire.

"Our leader said not to come back empty-handed," the leader of the drones responded. "We need to acquire her, for she's one of the most valuable assets we can have."

The woman would need some re-programming to fall back underneath the agenda of HIVE. They all conceded it was difficult but very doable to be perfectly honest. The leader of the drones took a deep breath and decided to go with Plan B. He wasn't particularly fond of Plan B all things considered. He whipped out a cell phone and dial the number.

"I'm calling it in," he said. "Yes, you heard me right, deploy the Parasite.

* * *

Clark Kent took a couple of deep breaths when he stepped in. He stopped by STAR Labs to see if he could test out a brand new suit. The suit favored the colors of the House of El, who preferred a more primary scene. It was a full body suit, a dark blue, along with a yellow shield and a red "S". Clark wore a flowing red cape and matching red boots. He noticed the original design made it look like he was wearing his underwear on the outside, but he would have to agree with Astra. That particular element was counter-productive to taking him seriously.

He stepped into the simulation chamber at STAR Labs. He saw Lara, Raya, Patricia Swann, and Eliza Danvers standing on the other end of the room. Patricia decided to be the one to address him.

"The modifications of the suit should work," Patricia commented. "The suit is going to allow you to absorb further amounts of yellow solar radiation at a more accelerated rate."

Clark smiled and took in a deeper breath. He could hardly wait for this to take place. Clark took his first steps into the solar chamber. He could see the equipment on the wall.

"Just fly as you normally would fly and we'll test the rate the suit absorbs the solar radiation," Eliza continued. "I wouldn't worry about trying to push yourself to your boundaries, we can do that on a different day."

Clark answered with a nod and stepped into the middle of the room.

Raya smiled. They put a lot of work into creating the suit for Clark, and she wanted to see how it would work out on the field. She had some pretty good hopes for it, but it would remain to see what would take place.

The young man's eyes closed for a few seconds and then he took flight, flying around the training room.

Lara watched the progress of her son. The more he grew comfortable with using his powers, the faster he become. It all came with practice.

"He's clocking in as….well he's faster than a speeding bullet," Patricia said.

Raya responded with a nod. They hoped, based on their studies, Clark could go faster. They all knew though it would not be a wise idea to push him to go faster. They just hoped to allow Clark to move at a steadier, fluid pace. They watched him blast around the corner very quickly.

The sound of Clark flying around the corner could be heard inside of the chamber. Lara put her hands together and leaned back. The smile barely left her face when watching Clark move about at the speed of light. She was very excited.

"A couple more laps so we can get a look at how the suit is performing."

Lara leaned back and watched her son's speeds and the suit's speed of absorbing the solar radiation being clocked on the screen. Was the suit performing up to expectations? Yes, Lara could say about as much. Could the suit be better? Well, Lara would be lying if she didn't say the suit had some room for improvement. She watched Clark circle around several times at the speed of light.

"One more time," Raya said.

Clark flew around the chamber one more time. The glow coming from the chamber caused the four women to step back and almost recoil.

The moment it ended, Clark stepped out of the chamber.

"The suit works good, great," Clark said.

"Yes," Lara said.

"But, it can always be better," Eliza said. "Thanks for helping us run the preliminary tests."

They had to make the suit a little more durable, without sacrificing any level of functionality. It always was a balancing act to be perfectly fair.

"No problem," Clark said. "I'm just doing anything I can to help."

Eliza nodded, she knew he did, and believe her, she appreciated all of the help they could get, especially in a situation such as this one. She watched Clark leave and go to change the suit.

The doors busted open and a very frantic redhead woman made her way through the door. Patricia raised her eyebrow. She recognized the woman instantly as a meteor mutant Clark encountered about a year back.

"Claire?" Clark asked when walking around the corner.

"Sorry to burst in like this," Claire said. "But, we have a serious problem."

Clark put his hands around the waist of the woman and caused her to calm down. Claire took a moment to adjust her stance in front of him.

"HIVE is after me."

The good news kept rolling, okay, not really. Clark stepped back from Claire who took a deep breath. The last thing any of them wanted was Claire to have a pyromaniac fit and start wrecking the very expensive and extremely dangerous equipment in this place.

"HIVE's after you," Clark responded.

"Yes, they're after me," Claire confirmed. "HIVE has been picking up meteor mutants. And they've never seen the light of day."

Claire decided it wasn't important to tell Clark they wanted her as one of their best agents. That particular point could wait until later. She hitched in her breath one more time and leaned closer towards him.

"There's a HIVE agent who is tracking down meteor mutants. And he's draining their powers, rendering helpless. That's how HIVE's getting them."

One guess on Clark's part, but he was pretty sure this individual was also a meteor mutant. He could be wrong, but he doubted it.

* * *

Rudy Jones at one time worked a job as a high school janitor. It was the type of nine to five job someone of his stature was qualified for. It was about the only job someone of his stature was qualified for. He cleaned up the messes, never once getting a pat on the back or any appreciation for the hard work. No one appreciated the lowly janitor, they were just there to clean up the mess other people made.

It all changed on the day meteors rained from the sky. Rudy had not been around for the first meteor shower, but the second meteor shower hit hard. Rudy had been in the high school science lab, cleaning up when the meteors rained down at the school. The chemicals in the lab resulted in him obtaining some new powers, combined to the meteors.

Everything he touched, everyone he touched, he could drain their essence. He got more than life energy from them. Memories, feelings, and if they had been gifted, he obtained their abilities. Rudy gained the ability to sniff out meteor mutants in the crowd.

He also had the misfortune of having small echoes of his victims in his head. Rudy had never been the sanest guy in the room, but now he had a bit of full-blown split personality disorder to go with his many other problems.

He looked up just in time to see two gentlemen, agents of HIVE walking down his padded cell. Most of the time, they ignored him. No one needed to come to feed him, Rudy didn't feed off of food anymore after all.

To be honest, Rudy kind of missed the experience and the taste of food.

HIVE did allow him certain favors, one of them was to suppress the voices inside of his head. Rudy knew it was a temporary measure at best, and those voices would be back and stronger together.

The only catch was Rudy would help them wrangle up other meteor mutants. He did, mostly because of the rush of using his powers to absorb the powers of others. The abilities the meteor shower gifted Rudy Jones on that day were like a drug. He couldn't explain the high, the rush, the absolute feeling of joy he got from unleashing his power on some poor unexpected person.

Every day he used it, a bit of the desire to become human left him. It shrank, with Rudy's subconscious growing weaker. He did cling onto the part of who he was.

Rudy Jones was no longer Rudy Jones. He had become the Parasite, with all of the drawbacks and benefits of that.

Regardless, his handler stood outside the door and looked at Rudy with a smile.

"So, what do you want now?"

Rudy sounded rather calm, businesslike, and extremely casual. He had to be extremely casual in a situation like this. His handler peered on the other side of the cell.

"Rudy, my friend, we have a deal for you."

The last time he made a deal with HIVE, it led him to become their personal attack dog. Granted, Rudy didn't mind the feeling of absorbing those powers. In fact, he quite enjoyed the feeling of absorbing those powers. It was just, each passing day, he thought more and more about the fact he was just another drone. A drone who had special abilities, but he was the drone nevertheless.

"Another meteor mutant for me to wrangle up?" Rudy asked. "You know, I could handle it."

The handler smiled and consulted his clipboard.

"Yes, but this one ran into Smallville."

Rudy shrugged his shoulders and leaned back a fraction of an inch back on the chair. The saying was true, you could go home again, he guessed.

"And there's more than a meteor mutant in Smallville," the HIVE leader said. "There's the biggest potential source of power in the entire world. He's been called many things, but he could be a power beyond anything you imagined."

' _Don't do it,'_ the small voice who was one Rudy Jones said. _'Don't do it. When you go over to that ledge, there's going to be no one to pull you back.'_

' _I say do it!'_ a series of voices echoed. _'You want to go back to being a nobody? If his power is so strong, take it. TAKE IT!'_

' _Rudy, please,'_ the normal Rudy Jones voice said. _'Just….think of what happened…..you might not be back to the way things were.'_

' _The way things were weren't good!'_

The internal conflict in the Parasite's head had been snuffed out. Pure biological need to feed overruled everything. He only had one thing to say.

"Hook me up, boss."

* * *

Clark hoped to lure out the Parasite. If what Claire said was true, and he had an insatiable need to feed, then Clark would be able to lure him out with a taste of power from him. It wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world, but Clark would be there, right in front of him.

Patricia, Eliza, Raya, and Lara were there, and Chloe popped over to join them as well to offer her input. Karen and Astra were off on a mission to track down Kandor. Given their bonding exercise last week, Clark was more confident they would not kill each other, and it put his mind at ease.

"So, the suit?"

"The suit should protect you from his powers," Patricia said. "Granted, it hasn't been fully tested yet but….."

Clark tried to block out her worry, along with his own worry. "There's no time like the present."

The man stepped to the end of the road. Claire stood by, good ways away. As much as Clark hated to admit it, they needed a proper amount of bait to spring a trap. And Claire was the target.

An unremarkable man stepped at the end of the road, dressed in rags. He looked like a high school janitor.

Chloe piped in when she got a visual reading through the "S" on Clark's costume, which served as relay camera back to STAR Labs. "He's Rudy Jones. He's a high school janitor who was cleaning up a chemistry lab

Clark appreciated Chloe's input in pretty much every situation, this one included. He turned his attention down the road to the unremarkable man.

"Rudy Jones?"

The mostly unremarkable man looked up the robe. Clark had been caught off guard by those glowing purple eyes, which locked onto him.

"I haven't been called that name in a very long time!" he yelled. "Most call me the Parasite."

The Parasite turned around and looked towards the young man up on the road. Now, he was face to face with him, the Parasite's enjoyment increased. He could have this young man, he could taste him from all the way up the road.

"I've never sensed such great power. I have to have it. It's greater than anything I've ever imagined."

The Parasite rushed up the road at a surprising speed. Clark had been a little bit faster and dodged out of the way. The suit should block a lot of his power drain, but Clark wasn't about to take any chances.

He noticed the Parasite's hand raised in the air and he shot a blast of lightning towards Clark from up the road. Clark just barely avoided the attack from burning into him.

"He has the powers of the other meteor mutants."

Chloe's groan over the system was very obvious.

"Great, we just went from bad to worse, didn't we?"

A blast of very sticky glue shot around Clark's wrists. Clark vibrated his wrists to get out of the modified handcuff restraints. He dodged the attempt of the Parasite to wipe him out in one fell swoop. The monster rushed towards Clark one more time.

"I have you now!"

Claws retracted from the Parasite's wrists when he rushed towards him. Clark looked up just in time to see the Parasite charging towards him, an attempt to take him down very obvious. Clark ducked the Parasite's attempts to impale him with the claws.

"Just a little taste, come on buddy! I want to taste you!"

Clark continued to utilize his super speed to keep an arm's width away from the Parasite. The Parasite's obvious groans continued when he tried to approach Clark from far away from him. The Parasite rushed towards Clark a half of a second later.

In a blink of an eye, Clark moved away from the Parasite. Clark ended a few inches from behind him and waited for the Parasite to come after him.

A blast of cold air shot through the air. Clark had been slowed down as if something froze him in time. The Parasite's purple eyes glowed in glee.

"YES!"

Parasite rushed towards Clark. Clark tried to break free from the attack. The Parasite smashed the front of Clark's suit and started to rip it.

"I WANT THIS!"

The Parasite's eyes glowed when he started to drain power. Memories, abilities, everything, they started to flow into the Parasite. He grew excited when forcing himself on this young man and taking his powers.

A blast of fire shot up the road and knocked the Parasite away from Clark. Clark took a half of a step back and fell down onto the ground. His breathing escalated.

"Stay away!"

Claire fired a blast of fire towards the Parasite. The Parasite blocked the fire with a shield and then shot heat vision through his eyes towards Volcana.

"Just come after me!" Volcana yelled.

"Yes, I want you, I want your power…."

Diana jumped into the air and put her herself between the Parasite and Volcana. She whipped out a sword and stabbed it through the Parasite's chest!

The Parasite screamed in agony. The sword, gifted to Diana by the Artemis, the goddess not the Amazon, proved to hurt the Parasite. He pulled away, screaming, howling in pure agony. Diana retracted the sword from the monster's chest.

The monster faded into a cloud of mist and disappeared.

Diana rushed over to check on Clark, who had been knocked out. She scooped Clark underneath one arm and Claire underneath the other arm before flying off to STAR Labs.

* * *

Chloe entered pure panic mode the moment they lost all power and all visual contact with Claire. She looked over to one side and noticed Patricia Swann's mouth becoming increasingly thin every second.

"It should have worked."

The suit should have worked, but it didn't. The doors burst open, and Diana stepped in to carry a drained looking Clark in her arms. Chloe caught one look at his face and realized Clark resembled someone who had a very bad case of the flu.

Raya stepped in and she looked concerned but brushed it to the side to perform her duties.

"Get him to the solar chamber, now."

Claire walked behind them. The Parasite struck and got some of Clark's powers, leaving him a very fatigued state. If she had never gotten involved with HIVE, none of this would have happened.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 20** **th** **, 2017.**


	44. Chapter 44

**Chapter Forty-Four: Parasite Part Two**

* * *

Fatigue hit Clark Kent at a rapid rate. He resembled someone who had gone through a bad case of the flu. His head throbbed and he tried to clutch his arms against himself. He rose up and fell down with a series of hard breaths. It was very hard for him to keep a consistent time.

Lara moved over towards him. She frowned, her son should not have been injured so much after a battle, especially against the likes of the Parasite. Yet he was, and Lara frowned in absolute worry. She leaned closer towards Clark and looked towards his flushed face.

"So cold."

Lara really wished she could help. Raya came in, along with Karen. The older version of Kara went around the corner, walked up to Clark. She could see something in his eyes which she didn't like.

"It's ready," Raya said.

Karen nodded. She didn't trust herself not to say anything without screaming. They hoped the energizing chamber would restore Clark's powers, along with a little better.

"I thought the new suit would hold," Patricia said.

All of the other girls turned towards the woman who looked like she was about ready to collapse in a fit of guilt. None of them really blamed the woman. Their lack of reassuring words made Patricia's frown deepen something fierce.

"It's not the suit," Lara commented. "It's the Parasite."

Diana assisted Karen in moving Clark to the chamber inside. Both of them tried to assure him it was going to be okay, without words. Neither of them accepted the fact everything was going to be okay. They pushed him into the chamber.

"We should have built the suit better," Patricia said.

Lara held her hand in the air and prevented Patricia from accepting any more guilt of the situation. "Like I said, it was a situation where we couldn't test the suit about. We couldn't predict what the Parasite could do to him, and most importantly what his powers were."

Patricia finally accepted Lara's words to be right. She turned around, the heiress of the Swann family looking deep in thought. She studied the last vitals coming off of the suit before Parasite's bio-energy shut it down. The redhead bit down on her lip and frowned when looking on at the images on the screen.

' _He destroyed the suit and managed to find a weakness. I don't know how he did it, but he did. We're going to have to patch up that particular weakness when we modify the suit. Without opening up about three or four more….wish we had more time. But, time really isn't a luxury we have right now, isn't it?'_

The scientist released her breath and then looked back towards the vital signs one more time.

"Some of Parasite's blood came off onto my sword," Diana said. "Would it help?"

"Yes, it will," Patricia said.

Karen moved over to assist Diana while also keeping one eye on the chamber which Clark sat. The small trace amounts of blood shined all over the sword. The moment Karen reached for the blood it tried to lock onto her from the sword. It looked inches away from absorbing her.

"Incredible," Karen said. "And not the good kind of incredible."

The blood held many secrets and Karen doubted very much they were the good kind of secrets. The meteors never really caused these kind of powers to anyone else they struck. Then again, as Karen figured, when Jones had gotten bombarded by the meteor, near the chemicals, everything changed. His biology changed to that of a leech which demanded power.

Karen looked towards the chamber and saw Clark looked a little bit better. The constant bombardment of simulated solar radiation into his person energized his levels. He wasn't completely out of the box, but all things considered, he came out a little bit better than he was before, and Karen couldn't have been more pleased because of that.

' _Good, I'm glad.'_

Karen stepped away from the tank and turned to Eliza who made her way back to the floor.

"Can we increase the shielding around his suit to protect him from the Parasite's powers?"

Eliza leaned in and looked very thoughtful. The woman's nose scrunched up when she frowned.

"It's always possible," Eliza answered. "It's going to take some time to do, but it's possible."

Karen didn't know if time was a luxury they had. It remained to be seen how long the Parasite retained the powers he stole, especially after HIVE had gotten ahold of him. A few modifications and he could be very dangerous indeed.

A few seconds passed and then Patricia piped up. "You know, I've been studying this situation, and I think Chloe might be the key to helping us take down the Parasite."

Chloe raised an eyebrow, looking honestly surprised. "Me, what can I do?"

Patricia answered with a half of a smile when leaning towards Chloe. "It has to do with your powers, and the fact they can shut down meteor mutants."

Those powers can in handy once before, Chloe would be lying to say if they didn't. Still, there was an obvious difference between powers coming in handy one time before, and them not. Chloe shook her head half of a second later.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Diana asked.

"Good idea, maybe not," Karen admitted. "However, given the circumstances, there isn't really that much we can do, is there?"

Diana answered with a shrug. She would be lying until she was blue in the face if she didn't say there were plenty of misgivings. Chloe's powers were still a very obvious wild card and Diana didn't pretend she knew the first thing about what Chloe was doing out there.

"Besides, she isn't going to be out there alone."

Clark stepped out of the chamber. He looked a little bit better, a lot better than he did before actually, but he still looked not as good as he could have been. Karen leaned over him with a frown.

She wasn't the only one who frowned. Eliza looked from Clark to the levels. "You're only at seventy-five percent of your full capacity."

"Seventy-five percent is going to have to do," Clark said. "Time is a luxury we don't have."

* * *

Several combinations of power gave the Parasite a tingling feeling inside of his very being. The power which had been brought from the Kryptonian on the other hand, it was a high which he saw better than sex. Not that he needed sex with the ability to draw powers. He doubted he would get most from most women unless of course, they were the super-powered lot.

Two of his handlers stepped out in front of the Parasite. The Parasite turned towards them. It was amazing how weak, how fragile, these little men were. The Parasite had them right where he wanted them.

' _I could crush them like bugs,'_ Parasite thought. _'Just one little smash and they would bow down before my feet. I can have all. I can be all. I'm the strongest that there is.'_

The small, and very diminished part of Rudy Jones, the part which still had a conscience, sighed in response. _'You know nothing is forever….the power is not forever…just back away from it…while you still can.'_

Rudy's eyes flared in the back of his head. He could rip them apart with his newly acquired heat vision, or pound them with super strength, or blow them away with super breath. Or he could lift them into the sky so high they would pass out. There were any number of things.

One of the handlers responded with a half of a smile, unaware of how far the situation had slipped out of their control.

"So, you absorbed his power?"

The Parasite's voice grew deeper than it was earlier when he spoke. It always deepened when he had a taste of power, and he had quite the taste of power today.

"Did you doubt I would gain his power? But I have more than his power? I have his secrets, I know his life….and boy does he have a very interesting life! To think, he fought people like us for years!"

The Parasite laughed in response. Us, given the fact there were the echoes of other meteor mutants, some of them who had encountered the mysterious blur in the past in the back of his head.

"Yes, you know everything about him," The HIVE agent. "So, tell us everything."

' _You don't owe them anything,'_ the newest voice in the back of his head. _'They wouldn't have gotten as far as they have without you. You can be on your own, they're just using you as a puppet.'_

The Parasite's mouth opened up and the smile increased. He did have the ball in his court, and he could do pretty much anything he would like. Rudy's neck extended and he looked over the HIVE agents.

"Once you give me the means to fully stabilize my power, I will happily tell you everything I know. Until then, I'll give you nothing, because you deserve nothing."

The HIVE minions did not appreciate being talked like that in such a matter. Rudy honestly didn't care, he was free, independent to them.

"You owe us!" The HIVE drone yelled.

The Parasite grabbed him by the arm so hard some of the bones crushed. He lifted the drone off of the ground and he shook the drone. The drone's breathing worsened when the Parasite rag-dolled him high above the ground. The man slipped from the Parasite's grip and dropped down onto the ground.

"Let me make one thing plain!" The Parasite yelled. "I owe you nothing!"

The Parasite used his super breath to blow over a van which contained several more HIVE agents, no doubt ready to wrangle him in. He was smarter now, stronger, faster than a speeding bullet as well. Nothing could hurt him, he had everything he ever wanted.

"You thought you could get the better of me because I was an uneducated janitor!" But, make no mistake about it, my mental capacity has increased now when I absorbed his memories. I know things HIVE would kill for. And you can tell your HIVE Queen to give us everything we want, or we will be back to rip HIVE to pieces."

The meteor mutant discharged heat vision from his eyes and formed a circle around the HIVE goons. They looked up, not happy about the fact their pawn turned on them so readily.

The Parasite had other things on his mind.

' _I need more power, his power…..I will have more!"_

* * *

The plan sounded all kinds of absurd to Chloe. The moment she set out outside of Star Labs and went over the plan in her head, it didn't just sound absurd, it sounded all kinds of insane.

"So, wait? You mean to tell me when he gets weakened from his power, he'll come here?"

Clark jumped in through the communication link. "Yes, he'll come here. He has my memories in addition to his powers."

"Which means he poses a security risk to us all," Eliza said. "I hate to say it, but we're going to have to secure him when this is all over. Handling him over to Belle Reve will just bring us back to where we started."

Oh, Clark knew all right. He had to make a very tough decision about how to deal with the Parasite. Until they were sure Clark's memories had been purged from the Parasite's mind, they had to hold him and not hand him over to the proper authorities.

' _And to think, this is the very thing you didn't really want to work with the DEO over. I guess you're learning all about how you're going to have to do some things.'_

Claire stepped over next to Clark a few seconds later. She placed a hand on Clark's shoulder.

"Are you sure he'll come?"

"He's got a taste of power," he responded. "He's got the bug, he wants more, and he'll do anything he can to get more, for reasons both fair and foul."

The Pyrokinetic responded with a nod. Two meteor mutants and a Kryptonian were a very tantalizing treat, especially her, because she slipped away from the Parasite once before before he could have his feeding time. Clark stood, in a modified suit.

Once again, the suit did not get tested, but there was no time to really test it out before going out on the field. It was just the unfortunate necessity of the situation. They looked directly at Clark and then back away from him. Seconds ticked by on the clock.

The Parasite came at them at super speed and dropped down onto the ground. His hungry eyes locked on the prize which he made.

"I suppose the question is, do you prefer Clark or do you prefer Kal-El?" Parasite asked. "Actually, I know everything about you, because I've been in your mind….combing through your most intimate thoughts….some very intimate thoughts you had about certain women."

' _Okay, that's creepy,'_ Rudy thought. _'I worked as a high school janitor….and we really shouldn't be thinking thoughts like that.'_

' _They're not your thoughts, Rudy, and don't tell me you haven't fantasized about those little cock-teases in their short skirts.'_

The Parasite turned his attention towards Clark and also noticed Chloe and Claire.

"Two meteor mutants and a Kryptonian all in one space," The Parasite said, wickedly smiling. "Must be Thanksgiving with the feast out in front of me. And I'm going to feast on all of you!"

"Well, here's something you can taste!"

Claire, in her usual hot-headed manner, fired a blast of heat down across the ground and sent chunks of molten rock towards the Parasite. She wasn't sure she could do that, but it was just amazing what someone could do when they set their mind to it.

The monster of a creature back off, and bombarded Claire with heat vision which sent her flying about a half of a step back. She dropped down onto the ground with a huge thud.

Chloe came behind the Parasite, hoping this worked. The power never really worked consciously, it either did or it didn't. The energy came from her hand and she got close to the Parasite.

Parasite had his attention turned to Clark to sap him the rest of his power. Then he would have a piece of all of those other Kryptonians he hung around with as well.

A hand grabbed onto his. The Parasite responded with laughter when Chloe's hand grabbed onto his. The Parasite turned towards her.

"You really think you can…"

A discharge of energy shot into the air in a black ball and disappeared. Chloe's entire body shook and she flew back, landing in Karen's arms. Karen held Chloe up.

"Fine, Kara," Chloe murmured.

Granted her ears rang, all of her nerve endings felt like they were on fire, and she had a sudden urge to throw up her entire lunch, but things could have been worse. Things could have been much worse for Chloe. She just had to think positive.

The Parasite closed his eyes. Something was wrong. He tried to nail his adversary with an uppercut punch. Said adversary blocked the punch and hoisted him off of the ground. The Parasite flew back down to the ground.

A spark came through him and he tried once again to drain the power.

"Something's wrong, what did you do to me?"

Two fingers jabbed into the side of the Parasite's neck dropped him down.

"The containment tank is ready, bring him in!" Patricia yelled.

* * *

The limp body of Rudy Jones shook awake underneath the cell at STAR Labs. Tess stepped in, joined by Patricia and Eliza. They would have to run a lot of the tests to make sure the echoes of the powers were removed. HIVE didn't do anything to help him, if anything, they increased the ability for him to retain his powers.

"We still have several more days of study before we know whether or not he's safe to turn over to the police," Patricia concluded.

HIVE had a very dangerous weapon, and the fact it had been just taken out from underneath HIVE's control, it only caused them all relief. They didn't know what other dangerous meteor mutants HIVE had under control. The rules of the game most certainly changed, beyond anything they could ever imagine.

"We'll study him, and then when he's safe, he'll be turned over to the police," Tess responded. "It's really simple as that."

Tess had a few questions for Jones. What Chloe did to him left the Parasite in a catatonic state, unable to communicate to the outside of the world. They had to run a few brain scans on him, and Tess would have to bring a few people she knew could be trusted to get a second opinion on him.

A hard-working, blue-collar man, working the same job for thirty years, ends up having one bad day and becomes an insane monster. It really was a tragic event.

"Clark doesn't like the fact we have to hold him, does he?"

Tess's question had been blunt and to the point. It amused her, the reason not to trust the DEO for Clark was because they were holding prisoners without due process. Tess's reasons were because they had weapons to take down Kryptonians, and it was pretty hypocritical for them to try and hire one when they had the means to take him down.

She knew Clark could be trusted, beyond many of them. A great deal beyond her, if Tess could be perfectly honest.

Patricia moved in to study the information on the screen. There were a couple of spikes in his mental activity. The cell had been designed to contain some of the most powerful people in the world. Clark, Lara, and Raya designed it to help secure any rogue Kryptonians as well because there had been a few of those.

And yes, it could contain Clark, if needed, and Patricia prayed they would never see the day.

Chloe stepped down the steps into the holding area. She looked a bit pale.

"You're not used to using your powers yet, are you?" Tess asked.

"No, I'm not," Chloe responded. "I didn't intend to use them to drain the Parasite, or at least stop him cold."

After all, there wasn't much to drain from him.

"You don't have any thoughts, any echoes of him," Tess said.

Chloe shook her head. "No, I'm just a bit ill. I think he tried to drain a little bit from me, but my powers caused a feedback loop which shut him down."

The two STAR Labs employees looked at each other. Patricia put a hand on the shoulder of the younger girl and offered her a light smile.

"Do you think you can follow me? I believe you when you say you're fine, but still, a couple of tests never hurt anyone."

' _No, they never hurt anyone. They're just boring, tedious, and make me fall asleep, but no, they never really hurt anyone.'_

Chloe allowed Patricia and Eliza to lead the way down the hallway to get more tests. She felt like a lab rat, but with these new powers, Chloe would be lying if she wasn't curious.

* * *

Another test later, and Clark had been cleared to leave STAR Labs, providing he got a good night's sleep. He entered the room which Claire crashed. Claire stood in front of him, working out. She wore a red spandex top which matched her flaming hair nicely, and also a pair of very tight black shorts which gave Clark quite the view.

"Enjoying something you're seeing?"

Clark tried to give her a charming smile. Claire stepped closer towards him and looked him over, debating something in her mind.

"Just checking to see how you're doing."

"Well, fine," Claire said.

"Are you sticking around for a while?"

It was a pretty good question, to be honest. Claire stepped closer towards him.

"You see, I don't know. I figure I should. HIVE is going to come after me, whether I'm here, or elsewhere….and they're going to be after you as well."

Clark swallowed in response when looking to Claire. He only had two words to say to her in response.

"I know."

Claire smiled, she knew he knew. The two of them moved closer together. Claire rested her hands on Clark's side but didn't do anything, just not yet anyway.

"I've never had many people I could count on. I'm just glad I can count on someone."

The two of them met into the middle, and Claire gave Clark a literally fiery kiss. Her powers burned his shirt off, and she pulled back from him, a shifty little smirk on her face.

"I think I owe you a new shirt," Claire said. "Why don't you take the downpayment out on my ass?"

The shameless statement caused Clark to smile. Clark grabbed Claire's hair and shoved his tongue down her throat with another kiss. It was a good thing he was super powerful, even though his street clothes would have to be further modified if he was going to be around Claire.

Hormones increased, with Clark's roaming hands, and things were going to get hot in more ways than one. Claire could hardly wait. Thoughts of Clark got her through some pretty rough nights, she wouldn't lie.

* * *

The kiss deepened in fury and passion. Clark pushed his hands on the underside of Claire's shirt and pulled it off to reveal her perky breasts. He leaned down and kissed the side of her neck before he kept moving down towards her. His mouth buried on her right tit and kissed it, tasting the warm, delicious flesh in her mouth.

Claire closed her eyes, leaning back. Clark's mouth took control of her nice breasts, sucking on them. Her pants went down as well.

Her shaven pussy revealed to Clark. Clark started to rub his finger up and down her dripping slit. He pushed a finger slightly inside and looked up just in time to see the Pryokinetic's face look at him. Pleasure spread over the beautiful woman's face. Clark shifted his finger deep inside of the woman, almost sticking it inside of her, and then sliding it out of her.

"You better….get off those pants before I touch them as well."

Clark stepped back and pulled down his pants, followed by his boxer shorts. Claire locked eyes onto his cock and licked her lips.

"So, big."

"Why don't you get a closer look?"

Claire wasn't going to argue. She dropped onto the padded pants on the ground and took the tip of Clark's head into her mouth. She sucked it. It took some doing to wrap her mouth around the girth. Claire got there eventually, pushing the entire length into her mouth.

The back of Claire's head had been grabbed and now Clark entered the driver's seat. He pushed his rod deep inside of Claire's inviting throat. She opened her throat nice and wide to receive Clark inside of her mouth. Claire pushed back for Claire to come down onto the base of his rod.

"You feel so good."

The feeling of her hot warm mouth bottomed up around the base of Clark's cock. Her hand gripped Clark's balls and gave them a nice little squeeze. Her tongue swirled around Clark's cock and kissed all the way up to the base. Her tongue twisted around him.

The taste of Clark's cock brought more pleasure down on him. Claire released Clark's cock from around her lips and then sucked him deep inside of her.

She released Clark's cock. She looked down at him with a smile and climbed onto the couch. Claire perched down onto the couch and spread her legs, ready to receive Clark's large rod.

Clark walked over towards Claire and pinned her back onto the couch. He positioned his rod deep inside of Claire's dripping hot pussy and jammed his hard cock inside of her body. Claire's wet vice pushed around Clark's hard rod when he entered her.

"Damn, you're hot."

"Of course," Claire said. "Did you expect anything different?"

Clark smiled, he would have to say he didn't expect anything differently. He pushed inside of Claire. Their bodies molded together with each other. Clark shifted his rod deep inside of Claire and pushed deeper into her.

The first orgasm with a cock inside of her was about to hit Claire. She just hoped they didn't end up torching half of the room. Claire tried to hold herself back and her legs around Clark.

"Hopefully this couch won't be turned to ashes by the time you're finished."

Claire looked up towards Clark with bleary eyes and a very devious smile on her face. "I'll see what I can do, but there's….no real promises."

He shoved his hard cock inside of Claire's wet vice. She stretched out almost all the way. Clark bombarded her center with numerous pumps. Claire reached up and took Clark deeper inside of her. Her eyes glazed over with increasing pleasure dancing in her eyes.

"Harder, harder," Claire chanted.

Clark gave her his cock hard into her. The warmness sent feelings of desire down his engorged prick. He drove himself inside of Claire's body.

Claire put her nails into Clark's back and breathed heavily. His face dropped and kissed her body. The survivor of Krypton really knew how to make a girl feel really good. The pleasure exploding through her body made Claire's body work up.

The two of them rocked against each other. Clark rose almost all the way up out of Claire and pushed his hard cock inside of her body.

"Drain your balls inside me," Claire yelled. "Pump that fucking cum into me…..put so much into me, until my pussy is dripping. I want to feel your cum in me for the next week."

A squeeze of Claire's breast resulted in pleasure coming through her body. Their groins connected together with pleasure exploding through Claire's body.

"You're very impatient, aren't you? You just can't hold back. You just can't wait, can you?"

Claire shook her head. No, she couldn't wait, she wouldn't wait. Claire wanted pleasure from him, she wanted it down, she needed it now. Clark pushed into her.

"I think you need to cum."

The eruption of Claire's loins made her feel really good. He attacked her nipples. Claire shifted underneath Clark's body. He penetrated her body with a series of hard thrusts. Claire rose up off of the bed with him.

The dance continued until Clark shot his load inside of Claire's waiting body. Her pussy gripped him and drained Clark of every single last drop of cum stored inside those swollen balls.

The second passed, and Clark pulled himself from Claire. Claire grabbed Clark and flipped him over around onto the bed. She climbed on top of Clark with a smile crossing her face.

"I want more," Claire said. "And I know you have more."

She dragged her dripping cunt down across his rod and made it swell up. Claire pushed her breasts into Clark's chest. Clark grabbed the large, round wonders in hand and squeezed them. Claire's eyes shifted in pleasure the second she worked her dripping hot lips down around Clark's rod. It pushed inside of her body and filled her completely up to the brim with nothing but cock, more cock than Claire could handle.

"Yes!" Claire yelled.

Clark thought this vixen was almost too much. She worked down onto Clark's manhood and slid down onto the base. Her walls released and clenched him. Those balls underneath her were primed and ready to release. Claire brought herself down on him and took him inside of her.

"I'm going to milk those balls!"

The grip shifted onto Claire's bouncing breasts. Clark squeezed them. Claire returned fire, in more ways than one, by bringing her gripping pussy down onto Clark's engorged rod. She moved quicker, at a lightning fast ability. Her hips dropped down onto Clark, rising up and bringing herself down onto him.

"Yes, I'm going to milk them so fucking dry!" Claire cheered. "Would you like that, baby? Would you like your balls milked dry by me?"

Clark groaned the second Claire dropped down onto them. The vixen would get what she wanted. Clark lifted his hands up and squeezed her breasts when they dropped it.

She came extremely hard. The Pyrokinetic gripped Clark around the base of his cock and released him. Claire bombarded his cock with a few rises and follows.

"Damn, Claire."

Claire grinned when bouncing up and down on his cock. She pushed herself down around him.

"I'm a bad girl. Bad girls do it better, don't we?"

Clark looked up at the beautiful breasts bouncing up and down. He wasn't going to deny the woman her pleasure or the fact she was a good fuck. Claire knew how to work his cock and she worked it very well.

"Oh, I'll stick around for a bit longer for this!" Claire yelled. "How about it? How about you cum?"

Clark smiled at her.

"After you."

"Fuck your chi…."

Claire's eyes glazed over and flames shot from her hands. She managed to avoid setting anything on fire by drawing them back into her. The couch got singed a little bit, but it wasn't bad. She pumped herself down upon Clark's cock, sliding the aching rod inside of her body hard and deep. She bounced onto Clark and filled herself.

"Baby, you're so good," Claire murmured. "I can fuck you all day long."

"I know," Clark said. "One more time."

Those fingers danced across her body at super speed and condemned Claire to a death by a hundred orgasms. There were far worse ways to go. His hands gripped Claire's thick rear end and squeezed it which sent more tingles going down her body.

Everything had to come to an end, and it opened the door for the big ending. Claire's gushing juices coated Clark's cock and made him swell inside of her.

Clark buried himself balls deep into Claire and discharged. He sent a never ending amount of thick, endless cum inside of her body. Those balls released and discharged her, filling Claire completely up.

Claire bounced up and down, receiving his load. She had no fear of consequences, the experiences she underwent made her sterile. It was fun to fantasize him knocking her up though, even though it was pretty much impossible.

The two disconnected from each other, and Claire pulled over, getting on her hands and knees, to show Clark her ass and dripping pussy.

"How about it, stud? You have time for one more?"

Clark's cock restored itself fast and he moved over to stick himself into Claire for the third rod.

"You can't get enough?"

"No, I'm your little meteor slut! Anytime you want to drain your balls, don't be afraid to see me."

Clark prepared to drain said balls for a third time tonight and pounded himself into Claire. Things became extremely hot, they were both surrounded by fire.

' _And there goes the couch.'_

He continued to plow Claire into the ashes on the ground all of the same.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 23** **rd** **, 2017.**


	45. Chapter 45

**Chapter Forty-Five: The Wildcard.**

* * *

Finding information meant overturning some of the slimiest and disgusting rocks in the entire world. It went with the job of being a hero. You needed to be able to wade through the muck to get those pieces of information to really tie a case together. It wasn't exactly the most glamorous thing in the world. Necessity rarely was something which was the most pleasant thing in the world.

Helena Wayne's investigative abilities ran deep in her blood. She investigated every day in her life, deep inside of the cesspool which was Gotham City. The Wayne family legacy ran through several generations, and they did all they could do to help the people in Gotham City. Despite the crime rate in the city being through the roof, some people still had hope for Gotham City, and hope it would work out well.

HIVE had been one of the more complex investigations Helena undertook. She got her hands on the information by shaking down some of the usual suspects. They were afraid of experiencing the wrath of one of Gotham's most dangerous threats.

The pieces managed to come into place. Helena dressed in her civilian attire, on the pretext of delivering information to Patricia. She wasn't the only one who was there. Tess stepped out of her limo and walked out from behind Helena. The two women walked side by side with each other, neither of them saying a word with each other. Both had business on their minds first and foremost.

Tess finally decided to break the ice. "I know the look on your face. You've uncovered something."

"Yes," Helena said. "It's about HIVE."

A sigh came over the body of the businesswoman. She saw the folder draped in Helena's arms, and already there were some alarm bells going through her mind.

' _I wonder how much she's uncovered. You'd think she's uncovered something really bad. Helena might not look like she's agitated, but you can tell by the look on her face, there's something really bad.'_

Helena raised her hand and prevented Tess from asking some of the most obvious questions out there.

"I'd like to talk to Clark Kent about this, he should know more than anyone else," Helena said.

Tess smiled. "That sounds fair. He's at STAR, going over some tests with Patricia and Karen, making sure he's completely one hundred percent after the entire Parasite fiasco."

The Parasite fiasco, Helena only heard some second-hand reports. She had her sources which got the information needed to her, even though she couldn't spend the time working with Clark as much as Tess, Patricia, or even Thea did. Helena helped out in other ways and the information she had with her would help even more.

Both Tess and Helena had been cleared to go inside of STAR Labs. Helena noticed the increased security around the lab and approved of it. The security could have been better if she could be perfectly honest.

The two stepped around the corner on the other side. They saw Clark in the midst of a simulation. Patricia and Karen observed what he was doing when he came around the corner. The numbers on the screen clocked, showing his progress.

"So, how am I doing?" Clark asked no sooner did he finish off the run in the flight simulator.

Patricia checked the numbers and compared them to the readings they had made during a previous run on the simulator, ones which had been taken before Clark had his unfortunate encounter with Doomsday. An encouraging smile spread over the face of the scientist.

"Pretty good actually, you're making astounding progress. I hope we'll keep making this progress though, the last thing we want you to do is backside."

Clark would have to agree, the last thing he wanted was to backslide from any progress he made. He could see Tess and Helena standing in the distance, and he could see Helena trying to catch his eye. The Detective had items in her hand, and Clark could already tell by both her facial expressions and body language what she dug up wasn't going to be anything which was to his liking.

He wasn't the only one who caught sight of this little piece of news. Karen noticed too straight away. The busty blonde responded with a smile and shook her head.

"Okay, why don't we take five?"

They did take five, making their way around the corner. Clark left the simulator, joining Patricia, Karen, Helena, and Tess. The five of them sat around the table.

"HIVE has held onto some of Doomsday's DNA and they're trying to replicate it," Helena said.

Clark's heart jumped to somewhere around the area of his throat when the folder had been placed down upon the table. Helena showed him the documentation, and Clark slid back on the chair. He would be lying if he said this was good, as a matter of fact, it was the furthest thing from good he could think of.

"They're trying to replicate Doomsday's DNA?" Clark asked.

"Surely even HIVE can't be that desperate?" Karen asked.

"Actually, they can be, they want to be ahead in various fields of science," Tess responded. "And they're going to do things which are considered unconventional. And yes, they're going to do some things which are considered to be pretty crazy as well."

There was no considering this to be crazy, this was pretty crazy as far as Clark was concerned. Helena placed the documents down on the table and then there were the pictures. The pictures of the experiments which HIVE done and those might have been people. Even if they were other meteor mutants like Claire was, they were still people of some sort.

"Just one second."

Tess received a call and she made it to the next room to take it.

"We're going to have to find these people, take them down," Karen said. "They just can't be allowed to be around any longer."

"Yes," Helena said. "I agree. But the problem with HIVE is they are a large organization with many resources. They are going to see them coming."

Patricia took a long drink of coffee, even though she could use something a little bit stronger to calm her nerves. The coffee came into her mouth a second later, and she put it down, looking Helena in the eye.

"If I know you, you have a plan which could help us."

"Maybe I do," Helena responded. "Maybe I do."

Tess made her way back into the room after taking the phone. None of them saw her look this anxious before, which immediately through up a red flag. She didn't even need to tell him she had bad news.

Clark already knew from her body language and expression the day, which was pretty bad already, had just gotten a tiny bit worse.

* * *

A large hole in the wall in the facility where Lex had been held in was not a good sign. And it was the first sign which Tess had been greeted with when she showed up. She made her way into the facility, arms swinging and a huge scowl etched across her face.

Tess looked down the hallway and could see Lionel Luthor as usual, just muttering nonsense. A second later, Clark appeared right behind Tess on one side.

"He's gone," Tess said.

Tess pointed towards Lex's cell. The glass had been cracked, and the bookshelf and desk which Lex had been allowed had been overturned. His bed was left unmade like he had been in it the time where the people arrived.

Most people would think Lex had been abducted. Tess put even odds on it, but she also knew he was crafty enough to stage an abduction to put himself in a very sympathetic light. Tess stepped closer into the room and frowned when she looked it over, trying to get a clue on anything.

"Whatever made this hole?" Clark asked. "It's not human."

"No, it might have been human to start with," Tess said. "But, it's pretty enhanced."

Tess had a bad feeling they were putting Doomsday's DNA to some kind of awful use. The feeling could not have been shaken no matter what she did. She looked around.

One Lionel Luthor still twitched and started to mutter more nonsense underneath his breath. Tess turned away from him and moved down the hallway to find a guard, one which had not been knocked out in the chaos. Finding a guard who had not been injured in HIVE's invasion, was going to be tough.

Tess happened upon one of the guards, who looked to have a swollen face. It looked like something, multiple somethings has stung him in the face. The other guard got off more lucky, due to the fact some kind of blunt force trauma caught him from behind.

The mutterings coming from Lionel Luthor's cell might have been not that much of interest to Tess, but Clark Kent found himself very intrigued by the words which were coming out of Lionel Luthor's mouth. Every fifth or so sentence, a phrase in Kryptonian was coming.

"They will unleash hell even though Doomsday has passed," Clark said.

"What?" Tess asked.

"That's the most…common translation to what he was saying," Clark said.

Tess really wished she could be more fascinated by what Lionel Luthor was saying. She didn't need the dodgy ramblings of an old man to tell her HIVE intended to release hell on Earth, and they would probably succeed. Tess pressed the earpiece in her ear.

"Indigo?"

"Yes, may I help you?"

"Could you please see for me whether or not the signal coming from Lex's tracking device is still valid or not?"

"Just one moment please."

The one minute seemed like an eternity because if Tess could be honest, they really didn't have one minute to spare. Everything just went in the wrong direction. She could still see Clark half-listening to Lionel and half scanning the cell. For her sake, for his, and partially, somehow, for Lex's, Tess hoped he found something.

The bee-stung guard made Tess realize the depths of HIVE's research. It confirmed the rumors of the weaponized bees they had, and who was working for them rather well.

"The tracker in Lex is still active," Indigo reported after a moment's pause. "Of course, we should consider the possibility that just because it's active within Lex, it's signal is one hundred percent accurate."

"Yes, I have considered that possibility," Tess responded. She tilted her head back a fraction of an inch and frowned. "Do you think they have just removed it?"

"My hypothesis is they cannot remove it without killing Lex, and it's a high probability they want him alive."

Tess figured about as much. HIVE would have found a way to either distort the signal or something else entirely. Or misdirection, a misdirection worked as well.

"Helena has sent a message she's following up on a lead," Indigo said.

That news wasn't really surprising to Tess either. She knew Helena, knew what the woman was capable of, and when she had a hunch, she would follow up on it. The apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Tess waited for Clark to come around the corner.

"So, there's nothing?" Tess asked.

"Sorry."

"No, don't be, HIVE is just unfortunately very good at covering their tracks," Tess said. "Although, there's something else you might find interesting."

* * *

Lex Luthor leaned back into the chair, curious about his new surroundings. At the very least, his new captors could have brought him a book to read. He grew very restless and extremely agitated when he moved to his location. He also had acquired the unfortunate problem of a stiff neck, but that could have been due to the hours in his previous cell.

"You know, grateful as I am to be broken out of one prison….if you were just going to lock me up again, I would have asked if you didn't bother."

"Alexander Luthor."

The crisp voice came from the shadows. Lex saw a creepy looking blonde woman with glowing eyes, dressed in a form-fitting body suit come out of the shadows.

"You know who we are."

"Yes, you're HIVE," Lex said. "I've heard of you, going through the books, my father had dealings with you, but pulled away when your work proved to be too unethical. Too unethical for Lionel Luthor, can't say I'm not impressed."

Lex flashed her a smile, but she just responded with those blinking eyes. The type of eyes which made Lex wonder if she was staring into his very soul, making trying to figure out how to best consume it. Lex didn't like being sized up like this, and he tried to push his head back an inch.

"We would like to talk to you about Doomsday."

Lex flashed her one of those charming smiles he was well known for. "Then, you came to the wrong Luthor. My father was the one who was talking about Doomsday. Although, the last couple of weeks, he's been screaming the world, apocalypse at the top of his lung."

"HIVE does not make mistakes, and the sooner a man of your brilliance finds that out, the more convenient your life will be."

Lex remained silent, not wanting to provoke these people. If they were going to be the new masters of the world, well Lex was very intrigued to see how they pulled that off. Groups with a little ambition always wanted to be the top of the world.

"We have spent some time researching you, and we managed to acquire some brain scans Hugo Strange performed."

"And they were done without my consent as well," Lex said. "I'm not surprised Hugo Strange did just as much….he's always been nothing but trouble. Do you have any idea where he ran off to?"

"Hugo Strange is irrelevant, even though his work is very relevant," the HIVE Queen responded. "You have locked in your mind valuable information how Doomsday was created, along with other valuable information. But, it's a part of your mind, left over."

Lex chuckled in response.

"So, are you telling me I have valuable information I don't even remember having? I'm flattered, believe me, I'm flattered you think so much of me. You think so much of me to think I have a lot of valuable information."

"You have had direct information with the creation known as Brainiac, have you not?" HIVE Queen asked. "Or Milton Fine, as you knew him at the time."

Lex smiled, there was no need to deny it.

"We've acquired a piece of one of his copies which have since been destroyed," HIVE Queen said. "And we matched it to pieces of your brain scan. We can only come to one logical conclusion, and that is, you have a sleeper copy of Brainiac buried deep within your subconscious. For whatever reason, it has not activated."

So, Fine had a backup, after his little body-jacking scheme with Zod failed. Lex found that very interested. He rubbed the side of his head. There were no side effects, although Lex's random bout of psychosis after Strange hypnotized him couldn't be chalked up to Brainiac being in his head.

Or could it?"

"Well, Strange never mentioned I had a high tech alien computer backup image in my head," Lex said. "I find it interesting, and I still wonder how you think you obtain the information from me. You think I'm going to stay here, you have another thing coming."

Lex moved to a standing position. The HIVE drones got to their feet, ready to protect their Queen under a potential act of aggression. She rose her hand and did one of the most suicidal things one could think of. She pressed a button and opened up the cell, which allowed Lex Luthor out and about into the wild.

"You must be arrogant to think you can keep me."

"Consider this an act of good faith," The HIVE Queen responded. "And I think you'll agree….to listen to me."

The drones backed off and a swarm of bees surrounded Lex. Lex saw them in action during the prison break and knew they meant business. He stared them down, those crisp stingers coming an inch away from my face.

"And it's not arrogance when you have facts to back it up. I know you're a man of reason, and a man of brilliance, Lex Luthor. You want to see why I've broken you out. It isn't just because of Doomsday. I want your reason on other things."

The HIVE Queen recalled her legions, with the unspoken agreement that the next time she set the bees on Lex, they would not be retracted. Lex sat down on a chair, hands folded in his lap and he looked towards the HIVE Queen.

"I want your insight on this."

A silver orb had been pushed out by the HIVE Queen. Lex looked towards the orb, with curiosity dancing in his eyes. A long pause followed with Lex taking a look at the orb and studying it from every single angle.

"Well?" The HIVE Queen asked.

Lex broke out into a wide smile and looked at the orb. "You see what you're holding? It's the future."

* * *

Helena walked down the underground tunnel from the HIVE facility. She didn't walk alone, with Clark following a half of a step behind her. She looked over her shoulder where Clark was walking.

"You know, this would be a lot easier if I could walk alone," Helena said. "I wouldn't have to worry about anyone else giving up my location."

Clark answered with a smile, a nod, and put his hand on Helena's shoulder.

"You're not going to be alone?"

"Neither of you are alone."

Diana stepped down the tunnel right behind them, dressed in all of her glory, ready for a fight. If they were fighting anything replicated from that monster, Helena would need a couple of heavy hitters to back her up, and Diana thought both she and Clark would have been perfect for the job.

"If Lex is here, you're going to need our help," Clark said.

One could almost see the annoyance brimming through Helena's eyes. She leaned in and started to grumble underneath her breath.

"I can handle Luthor."

Clark knew and understood how much she could handle Luthor. Still, it was everything else which was in this HIVE lab, which he worried about. He didn't know whether or not she could handle it. Hell, he wasn't sure if he could last another round with Doomsday.

"We're going to find Luthor, get Kandor, and shut down HIVE," Clark said.

"Yes, glad to see you know what the mission is," Helena said.

Helena didn't mean to sound so short, but she just wanted to get through with the mission. She latched onto the bottom grate which pulled herself up. Clark and Diana followed her, and they moved up into the middle of the lab.

There were gruesome experiments all around. There were heads, limbs in jars, and just all kinds of disgusting things which brought thoughts to their minds which Clark wanted to push out of his mind.

Clark came across a body which laid on the table. The face and torso had been wrapped in bandages. Clark moved closer, thinking at first he heard a heartbeat, despite the fact the body had entered a very advanced state of decomposition.

"There's something wrong here….do you hear a heart beat?"

He paused for a second, and the arm of the decomposed man twitched wildly, almost as if something was going to rip out of his body. Clark stepped closer toward him.

"It's not a heart beat, it's buzzing."

Helena instantly adopted a battle stance, and the decomposed body burst open. Diana, Clark, and Helena stepped back, as a swarm of weaponized bees appeared in front of them. The swarm circled around of them, started buzzing.

' _Bees, my God,'_ Helena thought in disgust.

"I recognize them," Helena said. "They were created by Doctor Brie Larvin, a scientist who worked at STAR Labs, but she went rogue."

"Looks like she fell into HIVE," Diana said.

"Yes, I'm glad you know of my pets," The HIVE Queen cackled over the loud speaker. "And these aren't ordinary bees….they pack a pretty bad sting…"

Clark, Diana, and Helena prepared to defend themselves when the bees surrounded them.

"One little sting will make the most super-powered of people pretty sleepy, by two or three, you'll be so swollen your own mother won't recognize you."

The bees hovered, waiting for their marching overs. Clark looked at them, trying to figure out the best way to take them all out without aggravating the others. He did notice they were partially fueled by liquefied Kryptonite. While he had been shielded from exposure, it being injected into his blood stream would still cause problems.

"And after that, well HIVE will have access to three extremely interesting specimens to add to my collection. Now, my pets, show our friends what we do to people who crash our little home."

The bees above the heads of the Trinity started to angrily swarm at them.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on June 27** **th** **, 2017.**


	46. Chapter 46

**Chapter Forty-Six: The Darkness Inside.**

* * *

Bees filled the air and obstructed the vision of Clark, Diana, and Helena all around. They knew aggravating them would mean being stung. Clark and Diana suspected the bees would not be strong enough to take them down, but would they run the risk? Plus, Helena was standing right beside them, very squishy, and very human.

Clark launched a blast of heat vision to send the bees packing. The angry buzzing of the bees continued around his head. He took a deep breath and used his super breath to knocked them off course.

Diana withdrew the blade from behind her back and swiped it at one of the bees. The blade sliced into a bee and caused sparks to fly everywhere. She took a step back and one of the bees came close to stinging her with a dive bomb attack. Helena flicked a small disc-like device in the air and released a cloud of dust which took the bee down.

"Keep me covered."

Neither of them really had any choice to be perfectly honest. Clark swung his fist back and punched one of the incoming bees, knocking it down to the ground. One of the bees went towards his skin. Clark avoided the Kryptonite stinger from coming into him. He caught the bee between his finger and crushed the little body into the chest.

Diana deflected the incoming bees. She remembered the Kryptonite and realized these bees might affect Clark if they somehow penetrated their skin.

"Get the cool air vent open," Diana said. "I have an idea."

Clark clapped the air and the bees swarmed around at the sound of the supersonic vibrations happening from elsewhere. The continued swarm made Clark deduce there wouldn't be much longer before the bees started to attack from their position, sooner rather than later. He was going to have to time this next attack perfectly, otherwise, it was going to be messed up.

' _Well, here goes nothing.'_

One of the bees scrapped a bit of his skin and true to form, Clark felt a tiny bit woozy. He pulled open the cold air vent and bombarded the area with cold air. Both himself and Diana weren't affected by the cold air. The bees, on the other hand, their agitation increased.

"It's working!" Diana cheered.

Clark watched the angrily buzzing bees and their attempts to get at them. He took a second to pull back and noticed some of the bees were starting to light up and emit small amounts of beat. They moved into one angry swarm, the ones which didn't get killed by the first volley of cold air bombarding them.

"Unfortunately, not enough."

The bees came closer to attacking Clark. He braced for the attack and they came an inch away from diving into him. They pulled out before they came to him, not just once, not just twice, but three times in a row. Something was blocking them from attacking. The bees swarmed around and looked very confused.

Unless Clark missed his guess, and it was very likely he did, those bees had been tapped into by something. Helena's plan, whatever it was had worked. The very last minute passed and the bees started to short-circuit.

Clark could have breathed a sigh of relief and pumped his hand into the air with a cheer. Diana looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and a teasing smile spreading over her face.

"What, wouldn't you be pleased if something that was built to hurt you was taken out of the equation?"

The two of them locked eyes with each other and both smiled and nodded. The truth was, Diana would be more than pleased. The two of them arched their eyes down and saw Helena making her way up. She held a transmitter in hand, locked onto the frequency of the bees.

"Your quick thinking worked nice, thanks," Clark said.

Helena raised a hand and make sure Clark had her full and undivided attention. The young man turned towards Helena and wondered what she had in store for them. The three of them walked down the hallway and turned around the corner, frowning with a very obvious expression of discontent racked in their hives.

"Don't thank me yet. We still have a lot to do and not much time to do it. HIVE knows we're here, which means they're going to pull out something dangerous to stop in our tracks."

Clark smiled, she always thought about the good things in life, okay, not really. But, she really did think of the worst, even though Clark was prone to positivity because otherwise, it would lead to madness.

"Wow, she's a right little ray of sunshine, isn't she?" Chloe asked.

"She is, what she is," Clark responded. "I'm not going to go against her, she's pretty good at what she does."

"Yes, she is," Tess responded.

She remembered meeting Helena for the first time in the not so distant future. The Wayne family had their levels of obsession, and Tess wasn't going to get in the way of them.

Diana arched her head back and turned back towards Helena. "So, where do you think we're going to have to go next?"

A long pause followed before Helena looked down to the tunnel to the right. She extended a hand almost to the left and then turned to the right, up the stairs.

Hopefully, they would be lead past a bee-free path.

* * *

The HIVE Queen waited at the end of the hallway. Her frown grew in an even more prominent way. The little attack to deter their intruders did not prevent them from breaking into the complex and causing all kinds of havoc. The HIVE Queen's clutching of her fingers together increased, and she drew back a deep breath. She looked inches away from losing her mind.

Lex turned his attention from the HIVE Queen, all the way back to the orb. The orb fascinated him, as it would fascinate everyone. An echo rose up over the back of Lex' head when he tried to make the orb work for himself.

' _I'm beginning to think if someone opens it, they'll have power beyond the wildest imaginations of human beings,'_ Lex thought. _'Even though my wildest imaginings are far stronger than the wildest imaginings of many other people. I just got to…..keep it cool, and I'll have everything I wanted.'_

The body language of the HIVE Queen interested Lex. For a brief second, she resembled someone who had it together, but there were parts of her which were unsure. Lex dealt with these type of people before, both men and women. They projected all of the confidence in the world on the outside. Internally though, it was a different story, and their very obvious frustrations hit a very obvious very pitch.

' _I just got to ride this one out, and I'll have her, right where I wanted her.'_

The HIVE Queen activated a button and tried to scan the complex.

"Let me guess, one of them disabled the security," Lex said. "I'm going to guess it was Tess, or Chloe or Helena Wayne...maybe it was that one hacker that's hacking around Thea Queen. Or maybe it was the legendary Oracle. She's been known to ruin some of the best-laid plans of mice and men."

The HIVE Queen's knuckles clenched and they grew very white. Her heart skipped a couple of very obvious beats when trying to determine the next move.

"Let's be honest, you don't have it under control, do you?"

The HIVE Queen's eyes flashed and she looked at Lex. Again, Lex knew she would not attack. The façade of control resulted in her wanting to keep up with what she was doing. Lex watched her body language, for the tell-tale signs of a woman who was about to break down.

The woman who the HIVE Queen once was, threatened to break through underneath her surface, which resulted in Lex flashing a very devious smile. All he had to do was wait her out, and HIVE would be his.

' _Patience, it's a top word in the Luthor dictionary.'_

"They have arrived here," The HIVE Queen responded.

Lex decided to dig that knife a little more inside of the gaping wound which was starting to fester.

"You shouldn't have any problems trying to keep them out, should you? You are the high and mighty HIVE. One of the most powerful organizations the world has ever seen. I doubt you can keep a few do-gooders from ruining your plans."

The bald businessman paid careful attention to the body cues of the HIVE Queen. Her frustration reached a brand new fever pitch. Lex drummed his fingers down across the desk.

' _Just wait for it, and keep waiting for it. Your time will come soon. You just have to be a patient man.'_

Lex returned his attention to the mystical orb lying underneath his line of sight. He realized only he could open it, which meant things were going to be interesting. Lex returned to the secrets of Clark Kent, which he tried to uncover with increasing difficulty.

It had been dogging him for almost six years, and they moved around full circle.

' _We're destined to do this together, Clark. We could have been great friends, but we're just from different worlds. It's nothing personal, I'm just going to have to stop you and prevent you from taking control of my planet.'_

Lex shifted the item underneath his line of sight and broke into a wide smile in response. The nice item underneath him showed him the power which could be used if he opened the orb.

' _Show me the power, show me what you can give me,'_ Lex thought to himself.

One of the guards made their way around the corner and walked up to the HIVE Queen. Lex paid very special attention to the conversation.

"They've already breached the security on the bottom floor," one of the guards responded. "They're on your way, what do you want to do?"

Lex thought this little meeting would be very interesting, as it would show him what the HIVE Queen would be very much about. He shifted over, taking a look at some experimentation which caught his eye.

' _Hello, what do we have here?'_

The HIVE Queen's standing up tall and looking at her drone made Lex realize she was about to make a move. It was going to be very exciting for her to make it, or maybe not. Still, he had to wait and more importantly, he would have had to watch.

"The Trinity is on their way?" Queen Bee responded. "Let them be on their way….prepare the drones. If they want to try to stop me, then HIVE will take them down."

Lex appreciated the confidence even though in a matter of minutes, HIVE would soon be under brand new management. He waited for the HIVE Queen to leave

' _Now, it's time to get to work.'_

* * *

Clark walked down the hallway and tried to see what he could run into. The HIVE main lab had to be one level up, and with it, there had to be Lex. Lex, Clark really didn't know what state of mind his former friend would be in. Did he come willingly along with the rest of HIVE or was there some other reason why he was down here? Regardless, Clark took half of a step back and looked around.

"Watch yourself," Helena said.

The reason why Helena told Clark to watch himself grew very apparent in a hurry. The doors opened up and several HIVE drones made their way down the hallway into the room. They wielded some of the most dangerous armor in the world that anyone could ever see.

"I'll go for them," Clark said.

"No," Diana responded. "You run down the hallway, we'll take care of the drones."

One of the drones fired at Diana. Diana crouched down and deflected one of the bullets with her wristband. A loud clank echoed when she moved.

Clark realized it had been up to him to try and stop HIVE, for better or for worse. The young man shifted back a fraction of an inch and waited for something to happen, anything to happen.

' _Okay, I got this way.'_

One of the HIVE drones rushed down the hallway. Clark blocked his arm, taking the man down to the ground. The warning snap of the man's wrist Another one of the drones charged forward and almost came an inch away from taking Clark out. Clark blocked the wrist and nailed him with an uppercut punch to the side of the head. The drone dropped down to the ground.

Clark noticed a reflection of the battle out of the corner of his eye. Helena dropped down and caught one of the drones with an uppercut to the chest which doubled him over. Multiple punches rocked him with a series of jabs which stuns him. The man slammed down to the ground with Helena bringing the hardest force she could potentially muster down onto the back of the goon's head.

She looked a few inches down the hallway. Clark made his way down the hallway. An energy field bombarded against Clark's chest and propelled him down to the ground. The young man rolled over onto his hands and knees and took a deep breath. He tried one more time to break through the energy field.

The energy field flickered around him. Clark had to pull back and used his head, as opposed to really using his head. Clark dove in front of the field and almost slammed himself through the field. The ricochet effect of the field came close to knocking Clark back onto the ground.

There was nothing for him to get bounced back from now. Clark used his x-Ray vision to find a weak spot in the growing instability. He saw it happening, every few minutes, there was a flash of light. He would need to exploit the flash of light.

One of them tried to nail Clark in the back. Clark turned around and blocked the drone before he hoisted him up and brought him back down onto the ground. Clark stepped back and waited for the goon to rise up to a standing position, the wind having been knocked out of him.

Now, Clark returned back to trying to destabilize the force field which would be leading him up. Much to his surprise, something happened which raised some questions, and answered very few of them. The light erupted around him and then left the path opened for him.

"I'm going to say it," Chloe said. "Do you think it's a trap?"

Clark listened in for some kind of attack. The buzzing came up from his particular position.

"I'm pretty sure it's a trap," Clark responded.

He would have to turn the trap around on them some way. Clark had his path up of the stairs. The walls opened up and launched a stun laser towards Clark. The young man took half of a step back and avoided one of the blasts which came very close to ripping him apart.

' _Okay, that was too close of a call!'_ Clark mentally yelled.

The blasts of the energy shot towards Clark and came very close to taking him down. He took in a deep breath and blocked the energy wave from trapping him. The cell came very close to closing around Clark.

"Just to let you know, we're going to shut down the power," Helena said. "That should buy you a little bit more time to get around."

Clark pushed the energy wave back and disabled it with one quick disconnecting. HIVE had a lot of interesting traps in this location, but Clark was able to see them before they would become a problem, at least he hoped he would be able to see them before they became a real problem.

"Thanks."

"You should quit thanking me until we're completely out of the woods," Helena said.

Clark responded with a chuckle. He was pretty sure he would be laughing when they were out of the woods. He looked to have one more floor based off of the map of technology which Indy had brought up. They had been changed, for the most part.

"I'll try and remember not to."

A single-minded objective for Clark to reach Lex hit him. There was nothing else which mattered right now other than Clark Kent reaching Lex Luthor.

' _Lex, I'm ready. I hope you are.'_

* * *

' _I'm ready.'_

Lex once again studied the orb for another minute. The item locked into his hands started to react to something coming around the corner. He knew Clark was coming, and he really wished he could be better prepared for Clark's incoming arrival.

Another item caught Lex's interest on the shelf. He noticed a combination of DNA. Lex decided to take a closer look at it, now with the HIVE Queen distracted with dealing with the problems, it allowed Lex to take a closer look at what they were cooking up. And what they were cooking up made her look very interested to be perfectly honest.

The cells inside of the box looked like they were about ready to break free, and come out. The darkest parts of Lex's mind longed to take a closer looking, to see what he had to deal with. His excitement increased when looked at the box. The box flashed a second later and increased Lex's studying on it. Another second passed with Lex running his eyes over the edge of the box.

He had to have the powers, all of the powers. Those Doomsday powers, he would have had to have them, along with the meteor powers. They mixed them together in one delicious cocktail which called to Lex. No, it didn't just call to Lex, it practically screamed to him.

' _You must take me, Lex. You must give me the power!'_

Lex looked at the HIVE Queen who stood on the outside. He looked towards the outside. On the one hand, these powers tantalized him. On the other hand, Lex didn't know the consequences. He wrestled in his mind to see what could be done.

' _You need to experiment to accomplish,'_ Lex responded.

The bald businessman's eyes locked eyes onto the case one more time. A tendril tried to flash through the other end of the box and called out to Lex. The bald businessman leaned down and touched the side of the case, frowning when was about ready to be released.

Lex took the plunge and slammed the wrench into the edge of the case. The sound of glass smashing open echoed throughout everything.

The HIVE Queen rushed inside. Her eyes widened, and she stepped back.

"What have you done?" The HIVE Queen asked. "What have you done?"

Lex's mouth curled into a very obvious smile when he approached the HIVE Queen. The liquid wrapped around his hand and glowed with obvious power. He could feel the energy rise up inside of him , and make him stronger than ever before.

"I've given myself power, the ultimate power!" Lex howled at the top of his lungs.

The HIVE Queen pulled out a gun and pointed it towards Lex. Lex raised his hand and stopped the HIVE Queen in her tracks.

"You know, every Queen is going to bow down before her King sooner or later."

The HIVE Queen made a very obvious struggle to try and break free from the submissive maneuver by Lex. She had beet down to her knees in front of it.

"Yes, HIVE Queen, bow down before HIVE's new king!"

"You don't understand what you're getting yourself into!" The HIVE Queen yelled.

Lex laughed and looked very dismissive at the HIVE Queen when she dropped down to her knees. Lex would be lying if he didn't say she looked good brought down to her knees, brought down to a more proper role in front of her.

"You can't stop me!" The HIVE Queen yelled at the top of her lungs.

Lex motioned his hand down and forced the HIVE Queen to ascend to her knees even further. She was practically on the ground and worshipping whatever ground Lex walked over. The Queen didn't look too happy about being forced to the ground.

"The piece of Brainiac inside me has been unleashed, increasing my mental capacities, along with the Doomsday DNA and the other meteor mutant DNA."

Lex picked up a table over his head without any warning and dangled it right about the Queen's head. The HIVE Queen looked up with absolute contempt when the table shattered underneath Lex's hands.

"You see what I can do to anyone who stops me?"

He raised a hand and several cells clicked open. They all unlocked with each other and brought meteor mutants awake from their position.

' _Right about time.'_

Lex looked up into the sky and saw Clark Kent dropping down to the ground.

"See, they respect my new power!"

The young man lifted a hand and forced the meteor mutants to drop to their knees before him. Clark couldn't believe it, they had no choice other than to comply.

"And now, it's my birthright," Lex said. "My old friend, and my new enemy, to take down the most dangerous threat the world has ever seen."

It was Lex's birthright. He tried to fight through the darkness, but he enjoyed the power. A Luthor always fought through greatness, and his accomplishments would only increase.

"And now, you're going down, Kal-El."

His given name had been shown. Clark braced himself for an attack, for better or for worse.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on July 2** **nd** **, 2017.**


	47. Chapter 47

**Chapter Forty-Seven: Calling All Heroes Part One.**

* * *

Chloe frowned and had been keeping an eye on the mission control after Clark had gone in. The entire situation had gone dead on the other end of the line, which really wasn't a surprising thing. All Chloe could do was tap her finger on the edge.

' _I suppose I shouldn't jump to conclusion unless he doesn't get in touch with me sooner,'_ Chloe thought. _'I'll wait for five more minutes before I start panicking.'_

The door opened and Lana walked up behind Chloe. She stopped short of reaching Chloe and looked on with one of the most obvious frowns possible.

"How are you doing?" Chloe asked.

"I'm not sure," Lana said. "I'm just having one of those bad feelings. It's kind of hard to explain."

Chloe frowned in response. Oh boy, did she had that feeling every single day when they dealt with some of the things she did. Come to think of it, she was feeling a little dazed, and not only a little dazed, but very confused. Chloe's thought swam in her mind when she tried to hold her head up above the table. Her breathing increased when she wiped a brow of sweat across her face.

"I imagine," Chloe said. "Clark just went into the HIVE complex. He's after Lex."

Lana's obvious sign broke through the tension. 'It's always Lex, isn't it?"

That statement really summed up the last six or so years of their life. Well, maybe not generally just Lex, but a Luthor of some sort. It was always someone with the last name Luthor.

"Indeed," Chloe said. "Clark, are you there? Clark, can you hear me? Helena, Diana, come in, I need to see if any of you are alive out there."

A buzzing sound came through the communication headset. Chloe decided to switch and try someone else, hoping they would have better luck in getting through.

"Tess?"

"Let me guess, you lost contact with Clark and the others," Tess said. "I was talking to Helena until about a minute ago, and then she just disappeared, and I can't track her down. I've…called in a few favors to see what's going on, but it's going to take them a while to get into position."

"Especially if HIVE is mobilization all of their resources?" Chloe asked.

"Yes," Tess said. "Just be prepared, there's something happening. I don't know what it is, but there's something happening."

No sooner did Tess say these words, Chloe's entire world began to spin. It was almost like she had been dragged inside of a tunnel of some sort. A whisper of "comply" echoed through Chloe's head.

Lana watched when Chloe grabbed onto the desk. The dark-haired girl took a step closer towards Chloe.

"Chloe?" Lana asked. "Chloe, you're starting to scare me."

Chloe slumped over onto the desk. Lana screamed in response, not that it was heard by Chloe. Lana picked up the headset which Tess dropped on the desk and put it on. She activated it.

"Tess, Chloe just collapsed, I don't know why, but she did," Lana responded. "I don't know…."

Chloe rose up to her feet and made her way to the door. Lana wasn't sure what was happening, but she was pretty sure she shouldn't let Chloe leave. Lana grabbed Chloe around the waist and restrained her. The two girls engaged in a titanic struggle with each other. Chloe squirmed, twisted, and tried to break out of the grip of Lana. Lana pushed Chloe against the wall and pinned her back. Chloe screamed in agony when trying to be pushed out.

"No, I have to…..join them….join the HIVE!" Chloe yelled.

"Chloe, Chloe, CHLOE!" Lana yelled. "Listen to me, whatever is happening, you have to fight it. You're strong, fight!"

Chloe's eyes flickered back and forth. Lana grabbed Chloe harder by the arm. She tried to drag Chloe back to life, tried to drag her back into the real world. It was a constant back and forth struggle, where Chloe was being dragged underneath.

"Just think about Clark," Lana said.

Chloe's pained mumble of Clark came through, and Lana, finally, at least she hoped, managed to push her way through Chloe's stubborn mind and managed to get her to listen to reason, or at least what passed as reason. Chloe started to shake with madness, the shivers going down her spine when she spoke.

"Yes, Chloe, Clark, remember, he's still in there, he's still fighting."

Chloe's brain tried to resist the very persuasive thoughts going into it. Someone was trying to command her to do something, anything. Chloe's fingers began to twitch. It was much harder for her to hold her head up and concentrate than it was before.

By some miracle, Chloe broke out of her thoughts, and all it took was a little help from Lana. She dropped to her knee,s breathing. The control had been broken.

Lana breathed, hoping Chloe was out of the woods. She managed one word.

"Lex!"

Chloe collapsed, and no sooner than she did, Lois broke through the door.

"I just heard it over the radio, there's been a mass escape at Belle Reve!"

Lois stopped at the door, caught sight of Chloe on her hands and knees on the floor, stopped, and screamed for the heavens. The look of her cousin in this particular state caused Lois a fantastic amount of alarm, and for very good reason.

* * *

"Yes, it's beautiful, and at the same time, terrifying. I can feel all of your troubled minds, as one."

An energy field surrounded Lex, which kept Clark at arm's length with him. He could bring his legions of new followers around to crush Clark, but why do something so impersonal. No, after, all he and Clark had been through over the years, he deserved a more personal touch for his decimation.

"At first, I didn't fully appreciate the benefits of the human mind, until I have now. But when a mind has been sufficiently strengthened, it is capable of being anything. The mind is capable of doing anything, and a man with a strong mind is capable of being anything. What use is having a strong body, what use is having all of the powers of the world, if you're a man who squanders them? If you're a man who doesn't have great power."

Clark rushed towards Lex and the energy shield folded underneath Clark's punches. Every single time he tried to punch the energy shield, it just repelled energy at him. Lex turned around and his mind clicked. He sent blue fire at Clark. The fire would both burn and freeze Clark at the same time.

A strange scientific paradox which only could be capable by HIVE's weird Frankenstein mining of several meteor freak powers. Clark dodged the blue flames. The flames licked against the wall.

Lex moved at super speed, and Clark just had to move a tiny bit quicker to avoid the attack. He popped up behind Lex and aimed a series of punches at him. Lex's hands turned to stone and he blocked up to avoid the attack. Clark shifted his hands where they vibrated at super speed and caused Lex to scream when the force of the hands going into the side cracked his skin.

"Oh, clever, I didn't think you were stupid. You had to be somewhat intelligent….to get the better of me over the years."

Clark didn't know whether or not to take it as a backhanded compliment or not, but regardless he just kept coming through. He would keep fighting until he could not stand.

Lex would have summoned more creatures into the room, but his ego demanded he battled Clark one on one. The two locked knuckles in the middle of the room. Lex acquired a surprising amount of super strength which pushed Clark over onto his knees.

The super strength wasn't anything when you didn't have the leverage. Clark pushed Lex over and flipped him on the ground. He went behind his former friend, and grabbed him around the head, before stabbing him in the side of the neck with a series of jabs. The jabs caught him on the side of the neck.

The feeling of numbness came down Lex's body. Fortunately for him, one of the meteor mutants had a healing factor. He turned around, eyes glowing in power.

"Lex, you need help."

"I can feel that beast," Lex said. "Doomsday, I have the strength of Doomsday and the intelligence of Brainiac."

Clark thought it was not a good combination, but he had another thought.

' _The more Lex becomes Doomsday, the more he's going to lose his mind. The human mind can't handle that monster. I'm just going to have to last the distance, and hope it doesn't take too long to take him down.'_

Lex rushed towards Clark, and the two of them battled each other. They were about ready to throw down against each other one more time when suddenly a loud crack echoed from underneath him.

Helena jumped up from the floor. She saw the crowd of the meteor infected surrounding them and quickly hurled ice pellets into the air. The pellets broke up and froze her enemies, but not for long.

Diana dropped down.

"Dispose of these two interlopers!" Lex yelled.

The meteor mutant charged Diana. She blocked the punch, wrapped the man's muscular arm around his back and kicked him down to the ground. The next meteor mutant charged her, this time with knives retracting from all ten of his fingers. The knives stabbed at the Amazon Princess who avoided all them of them with the precision of a warrior princess.

Diana moved in and used her blade to trick the nails of her attacker. The attacker groaned before he dropped down to the ground. Diana nailed her attack with one more brutal uppercut punch.

"I've got bigger plans right now," Lex yelled.

He used a telekinetic blast to fling Clark into the air. Clark landed on the table.

"You three, hold the line, and protect your king," Lex said. "The rest of you, come with me. We still have much to get done."

Clark rose to his feet, and almost collapsed onto the ground from the injuries which were sustained in this particular battle. He looked up just in time to see the members of HIVE about ready to leave the room, along with Lex.

He locked eyes with the HIVE Queen who mouthed "help me!"

Those words fell unfortunately deaf ears. The HIVE Queen was gone, and Helena, Diana, and Clark were up to their neck in HIVE's new experimental batch of meteor mutants.

* * *

Chloe sat perfectly still underneath the brain scanning machine in the fortress. Lara watched her brain wave patterns, which grew absolutely erratic, and there were no surprises as to why they were turning around in such a matter. Lex had entered her mind and started to take control of it.

The communication to Clark had finally been opened back up.

"Lex is taking control of all of the meteor mutants," Clark said. "Chloe….is she….."

"She managed to avoid his compulsion, just barely," Lara said. "I'm seeing if I can strengthen her mind, but there's only so much I can do."

Lara worried about an army of her son's greatest hits descending on the world, with Lex stirring them up into some kind of revolution.

"It feels like someone just pounded my head like it was bongo drums," Chloe grumbled.

"Yes, that's what mind control normally feels like, sweetie," Lara muttered. "Let me just try and figure out how to get inside of your mind, and make sure he hasn't left any triggers."

Lex would have been the kind of person to turn Chloe against Clark and force him into some kind of sadistic choice. He underestimated the loyalty Chloe had to Clark.

Lara spent a lot of time studying the human mind, and it was no different than the Kryptonian mind, especially in how it perceived the world around it with a certain bias which turned certain events around towards its favor. Lex thought Clark betrayed him. It might not have had little to no basis in reality, but that's what Lex thought. And he was going to do his best to rectify that matter.

' _Lex Luthor is a problem, and it might be time we end the problem once and for all.'_

Lara knew if Astra went after Lex, and if he did have possession of Kandor, there wouldn't be enough of Lex to bury. She did have a certain obligation to Clark, but if anything, her obligation to restore Kandor back to life was stronger than ever before.

"Your brain scans are coming up normal," Lara said. "Your healing abilities has rendered you immune to mind control."

"Oh, it's kind of like when you have the Chicken Pox once, you can never have it again," Chloe said with a weak smile. "That's good to know."

Chloe almost collapsed into a fit of tiredness. She still could feel the banging in her head.

Lara was glad Chloe could not be controlled by Lex again. And it was a good thing Lana was there to keep Chloe from jumping off of the ledge. Not that Chloe didn't have a strong mind. Lara experienced that first hand for several months. It was just, sometimes a little help from her friends.

One look at the AI she had yet to properly get running made Lara wish she could get help from one of hers.

A message from Tess indicated she wanted to see Lara straight away. She was currently at the location where they had the Parasite locked up.

Lara took the teleportation crystal to the location and dropped down on the ground. She came about the Parasite, who thrashed in agony, and smashed himself against the cell. He howled in agony when pounding away at the side of the cell.

"No, you don't understand! I need to find him. I need to find the Messiah! The end of the world is almost here! He will lead us to the promise land!"

The Parasite looked to be completely out of it. Tess watched his mental breakdown unfold. He had not been awake ever since being brought her. Needless to say, the Parasite made up for lost time, throwing fits and throwing himself into the cell repeatedly, and very hard. The sound of a man beating his head up against the cell could be a sickening one to behold.

"So, Lex reached out to him, even behind a shielded cell," Lara said. "I don't even have to tell you what would happen if he got his hands on the Parasite's powers."

"No, you don't," Tess said. "I'm well aware what would happen if that madman got his hands on Rudy Jones's powers. Hence, why it's not allowed to happen."

"LET ME FIND MY SAVIOR! LET ME FIND MY MESSIAH!"

Tess rolled her eyes.

"Well, it's obvious Lex has gotten drunk with power," Tess said. "I doubt Jones is thinking these thoughts on his own."

"How do you figure?" Lara asked.

"Well, the man identifies as an atheist for one thing," Tess said. "So, he wouldn't normally put much stock into the thought of a Messiah."

Tess stared at the screen and a thought came to her mind.

"He would be good in shutting him down, Chloe and him both," Tess responded. "How is Chloe doing?"

"She's mentally wrecked but immune from the mind control," Lara said. "Are you suggesting we use Chloe as bait to lure out Lex?"

"No, nothing of the sort," Tess said. "But she is the only option where we can bring Lex out into the open."

"And we need to hurry," Indy popped in. "Because I feel the presence of the other one."

The piece of Brainiac inside of Lex was active once more, at least that's what Tess thought.

"Do you think you can track Lex through it?" Tess asked her.

"I can attempt to do so!"

* * *

Diana enjoyed a good fight about as much as the next person. The figure fighting her had hands made of concrete and a head which was hard for even one of an Amazon to punch through.

One of the mutants had a glowing green head which bombarded his attackers which a small amount of radiation. Helena found herself glad she fortified the old suit with radiation shielding because otherwise, she would have been screwed. Diana and Helena might not have been screwed, but she most certainly would have been screwed.

The window broke up, and the Green Arrow stood in the window. She fired an arrow which broke open and released a sticky foam which wrapped up the goons in one fell swoop. She flipped down onto the ground and waited for one of the attackers to rush her.

The attacker rose to the bait, and Thea dodged the attack, just in time to see Karen and Carol fly through the window.

"Figured you could use the backup," Carol said. "We would have got here sooner, but there was an energy field around the building which took a long time to break."

"Better late than never," Clark said.

He still had to get to Lex, who knew what he was doing. All Clark could figure out he was causing a lot of trouble. The goon on the ground sent electrified whips from his wrists at Clark. Clark avoided the whips from slicing into his skin and propelled back a couple of attacks from the goon. He nailed him with multiple punches which stunned the goon.

The ground underneath the goons shook. One of the goons turned around and saw a dark haired figure who raised her hand. A vibration rocked them and allowed Clark to take them out one at a time.

A tranquilizer dart caught one of the more persistent goons in the side of the neck. Alex turned around and realized the goon had not been dropped. She fired at the goon once again, but the goon rushed towards her with the persistence and speed like a cheetah.

The wind had been knocked out of Alex. The figure dodged out of the way of an arrow. And he also dodged Clark and Karen.

"Damn, he's fast," Clark said.

Diana managed to catch him with her lasso, but his hand vibrated through the lasso and knocked Diana back a couple of inches. The Amazon flipped over onto the ground.

Alex pushed a cart into the back of the man. He went intangible, moving out of the way at the last second.

"Great, just what we need, some kind of Frankenstein creation, channeling meteor mutant powers together!" Alex yelled. She popped her gun.

A figure went through the window at super speed and flew around the creature. She created a reverse cyclone and launched the creature up into the air. He bounced into the air several times and dropped down like a particular grotesque ping-pong ball.

He was too dizzied to think straight. Clark rushed towards the figure and grabbed him around the back, before taking him down with two thumbs to the group.

The younger Kara showed up, with her best display of a heroic pose. The room had been cleared. She had been surprised to see how much faster she was than her cousins, and quite pleased as well.

Alex looked up towards her, frowning her. "Kara, what are you doing here?"

"Helping," Kara said.

"Yes, I'm aware of that," Carol said.

Kara put her hands on her hips and sighed. She obviously wasn't going to get a lecture for saving the day, which her two sisters did on a daily basis, not to mention her cousins and her friends.

"Hey, you did good, kid," Daisy said.

Kara smiled, at least someone appreciated her. Alex gave Daisy a look as if ask Daisy not to encourage her.

"So, Tess is tracking Lex, but Astra is going after him," Lara said. "Because she knows Lex has Kandor."

Clark thought the situation has just become more frustrated by the moment. He hitched in a breath and prepared to do what he needed to do.

* * *

Through the minds of the HIVE Drones, Lex stumbled upon the jackpot to end all jackpots. Hoards and hoards of meteor rocks stockpiled.

"And here I thought Lionel was stocking up on the rocks," Lex said. "And they want to create a Kryptonite bomb which they can deploy."

The word Kryptonite came to mind because of Brainiac. It was oddly appropriate, because it was a meteorite, from Kryptonite. The bomb could level an entire country.

Lex had no interest in the destruction, but rather, he wanted people to unlock their full potential. With his resources, he could expand the scope of the bomb, and use the radiation to blanket the entire world.

Many would die, but many more would be gifted power. Earthlings would evolve into a new age. Lex would be the ruler of this new world. There would be no more conflicts because Lex would have them under his mind. Peace, peace under one mind.

Lex loved the sound of that one. He rubbed his hands together, positively giddy with anticipation when he waited to see what he could do next.

He set down the orb on the ground. It was his most prized possession. Lex motioned for the HIVE Queen to join him, and she stood at his side. A robotic look flashed through her eyes.

"You shouldn't do this," The HIVE Queen muttered.

Lex started the mechanism to power up the bomb and a blur shot through the window. He had been surprised, it was not Clark, it was his cousin, it was a new threat.

' _It's General Astra, she was one of Krypton's greatest monsters,'_ Brainiac stated in his mind. _'She must be destroyed at all costs.'_

Astra blew past the HIVE drones. She grabbed Lex's meteor mutant bodyguard by the throat and snapped his windpipe before dropping him down to the ground.

Lex went flying out of the window with a concussive force. He kept flying until landing onto the ground with a very solid thud.

Kandor laid within reach on the table. Astra didn't waste a second in scooping it up in the palm of her hand and looking down at it with triumph dancing in her eyes. Astra left out of the window.

Lex rose up from the ground, the wounds in his chest healing. He wasn't about ready to let such a valuable resource slip through his fingers, so he gave chase.

The windows of the facility broke open. Helena dropped down on end and Thea dropped down on the other end. They were about to attack, but the HIVE goons stood frozen. They were awaiting orders, orders which never would come.

The HIVE Queen kneeled on the ground. Blood spilled from her nose when she tried to break Lex's control.

"Disable the bomb!"

Helena took one look at the bomb. The fate of the world depended on her disabling the bomb. She hitched in her breath and had to go for it.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on July 9** **th** **, 2017.**


	48. Chapter 48

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* * *

 **Chapter Forty-Eight: Calling All Heroes Part Two**

* * *

Lex Luthor stepped outside, practically seething. He was so close to having Earth in the palm of his hands, years of work would not be flushed down the toilet. An army of heroes had cut his army in half. They didn't understand what had to do.

The young man turned his head around for a few seconds and made his way. The woman who shoved him out of the window, and snatched the orb, the key to everything disappeared. She was heading North, and Lex heard the thoughts of Brainiac in the back of his mind.

' _She's heading to Jor-El's Fortress, is an outpost used by his son,'_ Brainiac informed him.

Lex thanked him and the powers made him move at the speed of light. He zipped across several state lines in a blink of an eye and crossed the border into Canada before heading into the North. A second passed with a hand being raised and smacking Lex in the face. Lex flipped over and landed back to Earth.

A blunt force jumped down from the sky and caught Lex down across the back of the head. The man rolled over onto his hands and knees and looked up. He saw Clark standing before him, dressed in a blue top with a red "S" symbol and a pair of tight dark blue pants. A cape fluttered in the air. He looked towards Lex.

"I see you're wearing your family symbol," Lex said. "I'm going to rip it off of you in a token of victory."

Lex rushed towards Clark in a blink of an eye. The two men locked knuckles. Lex summoned the power within him and retracted the metal knives from his fingers. He tried to stab them in Clark, only the knives shattered against his chest. Clark caught the man's hand in a wristlock and twisted him around. A loud crack followed.

Both landed down in a field. Lex's hands shot forward, stretching to wrap around Clark's chest. The hands turned into sharp blades a moment. Clark had to admire Lex's intelligence in chaining the power together. Clark nailed him with an uppercut to the chest while his hands were not protecting it.

The two rolled over onto the field. Clark flung over into the air like a rubber band and swung over to the fence. The two of them ran into each other at the speed of light. Clark and Lex fought with each other. The two of them struggled with each other. Clark pulled him up to a standing position.

"Your persistence is almost amusing," Lex said. "Just like your fate is inevitable."

The two of them broke together. Lex turned into solid stone and Clark nailed him with a punch to the chest. Another punch rocked him in the chest. Clark staggered back. Lex put his hand on the ground and caused the ground to rumble.

He channeled fire through the ground and knocked Clark a few seconds back. Clark flipped over onto his back and landed down onto the ground with a solid impact. Lex pulled back and nailed Clark with a repeated series of punches to the chest.

"You really are still the same you've always been," Clark said. "All this time , you've want to prove you're worthy of the name Luthor."

Lex wrapped his hands around Clark's neck and pushed him down onto the ground, planting his knees down onto the ground. Clark pushed almost above Lex's hands and flipped him into the ground.

"I'm better than him," Lex said. "Do you hear me? I'm better than anyone who has, or ever would have the name Luthor. Do you hear me?"

Glowing green spikes retracted out of Lex's back. He rushed towards Clark with a thunderous roar and nailed him with multiple punches which kept rocking him. Back, forth, and center kept stunning Clark. Clark's knees buckled over.

The menace of Doomsday flushed through Lex's eyes.

Clark swept Lex's legs out from underneath him, jumped behind him, and jabbed away at the back of Lex's neck. The nerve spot dropped Lex to his knees. Clark reared back and caught Lex with another jab to the chest before an armor piece protected Lex's chest.

"We are going to keep doing this until the end of time," Lex growled. "You're going to keep getting in my way, and I will never try and stop you. I will never try and stop you from destroying my perfect world."

A blast of orange energy launched Clark into the air. Clark flipped head over heels and smashed into the ground. The wind knocked out of him, and Clark rolled over.

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Lex said. "You think you've been sent here to be our messiah. NO ONE ASKED FOR YOU, KAL-EL!"

Lex brought down another boom onto the top of Clark's head and folded him up onto the ground. The Last Son of Krypton performed a valiant struggle to his feet. The top of his uniform held into place despite every nerve ending inside of his body singing, absolutely screaming due to the fire he was feeling.

"You're not one hundred percent good, nothing is."

Clark looked at Lex with one bleary eye. "Nothing includes you. So, what gives you the right to pass judgment on anything?"

The bald billionaire's eye flared up in absolute rage. Clark saw it, Lex tapped into those Doomsday abilities, and they were making him far more dangerous. They were making him far more hostile, and very much more feral. All Clark needed to do to hold on a little bit longer.

And hope the others were close to disarming Lex's bomb on the other end.

"Clark, three hundred kilometers North," Chloe whispered urgently in his ear piece.

"Understand."

* * *

Thea crouched down against the wall, the beads of sweat rolling down her face. HIVE drones surrounded her from all ends and Thea almost wished they would move. Karen, Diana, and Carol dropped down onto the ground on all sides.

Karen stopped and looked at the HIVE drones. The blonde waved a hand and listened. She could hear a heartbeat, a very faint one.

"He drew, the HIVE mind away," The HIVE Queen managed. "They are awaiting orders, but since he is preoccupied with his own rage, they won't attack. You need…..you need….you need."

The HIVE Queen's breathing intensified when she tried to tell the guests what they needed.

"The bomb, I'm working on it," Helena said.

"Do you think you can do it?" Karen asked.

Helena Wayne wiped a brow of sweat away from her face and picked ahead at the bomb.

"I've disarmed bombs in far less time than this," Helena said. "But I don't think I've ever disarmed a bomb far more complicated than this one."

Carol took a step forward. Most people would give Helena Wayne all of the space in the world. She wished the other two DEO members were there, but they were busy directing traffic at the facility down south.

"Maybe I can help you."

"Maybe she can help," Karen agreed.

Helena took a second to reconcile her thoughts and moved over to allow Carol to bend down. Diana, Karen, and Thea all stood into place to watch their backs. Not their backs really needed much watching, but when disarming an alien explosive device, you really were going to need all of the help you could get. Helena crouched down on the ground as did Carol.

"Well, I think we're going to have to dismember these tubes first because they're feeding the energy into the bomb," Carol said. "It might still make a really big boom."

"Disable the orange tube first, it will buy you some…time," The HIVE Queen responded.

Helena hesitated for just one second. She couldn't sure Lex wasn't feeding her information. Carol frowned.

"Actually, I was going to suggest the same thing. It does make a whole lot of sense to remove the orange tube first, before going to all of the other tubes. Then, I think the blue one, and then disengage the central circuit board."

Karen eyed the timer, they had about ninety seconds to go before the bomb was going.

Helena knew this had far more reaching consequences than the Scarecrow's latest attempt to gas all of Gotham City. She pushed her hand into the middle of the tube, thankfully the gloves of her costume would protect her.

The orange tube came out and Helena changed a glance at the timer. The timer slowed down to a crawl, although it was blinking.

"She's correct, it's blue next, and the backup power will cycle to that one," HIVE Queen managed. The further Lex got away, the more she was able to gain control of her own mine. "Red, green, and yellow are dummy tubes."

Helena knew she was right and it took both her and Carol as a tandem effort. She was glad the others were here to watch her back because this process would have been one which would give her far more problems if she didn't have some people to watch her back.

Time ticked up, and Thea held her arrow on one of the larger HIVE drones. She knew it didn't move, but still, it was very intimidating to stand here in front of it. He resembled a pretty grotesque and a pretty disturbing looking mannequin.

Now the blue tube clicked out of the circuit breaker. They only had one more thing left to do and they would be mostly home free. The central power grid and Helena reached into her belt.

"I think this requires a firm touch and not a sophisticated one."

Carol reached in. She had to disable a bomb almost like this on the same fleet which gave her powers. A few sparks flew out of the bomb, and she dropped it onto the ground. Everyone could finally feel free to breathe, at least they hoped.

"Okay, let's disengage the Kryptonite tanks and separate them," Helena said. "Then we'll work on disposal when Lex is good and done."

* * *

Luring a man who was obsessed with him was no trouble at all. Clark flew backward and Lex moved towards him. His skin had solidified into stone with glowing green bone spikes. The bone spikes ripped from his skin, almost like they had been lit upon with fire and bombarded towards Clark. Clark dodged the bone spikes before they ripped into his body.

"I will destroy you, Kal-El!"

"Destruction?" Clark asked. "Not the sophisticated scheme I expected from one of the world's foremost thinkers. Then again, Doomsday is in the driver's seat."

Lex could no longer hear Brainiac, the feral thoughts creeping into his mind drowned out that particular computer. He didn't really care though.

He saw a box which contained another minion, the Parasite. He would be perfect to both capture Clark and to drain that other Kryptonian.

"Master, please, free me!" the Parasite yelled.

"Those animals have caged you?" Lex asked. "You should fear not my faithful servant, for I will set you free!"

Lex rushed towards the cage containing Doomsday. The light around the monster flickered and caused Lex to stop, dropping onto the ground in confusion. He thought he had the creature, and hell, he thought there was a meteor mutant in his grasp.

' _You fool,'_ Brainiac's faint echo thought.

' _No, I thought one was here, I thought there was a meteor mutant here.'_

Lex turned around and saw Chloe Sullivan standing there. One of Clark's oldest friends, and also a perfect hostage, and he rushed towards her.

He stopped short and sensed something else. Clark disappeared, but Lex sensed power, great power, power which he needed to have. The power to bring anything to his knees, but Chloe's weak, frail frame would not be able to sustain the power to it.

But, was she so weak and frail.

"Well, Chloe, you're full of surprises," Lex said.

"I'm glad to have bamboozled the great Lex Luthor," Chloe said.

Lex tried to snatch Chloe, only to receive a shot to the face and a large net made out of electrified wire wrapped around him. The net sliced into his skin and made him scream in response, agonizing and yelling at the top of the lungs.

Alex and Daisy stepped in.

' _Good thing we had a few upgrades put in after the encounter with Doomsday,'_ Alex thought. _'Good, be mad, it's just going to make you more careless.'_

Daisy raised her hand the second Doomslex broke free and rushed towards her. She unearthed the ground and flipped the man over like a particular grotesque car. Doomsday rolled over onto his hands and knees. Daisy raised her hand and slammed it into Lex one more time.

Lex ripped a post out of the ground and tried to run it through Daisy. Clark moved in front of him to block the fence post, and hoist Lex off of the ground. Lex flew head over heels and crashed down onto the ground.

A jab to the side of Lex's neck stunned him.

"My newest servant, listen to me," Lex said. "Why isn't it working?"

"Performance issues, Lex?" Chloe asked smugly. "Clark never has that problem."

Lex howled in agony and rushed towards Chloe. If he couldn't have her, he was obviously going to kill her. His single-minded, blind, unstoppable rage left him in position for Clark, and Clark to take him down to the ground. Lex flipped over to the ground and landed with a thud. Clark grabbed Lex's arm and pushed it back until the arm cracked.

Suddenly, the spikes retracted from Lex's back, and his skin turned normal. The power retreated within Lex and caused stress on his organs. He flared up and nothing throbbed even more than the back of his head.

Something ripped through the back of his head. It was a circuit board which contained Brainiac, or what has left him on Earth. Daisy raised her hand and nailed him with a shockwave which disrupted the circuits in the blast, and sent an EMP to destroy it.

Lex dropped to the ground, stunned and unable to believe it. It was so beautiful, it should have worked. It should have worked. He had the cusp of power. He pulled himself to the ground.

BANG, BANG!"

Tess fired two shots into the back of Lex's head and he slumped to the ground like a puppet with his strings cut.

"After he killed me in the last timeline, that felt good," Tess said.

* * *

The catatonic, but miraculously still alive Lex, laid in the middle of a room, hooked to millions of dollar's worth of medical equipment. Tess paced over and looked at the readings. She had to give it to Lex, she really did intend to kill him.

The medical equipment was to keep him from waking up, and not from dying. She studied enough of Lex's biology to realize there was a chance he could come back to life. And she wasn't taking any chances that any lingering traces of Doomsday DNA would come back to bite her in the ass.

She turned around and faced Clark who had been standing on the edge of the room. Clark was still uncomfortable about the entire killing thing, and Tess didn't relish the necessity of doing so either. There was a necessity as well.

"He's still alive?"

Tess couldn't understood if Clark was exasperated, relieved, or both. Shooting Lex right in front of Clark might make things awkward for a while, but Tess had to do, what she had to do and what she had to do was make sure her brother didn't live to haunt another day.

"You sound surprised, or are you upset?"

Clark took a second to look at the monitors showing brain activity. There was no brain activity. Lex did pride himself on intelligence and it was almost intelligent.

"The bullets didn't lobotomize him, Brainiac trying to inject himself out of his skull did that," Tess responded. "Speaking of which, you have the piece of Brainiac, secured at the Fortress, don't you?"

Clark responded with a nod.

"Indigo despises that piece of obsolete, outdated technology, and she's doing what she can to track down the other pieces of Brainiac," Tess said. "Don't tell her I told her this, but for such an obsolete, outdated piece of technology, Brainiac is doing a pretty good job at keeping ahead."

Clark smiled, he was confident Indigo would do the best at what she could.

"He's still not dead. Did you have second thoughts and save him?"

"Do you want me to lie to you and say I had an attack of conscience regarding him?"

The longest, most pregnant pause possible followed. Clark took a second to regard Tess and her words before he responded with a flat 'no'.

"I actually have some readings I want to look at in the Fortress later, "Tess said. "I know you're busy though, so I won't push the issue, with Kandor being back and everything….."

She trailed off suddenly. She wondered how the progress was going to the restoration of Kandor. They had been searching for it for months. Now the orb had been back at the Fortress, and now they would have it.

"Astra, Raya, and my mother are working on it," Clark said. "They mentioned something about trying to isolate only the most essential components of the orb."

Tess knew what they were talking about, and well they might have to expand the Fortress. Thankfully, the Arctic was large enough to be expanded.

The two of them stood in silence, just waiting for the other to break the silence. Clark chanced a glance to Lex who was still not moving.

"Do you think he'll find a way to wake up?"

Tess sighed and looked in on the scans. Brain activity was down. Vital activities were very minimal as well. She could pull the plug, but she couldn't until she was certain any trace of Doomsday's DNA had been scrubbed from Lex's body.

The last thing she needed was a feral monster they needed to deal with. They sent the real Doomsday off to a world where he could do no lasting damage.

"I'm going to take every step possible to ensure he doesn't," Tess responded. "You shouldn't worry, I know what I'm doing."

"I know, you know what you're doing," Clark answered in response. "It's just….well, you know….."

The redhead squeezed the hand of her lover, leaned in and kissed him on the lips in understanding.

"It does seem like, despite your best efforts, you're intertwined forever. I get this, and I understand this, you better believe it."

Now, it was up to Tess to prevent Lex from waking up from his eternal slumber, and maintain the slumber he had would remain eternal forever, and a day.

"So, what about HIVE?" Clark asked.

"I have the HIVE Queen," Tess said. "She was able to throw off of Lex's mind control. It wasn't as effect as Chloe did, but she managed to do it, somewhat. She could be a valuable mind to help us out, providing she learns her place. And learns she's now only a drone."

Clark got the implication Tess was planning to overtake HIVE, and amass its resources, but maybe it was just him.

* * *

Kandor had been the culmination of much hard work. Astra looked at the orb which had been set down on the lab table, where Raya and Lara helped her go over it. The three brilliant minds were trying to figure out how to extract the most valuable elements of it.

"Give Jor-El credit for once in his life," Astra said. "He was savvy enough to treat the orb with Blue Kryptonite, so when they had been cloned, they would be cloned without the ability to perform powers."

"Still," Raya said. "Even Jor-El knew it was highly possible for them to obtain their powers. They would need the blood of a Kryptonian who had spent time empowered underneath Earth's yellow sun."

"We have a few of those," Lara said.

Lara could not believe it was finally happening. They would need to prepare the new Kryptonians on Earth. The DNA sequences had been extracted one by one. Astra pushed a button whether to keep each DNA cluster. The flashing lights of the Fortress.

"We have the DNA isolated as necessary, and we will dispose of the DNA which we don't need for this process," Indigo said. "I have run a simulation, and I think the most probable result will be most favorable indeed."

"So, we're good to go?" Lara asked.

"To put it in simpler terms, yes, we're good to go," Indigo said.

"Good."

Astra pressed a couple of buttons and prepared the extraction process. All of the variables had been isolated, and she knew who she wanted to get out of the orb first. She had not been put into the orb, which was fine. One of her was enough.

A figure extracted from the orb which looked like a slightly younger version of Astra. She dropped to the ground. Astra smiled when she watched her fully formed progression on the ground.

"Welcome back, Alura."

* * *

 **To Be Continued to Be Continued on August 6** **th** **, 2017.**


	49. Chapter 49

**Chapter Forty-Nine: The Main Man Comes to Town Part One.**

* * *

Time passed very quickly for many people, and it passed as fast as ever for one Clark Kent, known as Kal-El of Krypton. Clark went over the past few months in his head. It just seemed like yesterday he, with a lot of help from his friends, took down Lex after merging with HIVE technology and Brainiac. Lex currently rested deep underground in a catatonic state, his mental processes completely damaged. It seemed very unlikely he was going to recover anytime soon.

Clark had gotten a surprisingly lengthy reprieve from the chaos which went on in his life and in Smallville. There was a rogue meteor mutant here and there, a couple of fires he needed to put out, but for the most part, there was nothing threatening. At least, there was nothing which he could not handle very quickly.

Just because the last couple of months were very silent, it did not mean Clark had not been able to slack on his training. He stepped to the starting line of a course. In fact, he was the first one to do a test run of this particular course after it had been reconstructed on Earth, with the help of Astra and Lara. Clark felt privileged, just by a little bit, seeing what they had in store.

"It's developed to help train the Kandorian military," Astra explained. "It's one of the most rigorous courses they have gone through, although it is not the most rigorous course possible."

Unfortunately, Astra had some limitations setting up such a course here on Earth. She would have to use her imagination to get things done. It was a good thing she had such a vast and endless amount of imagination, otherwise, there would have been some problems.

Regardless, Clark stood at the starting line. She smiled, he was willing to learn, willing to expand, willing to test himself. She never thought the son of Jor-El would be the more physical type, built for battle. Hell, historically speaking, the House of El was geared towards thought and science, not towards battle. Astra thought Clark adapted well.

If he was going to break the mold than Astra was not going to fault him. She reminded herself she destroyed all expectations in her family. Alura became a respected science, while Astra went off to join the Kryptonian Military. It was something her parents did not appreciate too much, which was a shame. It was even more of a shame Astra did this for her, and not for them.

She turned to Lara, who finished calibrating a few of the components.

"So, Kal, I'm ready when you are," Lara said. "This is just a test, so don't think too hard on yourself, if you fail."

Lara figured, if she knew her son, he was going to put the best foot possible forward. This was a course which tripped up many seasoned people. People who entered basic training through the military, and perhaps thought they were more cut out for this type of activity than they really were.

"I'm ready," Clark said firmly.

"Very well, then let's do it."

A solo crystal pressed in and opened the gates. Clark stepped in, dressed in a newly modified version of his uniform. It was a darker blue, with the family crest, the symbol of the House of El imposed on it. He wore a red cape which flowed over his shoulders. Clark put his hands off to the side, took a long, deep, and casual breath. He knew this could be done, so it was time to do it.

Off went Clark, and the second he entered, the first of what he was certain was many pratfalls entered him. Red mist caused Clark to turn around. He would have been standing upside down, had he walked through this one. However, he was now flying upside down and flying at an awkward angle. He also could barely see what awaited in front of him.

Clark recalled his training. It was times like this where he should slow down, take a deep breath. Do not allow his surroundings to overwhelm him. Clark took these deep breaths, which got a little bit deeper the further on in he went. The young Kryptonian male flew as fast as he could. He veered off to one side, resembling a cork more than a human being, or indeed a Kryptonian.

A long moment passed, and Clark passed directly through the mist. He dropped down onto the ground, and he noticed the treacherous hills right in front of him. Parts of the rock looked like they were crumbling behind him.

Much to his surprise, the air seemed a bit too thin. He could not jump up and fly over the rocks. Therefore, Clark had to follow an alternate pathway up to the rocks. He took a deep breath and thought in his mind.

' _Okay, I can do this.'_

Clark jumped up to one of the rocks. The rock almost slid down underneath him when he made his way up to the rock. Clark listened closely for the rocks, so they did not shatter underneath him. He gently trampled on all of the rocks, and it was only one time where he almost plummeted to his doom.

He made his way up to the top of the mountain and crossed a rickety bridge. Clark learned very soon not to simply fly over the holes for molten hot lava shot over them. His heart raced, it was both very exciting and very nerve racking to try and cross over this bridge. Somehow though, Clark did it. Somehow, he made it to the other side of the bridge, for better or for worse.

Clark made his way to the endless field and noticed the field had a liquid at the bottom which he could sink in. Since it was only a simulation, he would not die, at least, he assumed he would not die. Still, it would mean he failed the simulation. His only way out was through a pathway of rings, through varying sizes and also they were moving. Some of them swooped up and some of them came down.

' _So, I have to fly through rings.'_

Astra mentioned she made a couple of modifications through the course. She figured the Kandorians would have to jump through them, and there was really no margin of error.

Astra and Lara watched the scene unfold. Clark was now coming to the part which tripped most new recruits up when they had gone through it. Astra took one look at it and smiled.

"He's doing only slightly worse than I did during my first run-through," Astra said.

"But, you did achieve even more in the future."

Astra slowly turned around and came face to face with her sister, who technically was her younger sister. Alura, looked like she had been observing the situation as it took place. Astra waved her sister over and smiled.

"How are you adjusting to your younger body?" Lara asked.

"It was a bit of a shock to learn Krypton is dead, and everything has changed," Alura said. "It's a wonder you had not entered the cloning process as well, Astra."

Astra shook her head. "I think we can both agree the last thing the universe needs, is a second version of me running around."

Alura smiled, her sister's blunt humor was right on point, as it was right on point many times. She observed her nephew moving through the rings. She always thought this was a very curious way. The people who designed this course were very cruel, and the rings seemed endless, especially on multiple levels.

The one person Alura thought to get information from, said it was to teach patience, focus, and the fact everything in life could not go smoothly as possible. Alura was going to take this person's word for it. It was true though, you needed a lot of patience to navigate these rings.

It had also been a long past couple of months. Her younger self-help repair her older self's artificial intelligence construct, and the artificial intelligence downloaded older Alura's mind into younger Alura's body. It had been the best of both worlds.

"And he's finally almost done."

Another couple of minutes passed, as Alura and Astra leaned forward, in an attempt to clock Clark's progress. Clark zipped through the exit ring and landed in the middle. His clothes were slightly tattered, with a couple of burn marks.

"Kal-El, the idea is not to hit the rings when you leap through them," Astra said. "If you were not super powered, it would have been a lot worse off."

"Yes, I gathered about as much," Clark responded, shaking his head. "So, how did I do?"

"If you must really ask that question, then there's room for improvement," Astra said. "Still, I'll say, you did no worse than most of the new recruits. In fact, the only new recruits you failed to beat were myself, Zod, and Faora."

Clark smiled, if that didn't put him in some good company, he did not know what would. Some time ago he would not have gotten even close to accomplishing what he did. Now times had changed.

"Well, I missed most of it, but if you made it through that course without wanting to kill something, then you're a lot more patient than I was."

Clark smiled when he saw the beautiful blonde haired woman approaching him in the Fortress. Her radiant smile lit up the entire room when she approached.

"Kara, you're back."

Kara In-Ze, known as Karen Starr just like Kal-El was known as Clark Kent, smiled, and she moved forward, to engulf her cousin in a heated embrace. An even more heated kiss followed that extremely heated embrace, with Clark grabbing onto the back of Karen's head and kissing her intensely.

Alura shook her head at the not so subtle actions of her niece, who she raised as a daughter given how much time Astra spent away with various military operations. Zor-El only approved of it, given Alura remained quiet about his various not so ethical operations with the mining.

"Yeah, sorry it took me so long," Karen said. "I was helping baby Kara go through a couple of things with her powers. She wants to do something to help. I guess it runs in our bloodline, it's hard to accept."

"It's time for us to go," Astra said. "To check up on the Kandorians, to see how they're doing. How they're reacting to life on Earth."

"Well, we have the entire Fortress to ourselves," Karen said, smiling. "Is Raya already there to meet you?"

"Yes, she is," Lara said. "She's helping replicate as much of Krypton. New Kandor isn't that far from the Fortress…..although if the humans ever discover there's a city of super powered aliens, I shudder to think how they're going to react."

"Well, they don't have their powers yet," Alura said. "And they may never, between the Blue Kryptonite and the Red Solar Radiation Jor-El used on the orb."

Alura's AI knew of the way to restore the powers, but she decided not to go there. She much preferred the challenge of dealing with life on a new planet, without the burden of super powers. She might have been very odd like that, but that was just how Alura liked to handle things.

The moment, Alura, Astra, and Lara moved off, Karen dragged Clark off by the arm to their bedchambers. She threw him down onto the bed and smiled when standing over him with a grin.

"You surveyed the entirely frustrating course of rings,'" Karen said. "I think this is a cause for celebration, wouldn't you think?"

Clark would have to agree. The older Kara joined him on the bed, their lips wrapped up in a kiss immediately. Kara's legs found themselves wrapped around Clark's waist, and their hands started to crumple each other's clothes, just in an attempt to remove them.

Kara closed her eyes, feeling Clark's hands part her legs, and go for the treasure underneath.

* * *

One finger slipped underneath Karen's skirt. Clark looked towards her, with a frown.

"No panties."

Karen smiled at him. His fingers touched her dripping slit and caused her breathing to increase, to escalate even.

"Yeah, none at all," Karen said. "You didn't think I was going to come here after all this time away, and not jump you, did you?"

He returned with an equally prominent smile. His fingers touched the edge of Karen's slit and caused her hips to rise up off of the bed she was on. He moved in to tear off her shirt. Her round, supple breasts had been contained in a bra. The energy from the yellow solar radiation left them nice, firm, and round. Clark pushed his fingers inside of her while going for her chest.

"Clark, oh Rao!" Karen moaned.

Her lover attacked Karen's chest without any pause. His mouth slowly lavished a path over the edge of nipples. One small suck of them spiked Karen's hormone levels. Her hips moved up to meet his intruding fingers. Clark pulled all the way out of her and slid deeper inside of her.

Clark loved the reaction of his lover to his fingers. Her mind and body spiked with heavy breathing. Clark was not going to back off, not in the slightest. He slowly pumped his way inside of her body. A second finger entered her and made Karen moan.

Time ticked down with Clark ramming his fingers deep inside of his lover's body. He also attacked her breasts, enjoying the moans coming from her when he nibbled on her eager nipples.

"You like that, don't you?" Clark asked.

"You seem a little….mmm…overdressed!"

Kara In-Ze's mind erupted in pleasure. Clark pushed his fingers deep inside of her core to stimulate her. Juices oozed to the surface. Clark pulled his fingers out of Karen and put them to her lips. Her fingers touched the edge of her lips.

Clark grew even harder in his pants when feeling Karen suckle on his fingers. Her talented mouth licked him, while her hands moved to undo his shirt and expose his sculpted upper body in the world.

Karen smiled, his already muscular frame had been even more prominent. She rolled her hands over Clark's chest and abs, feeling how firm he was. Her legs wrapped around him and flipped him over on the bed.

"Now, you're mine."

Slowly, Karen ground her sopping wet core on the other side of Clark's pants. The excitement began to build in the woman, to feel his bulge brush against her.

"I think your cock wants to be freed, doesn't it?"

Clark laid back, so he could let Karen have her fun for a moment. He knew his fun would be coming. She undid the bottom half of his pants and pulled his large cock out. Her blazing blue eyes followed Clark's cock when it extended like a steel pole up into the air.

Karen's lips parted, and she smacked them together. Hunger described what she felt. She needed this cock inside of her like no one's business. It had been a few weeks since she indulged in it, but that was more than long enough. Her hand wrapped around the base of his cock.

Her moist lips found the tip of his cock. Clark groaned when Karen slid down his pole, encasing her lips around the base and then came up to slurp on him. Each smack, each lick, each suck, each slurp, they grew in intensity. Karen lavished his cock, getting him nice and slippery.

When her fancy of sucking him off had passed, Karen moved into position and took her breasts, wrapping them around Clark. The base of his cock slid in between her breasts, disappearing within her cleavage. Her recent growth spurt had been obvious, both in height and in the mass of flesh in her chest.

Karen gripped the edge of Clark's thighs and allowed his thick rod to slip deep inside her immense cleavage. Karen's tongue brushed against the edge of Clark's head when bringing his cock deep inside of her cleavage.

"Kara, oh it feels so good!" Clark groaned.

The blonde smiled and leaned down against him. "Yes, Kal, it does feel so good…you know what would feel better? If you were inside my nice warm pussy when you were fucking me."

Clark's balls ached at her words. Karen slid away from him and moved over. She positioned her legs on either side of the bed. Her slit touched the tip of Clark's massive member. It did not intrude inside of her just yet. Karen leaned in, her chest bouncing when she rocked back and forth.

Seizing the hit, Clark took hold of Karen's breasts and gave them a squeeze. Her moan increased when grinding against his hard cock. It pushed against her entrance. Her pussy juices dripped against Clark's manhood and then it took just one more position to have him in position.

"I have you," Karen whispered hotly in his ear.

"Yes, you do," Clark said. "But, I have you just as much."

Clark gripped Karen's hips and she slammed herself down onto his hard cock. It entered her body with one fluid motion and spread her out.

The Kryptonian blonde shoved more of her body down onto Clark's very engorged and very swollen prick. She slid almost all the way down to the base, gripping Clark's engorged prick. She slowly pumped him with her insides, moving up and down on his base.

Karen rocked back on the bed, seeing Clark's hands move like a blur. They touched her bouncing chest. The blonde closed her eyes and started to bounce even further. Clark hit all of those pleasure points on her body. Karen's walls slid all the way down on him.

Clark could feel the burn, in more ways than one. She clenched and released Clark with each drop. Every time he entered her, it was a tighter squeeze. And speaking of a tight squeeze, Clark just had to grab hold of her round ass and squeeze it.

She moved all the way down on his pole. The Kryptonian survivor resembled a blur when she rode his cock. An orgasm spread through her body. Every inch of Karen's being was shot through pleasure. Her tight walls clamped down Clark's manhood and released him.

Karen bounced higher and higher on his manhood. Clark could feel her walls giving him a workout. She stretched over his love muscle and came all the way down. All Clark could do to response was grab onto her and drive his cock deep inside of her warm center.

"Mmm, that's the spot, right there!" Karen yelled at the top of her lungs.

She could feel Clark's engorged balls slap against her walls. It felt more than good, better than good as a matter of fact. Clark's hands clutched the side of Karen's hips and jammed inside of her.

"I have you, right where I want you now!" Clark yelled. "And there's nothing you can do about it, over than cum!"

Karen nodded, there was nothing she wanted to do other than cum. Her wet walls clamped down hard on Clark's intruding manhood. Her heart hammered several quick beats when sliding down onto his rod and then she released his hardening rod. She took his hard cock inside of her body.

"Yes!" Karen yelled. "There's nothing I want to do more than cum all over your big, strong, hard, thick, cock!"

She bounced even harder on Clark. Karen slid down to the base and lifted Clark off of the bed through the sheer strength of her vaginal muscles. She dropped down onto the bed. Karen's pussy dropped down onto him.

Time passed when Karen's continuous riding of his throbbing hard prick. She could feel the burn, of it, stretching inside of her body. Clark grabbed Karen's chest and squeezed it. This only caused her to moan even more.

"I'm getting close," Clark groaned.

"So, am I!" Karen yelled. "Together?"

Clark was down with that one. The familiar sensation of her tight pussy clamped down on him and started to milk his rod. His balls finally gave in to pressure and shot their immense load inside of her body. He released his tension inside of Karen's body.

Karen closed her eyes and felt his cum splatter inside of her body. She tightened around him and ensured every single last drop of burning seed entered her body. Karen refused to let a drop go to waste.

Both shuddered to a stop. Without another word, Karen pulled away from Clark and released his cock. She turned around on the bed and dropped down to her hands and knees to present herself for Clark. It was time for round two.

It did not take much to get Clark hard around her. Clark held his hands around her hips and slammed deep inside of her body. Karen clutched onto the bed sheets with Clark drilling inside of her with a quickening barrage of hard and fast thrusts. Her moaning showed Clark how much she enjoyed this.

* * *

Several intense rounds of love making later, Karen dropped her head onto Clark's neck. Clark and Karen, Kara and Kal, it did not matter, because the bond they shared was rather intense. Clark wrapped his hand around her waist when she snuggled his head.

"Is it just me, or have things been a bit too quiet?" Clark asked.

"Hey, we have more than enough to deal with, with preparing an entire group of Kandorians for life on Earth," Karen said. "Some have taken to it better than others."

She remembered her first awkward steps on Earth, in the original timeline. Boy, was it a challenge to be perfectly honest. Kara adapted though, went to the future, and adopted the name, Karen Starr as her alias, her mask, to further mingle with the humans.

Now, she returned to help Clark, and things were shaping up to be greater than ever. Having an entire army of Kandorian women extracted from the orb, that would prove to be interesting.

* * *

The universe was full of many fascinating individuals, creatures who had intelligence which was beyond the measure of what humans considered to be possible. Surely, there were many sophisticated creatures, who the people throughout the universe could learn a fair amount from during their studies.

A large, hulking figure dressed in biker gear on a flying bike, with a greasy black mullet, stopped at the edge of Earth's atmosphere, and let out a large belch.

Then, there was this man, Lobo, the Main Man, one of the most feared bounty hunters in the known galaxies. He was the best in the world at what he did, and what he did was hunt scumbags down for cash. Now, he was hunting this particular scumbag who had managed to acquire a significant price on his head.

He arrived outside of the third planet from this galaxy's yellow sun and checked his information. The sheet described a man who had been wanted in eight different galaxies, and on over thirty different planets. It would have been something which would not have caught Lobo's attention, only this particular piece of scum pissed off the bird men of Thanagar by stealing a priceless artifact.

This particular priceless artifact caused them to put a bounty on the man's head, and that was when Lobo cashed in. The Main Man gave a very toothy grin, but he made his way down on the bike through the very thick layer of pollution on the planet Earth.

"What a dive," Lobo growled. "The air's noxious…..think I might have to get a place where I can crash here."

Lobo tracked his mark, who he lost somewhere around Uranus. He chuckled at the unfortunate name of that particular planet. No matter what the universe was, that joke, it never ceased to be funny. Regardless, it was no more time for monkey business. No, the Main Man, he was strictly business.

He flew in, moving at the speed of light on his prized ride. He stopped at a sign which read "Smallville: Meteor Capital of the World." Lobo's tracker went off, and he parked his bike outside of the club.

A particularly surly human stood in front of Lobo.

"Hey, you're not on the list."

"Really, I'm not on the list?" Lobo asked. "Then, let me make a correction!"

Lobo grabbed the bouncer by the throat and hurled him down to the ground. He crashed head first onto the ground where his body landed. Lobo pulled out two guns from behind his back and looked at it.

"Think it might be a bit overkill."

The Main Man put the two guns behind his back, before removing a large honking bazooka from behind his back. Lobo snarled, looking pretty pleased with himself.

"There, that's more like it," Lobo said.

Lobo stepped in the front of the bar and blew the doors open. The Main Man entered the bar, bazooka at the ready. He looked around and looked around.

"Hey, Quintox!" Lobo yelled. "I'm here to cash in on you. So why don't you come out and face me like a man, you little pipsqueak!"

A bar fight started after Lobo entered as the patrons used this as a chance to settle their differences with themselves. Normally, this would be Lobo's idea of a party, but he had to stay on point.

' _There's the little shit.'_

Lobo gave chance to the man who ran out the door. He would not be getting away this easily, not if Lobo could help it.

* * *

Looking for weirdness was just something ingrained in the mind of one Chloe Sullivan ever since she lived in Smallville. If she could find the weirdness than she could assist Clark, find the things before they become the threat. She had been developing a small network of trustworthy people, who she knew would not bullshit her.

Lois sat on the bed, still dressed in her night shirt which extended down a small amount past her thighs. The brunette woman's frown deepened when she saw Chloe hunched over the computer. Her cousin got into this zone when working, it was almost scary to be perfectly honest.

"So, did you find anything?" Lois asked.

"No, not yet," Chloe admitted. "Wait, here's something."

"Is it something weird?" Lois asked.

"It wouldn't have caught my attention if it wasn't weird," Chloe said. "Let's see, some large hulking biker with white skin, dressed like a biker, has a greasy mullet, just dropped from the sky."

"Wow, is that one of…the meteor mutant people?" Lois asked.

Lois would be lying if the oddness in Smallville was something she could wrap her head around. There had been many times in the past where she tried to convince herself Smallville was just this quaint little town out in the middle of nowhere. Every moment that passed though, Lois realized Smallville was far from normal.

"I don't think it is," Chloe said. "The Smallville Special Meteor Mutant Defense unit, they got smacked down when they tried to engage him. He's carrying a large Bazooka, and a couple of other guns, if these eyewitness reports are like."

"Are you kidding me?" Lois asked. "Wow, that's a fine use of our tax dollars at work, isn't it?"

Chloe didn't say anything. Drastic times called for drastic measures. She activated her signal watch and knew Clark would come in a blink of an eye.

' _And here is, faster than a speeding bullet.'_

She managed to secure the papers on her desk.

"So, we've got something interesting," Chloe said. "I'm not sure if it's the good kind of interesting, the bad kind of interesting, or something else, but we're dealing with something very dangerous."

"Whatever it is, I can handle it," Clark said.

"There's this large, bruising figure, looks like a biker, pale skin, with a greasy mullet, thick as a brick wall by the reports," Chloe said. She punched up more information on the computer. "He has a nasty, rude, temperament. A foul stench if what this guy is saying is right."

Clark frowned, and he read some more of the eyewitness reports.

"That almost sounds like a Czarnian," Clark said. "But, that's impossible, their planet blew up ages ago."

"Well, your planet blew up, and you're here," Chloe said.

And Clark shook his head in response. Chloe nailed him full on with a logic bomb he could not discount.

"He's been sighted, going South," Chloe said.

If this guy, if he was a Czarnian or something else, was going South, then Clark had to go south. He adjusted the ear piece to make sure he was in constant contact with Chloe on his way.

* * *

Quntox didn't know how this went south. He had been a small time smuggler, trafficking in rare and stolen goods. Sure, he made his share of enemies, but it was just simple stuff. He didn't ask questions, as long as he got paid. Then, Quintox got involved in this particular mess. He had stolen a big time weapon for a big time arm's dealer.

The weapon turned out to be something Thangar developed for their latest war. The Hawkmen were not pleased with this particular development and the next thing he knew, Lobo, the last man someone of Quintox's nominal work output, wanted his attention towards him.

"Alright, you punk, you're not getting out. You might have given me the slip back at Uranus, but you're not going to get any further. So, come quietly, and I might not slap you around as much."

Quintox thought the race had been run. He would much rather deal with the Thangarians than Lobo. He turned around and saw the large man move towards him.

"Alright, just step forward," Lobo said. "Any tricks, and I'll nail you so hard, even your mother won't know who you are."

"Alright, freeze!"

Several members of the DEO turned up on the scene and made their way towards Lobo. Daisy and Alex were in the front of the charge. Quintox's eyes widened and he ran in their general direction.

"Please, please, lock me up, throw away the key, dissect me in some lab!" Quintox yelled. "Whatever you humans do to aliens, just please, don't….let me anywhere near that madman. I don't know where he's been, but he's pretty nasty."

Alex and Daisy exchanged a look. Both of the girls wondered what the hell was going on. They knew of Lobo, it was hard not to learn of him through the various aliens they dealt with.

Lobo walked over towards Alex and Daisy and gave them one look over.

"Hello, ladies!"

"Okay, fire!" Daisy yelled.

The members of the DEO with Alex and Daisy fired on Lobo. Their rounds, made to drop even the toughest alien, did not have much of any effect. Lobo gave a loud, rumbling laugh when staring them down. His gaze continued to grow even more in prominence when looking at them.

"Ha, tickles," Lobo said.

"Keep firing!" Daisy yelled.

"Alright, listen up," Lobo said. "You caught me in a good mood, so we're going to make you a deal. Step away from the dweeb, let me pick him up, get my bounty, and you'll all have a hell of a story when you go to the bar for an after work drink….do humans do that?"

Daisy was getting sick of Lobo, and his foul breath.

"Everyone stand clear."

"What are you going to do, Toots?" Lobo asked.

Daisy raised her hand and vibrated Lobo off of the ground. The Main Man flung up into the ground and landed with a sickening thud.

Lobo rolled over onto his back, and Daisy used her powers to pin him face first onto the ground. The Main Man dug into the ground and hurled a large chunk of rock out towards Daisy. He came just mere inches from taking her head off from that one.

"Alright, alright," Lobo said. "Play time's over…..I like a girl who plays a bit rough as much as the next guy. In fact, I like a girl who plays rough, even more than the next guy."

Lobo rolled over and whistled. His bike flew over and caused the DEO agents to scatter back. The Main Man reached over and picked up a large gun from the bike. It resembled a flame thrower more than a gun.

"Alright, clear, now!"

Lobo fired the gun and flames shot onto the ground. The members of the DEO backed up. A nasty grin went over Lobo's face, going from ear to ear. The Main Man stepped forward.

"I'm done asking nice, Quintox!" Lobo yelled. "I get paid more if you're alive, but you can still be alive and a bit crispy, can't you?"

A blur shot up on the other side of Lobo and caught him with an uppercut punch. Lobo flipped over and smashed into the ground.

"Could someone get the number of the ship that ran me over," Lobo grumbled.

A figure dressed in blue with a flowing red cape dropped down. Lobo looked up and immediately, he knew what he was up against.

"Kryptonian, get the frag out!"

"So, you are a Czarian."

"Yeah, the one and only," Lobo said. "Nuked the rest of my planet…."

Story time would have to be over when the Kryptonian plucked the main man off of the ground and hurled him halfway across the field. Lobo dropped down to the ground and rolled over.

"Okay, we got off on the wrong foot," Lobo said. "Look, I'll level with you. I just want that little twerp, Quintox, and I'll leave your scummy little backwater alone. Can't believe a Kryptonian would call a dump like this home, but, hey, who am I to judge?"

Lobo put a hand on Clark's shoulder.

"So, we don't have a problem, do we, scout?"

Clark slapped Lobo's hand away.

"If you're putting people in danger, then you have a huge problem," Clark said.

"Fine, you want to go, let's go!" Lobo yelled. "Come at me, Fly Boy! I'm going to make you wish you were on your planet when it blew up!"

* * *

 **To Be Continued on August 13** **th** **, 2017.**


	50. Chapter 50

Feel free to vote in the latest chapter of the week voting. Head to the Page of Important Links on the Profile Page. and scroll down to the Year Two Week Thirty-Two Chapter of the Week Voting.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifty: The Main Man Comes to Town Part Two**

* * *

Clark rushed the large uncouth alien survivor and nailed him with a huge uppercut punch straight to the face. Lobo flipped head over heels and landed onto the ground with a solid thud. The Kryptonian survivor rushed Lobo with a full head of steam and knocked him for a loop with a tremendous spear which put Lobo directly onto his back. The Main Man rolled over onto the ground, coughing, and turned his attention towards the man.

Another charge towards Lobo and Lobo had been nailed with an uppercut punch which caught him on the side of the neck. Another couple of uppercut punches rocked Lobo and resulted in him bending at the knees. The Main Man's breathing increased before Clark hoisted him up off of the ground and knocked him back several feet causing him to land in the middle of the field, mostly away from civilization.

Lobo dropped down, the Kryptonian had been throwing him around like a sack of garbage. Granted, this had been how most of his dates ever ended, but this Kryptonian was not his type to be perfectly honest. Lobo pulled himself up on the ground and looked towards the flying man who rushed towards him. Lobo evaded the swinging punch one more time, did a tuck and roll and whistled.

Clark looked up jump in time to see Lobo's ride flying through him at full force. It started blasting lasers from the handle bars in an attempt to take Clark out. Clark avoided the bars from attacking him.

Bang! Lobo thumped Clark down across the back of the head with a punch. The Main Man lifted Clark over the top of his head and hurled him down to the ground. Lobo jumped onto his bike and reached into the side car. He pulled up a grenade, armed it, and tossed it at Clark's head. Clark threw himself down onto the ground to avoid the grenade from blowing himself up.

"Are you insane?" Clark demanded.

Lobo now had a miniature rocket launcher and fired it at Clark. The rocket missed Clark and nailed a tree hard. The Kryptonian drew in a breath and also smelled the decay in the air around him. His watering eyes showed how much of a problem he was now in. Those widened eyes of Lobo locked onto him, with a sadistic grin forming on the face of the Main Man.

"Nah, I'm not the one who is insane," Lobo said. "You're the one who got in another man's way when collecting a bounty."

"Innocent people were at risk," Clark said.

Lobo jumped down to fire at Clark one more time. He dodged the rocket blast one more time. Clark blocked Lobo's arm and the two aliens scrapped for a minute. Lobo caught him down across the back of the neck and dropped Clark to the ground. Clark whipped back and Lobo pressed his hands against the neck of the young man, forcing him to the ground.

"Yeah, well they wouldn't be in much danger if they just stayed out of my way," Lobo growled. "That's the thing, you stay out of the way, and you don't get hurt. Seems simple enough, doesn't it? Why do more people not do it? I don't know, do you, kid?"

Clark came in from underneath Lobo and knocked him back a couple of inches. Lobo ripped a huge chain off of his bike, wrapped it around his huge hand, and motioned for Clark to come at him. So Clark did, flying at Lobo at the speed of light. Lobo blocked Clark's face with his fist and knocked him back a couple of feet. Both of them engaged each other in battle.

"It's no wonder you're the last of them," Clark said.

"Hey, no need to get all high and mighty on me, pal," Lobo said. "And there's no need to give them any more credit. That was all on me. I nuked my planet for a science project."

Clark and Lobo battled with each other, both of them trading punches which resounded. Clark managed to sweep the Main Ma's legs out from underneath him.

"Gave myself an A!"

"You're not helping with the insanity thing!" Clark yelled. "You committed genocide and you're amused by it!"

"Hey, hey, hey, settle down fly boy," Lobo responded. "If you asked me, and I know you kind of didn't, but if you did, you would realize I was doing you a favor. A bunch of assholes, with no sense of personal hygiene or etiquette at all."

Lobo belched loudly in Clark's face, which caused the young man to stagger back a couple of inches. Lobo's teeth curled into a very devious grin when he looked at him.

"Really, did the people a huge favor."

Both Lobo and Clark went at it with each other again. Both of them traded huge cannon ball like punches. Clark finally gripped Lobo and took him up into the air. His arm wrapped around Lobo's neck and pushed him down onto the ground hard.

Lobo rolled over and tried to whistle his bike over. Only this time, Clark grabbed it and stopped its progress much to Lobo's very obvious chagrin.

"Hey, hey, hey! "Lobo yelled. "Hands off the Hog!"

Lobo whistled one more time and a blast of purple fire shot out of the motor cycle and caused him to fly head over heels. Lobo took the biker chain and walked over Clark to prepare a serious hurting to the young man lying on the ground beneath him.

A bright light appeared in the sky above them and sucked them both into oblivion. Lobo and Clark were both caught off guard.

* * *

Lara had been drawn away from her monitoring of the progress of the people of New Krypton by a strange flux of energy. She heard of the arrival of the Czarnian. The planet's demise was not even a blip on the radar, given the overall brutish nature of the people of this particular planet. Nothing of value had been lost.

Once one arrived on Earth, she knew Kal could have handled it one hundred percent of the way. The only problem was everything did not go completely, one hundred percent as planned, and now Lara lost touch with her son.

"Kara, could you go out to Kal's last known source, please?" Lara asked.

"Right," Karen responded. "I'll be there in a minute."

Lara, from her position, tried to piece together an explanation of what happened, at least the best she could. She just had one of those sinking feelings there was a really weird explanation for all of what happened. She just had a feeling, twisting in the pit of her gut that something was in fact very much entirely wrong. She could not figure it out off hand, it was just one of those feelings she had.

An incoming signal from the DEO had caused Lara to lean back a fraction of an inch. She had given Daisy and Alex access to the Fortress communications, given their potential future role in Kal's life. However, Lara stressed to both of the girls only to call the Fortress in the case of a dire emergency.

' _Which, I'm guessing this is now. A dire emergency.'_

Lara pressed a button inside of the Fortress and waited for the answer.

"Alex? Daisy?" Lara asked.

"We saw it with our eyes," Daisy said. "Clark, he vanished right out in the middle of the field when he was throwing down punches with that Lobo guy."

"Yeah, just when he was about ready to smack Lobo one too."

Lara could only smile at Alex's passionate words regarding Clark's chance for success. She hoped her son would have taken down this Lobo character as well, even though it seemed to be easier said than done.

"Are you saying my son and the Czarnian vanished?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, we were about ready to head over to their location to make sure there were no civilians to evacuation," Daisy reported. "We saw the fight, brutal by the way."

Lara hoped the brutality had been more inflicted by her son than inflicted on her son. Regardless she patiently waited for both Alex and Daisy to finish what they were saying.

"Then, suddenly, there's a blast of light," Alex said. "Just like that, Clark disappears, along with Lobo, and we don't even know. The DEO's on the ground now, but there's no scorch marks in the grass, nothing."

"Send me your coordinates."

Lara knew for obvious reasons there was not going to be anything picked up by human eyes or human invention through that field. She hoped the technology in the Fortress would have better luck pinpointing something. The moment Daisy fed her the coordinates, she accesses the satellites above the Earth.

The imagery of the field appeared, and Lara tried to heighten the sensitivity. It was very difficult to tell with all of the damage after the fight. Lara's frustration heightened when she looked over towards her.

"So, anything?"

Lara hated to have failed in finding something so crucial in her investigations, especially considering her son's life was at stake. She never once liked to fail, no matter what. Regardless, she could not deny undisputed proof when it laid out in front of her.

"Nothing," Lara said. "See what you can find on your end, and I'll see what I can find on my end."

"Right, I'll let you know," Daisy said.

There was both the worry of a mother who thought something happened to her son and also the worry of her adopted planet being destroyed. Lara tried to lock onto the energy signatures, but whoever was there, they did not waste much time standing around.

"I searched the area, there's nothing."

Lara just barely acknowledged her niece. She thought about bringing Alura and Astra back from New Krypton.

"So, what do you think happened?" Karen asked.

"I don't know," Lara said. "Go to New Krypton and bring Astra and Alura back for me. I'm going to need their expertise."

She already locked onto a strange energy signature around the area of Earth's Moon, but she could not be one hundred percent certain what it was. Lara hated to speculate on anything, especially something like this.

* * *

Lobo indulged himself in some of the most exotic drinks in the entire universe, but now, he felt like he had been flipped over and put back together the long way. He dropped down onto the ground. The Kryptonian dropped right next to him.

They were in the middle of some room, with no doors, no windows, and no obvious way out. Lobo looked towards him.

"Great, I go to Earth, to collect a bounty, and I wind up on some prison ship!" Lobo said. "And not to mention, I'm going to have to spend the rest of my life as a bunkmate for some self-righteous Kryptonian asshole!"

"Hey, I'm not too happy about it either," Clark said. "Instead of just sitting around, why don't we try to find a way out of here?"

"Sounds like a plan, champ," Lobo said. "You're the one with that big Kryptonian brain though? So you should be doing the thinking, and if we get out of there, I'll do the punching. Sound good?"

Clark didn't have any chance to argue. He just stood at the edge of the door, trying to figure out what he wanted to do, and how he wanted to get out of here. He knew these doors had to open somehow.

And if by magic, the doors opened and Clark's eyes widened.

"I don't like this," Clark said.

Lobo gave him one of those disgusted looks before shaking his head in response. "Hey, I don't know what the big deal is. Doors opened, what's the big deal? We can get out of here!"

The two of them walked down the hallway. Lobo took a step forward and saw through the door two large, ugly aliens, getting into a fight with each other. One of the aliens was just a bit bigger, and a bit meaner, pounding the other alien into submission with the use of a large metal ax. The alien dropped down to the ground, blood spurting out of the creature's head.

Then the man retracted a large bone spike from his foot and nailed him directly in the face. The brutality was savage, and Clark looked towards it with disgust, while Lobo looked towards it with awe.

"Gentlemen, good day."

Clark and Lobo turned around and saw a large hulking man dressed in purple with an ugly yellow face and red eyes. The man towered over both Clark and Lobo, who were both no small men.

"My name is Mongul," he said. "I'm the owner and promoter in this War World. And the two of you have been chosen to fight in today's games."

"Games?" Clark asked. "Is that what you're calling that display out there?"

The larger alien finally stopped beating the smaller one into absolute submission. Blood dripped from the rotting teeth of the large alien who stood over the smaller one.

"Good, old fashioned brutality is the source of entertainment and it's what the masses want," Mongul responded, his teeth curling into a nasty grin. "You always want to give the people what they want, because if you don't, they won't come back for a little bit more."

Mongul touched his finger and thumb together. Clark could see the battles in the arena.

"Hey, I see where you're coming from, big guy," Lobo said. "Good old fashioned violence, it's a nice way to spend the night, pounding the frag out of some poor chump who never saw it coming. Isn't that right, Fly Boy?"

Lobo smacked Clark on the shoulder and caused him to stagger a moment. The Main Man laughed, but then grew rather serious.

"But, you know, I've got a bounty to collect, and I've already put a lot of distance between myself and the twerp already thanks to this Boy Scout over here," Lobo said, jabbing Clark in the shoulder. "So, I'll be finding a way out, no need to hold my hand."

"You can't just expect us to fight in your games," Clark said.

"Oh, but I can," Mongul said. "You aren't the first person to try and deny me when I have invited them to fight in my games. Nor will you be the last. But, there's one thing you need to know. This War World is equipped with weapons far beyond your imagination. It can obliterate an entire planet in the time it takes to tie your shoelaces."

Clark was sickened by the thought of this.

"So, we can do this the easy way or we can do this the hard way," Mongul said. "You play my game, or Earth perishes."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, nuke the Fly Boy's new hang out if he doesn't play," Lobo said. "That might work good and well for him, but you're forgetting something. I'm not some chump boy scout who thinks Earth is all that and a bag of Tamarian crisps. And besides, no planet to blow up, fragrance!"

"Ah, Lobo, I wondered if you would hold that kind of attitude."

"Mongul, you should know all about my charming attitude by now," Lobo said, teeth curling into one of the more prominent grins possible. "And you should know, the Main Man doesn't play by your rules."

Mongul pushed a button and the image of Quintox appeared on the screen, in a prison cell.

"There's an interesting bounty on him," Mongul said. "So interesting, I'm going to have to turn him in myself and reap the rewards."

"Hey, listen up here, you butt ugly bastard!" Lobo yelled. "I put a lot of time into that one…"

"Or, I can hold him, and you can compete in my games!" Mongul said. "The choice is yours, Czarnian. What's it going to be?"

"Fine, you want to play, let's play," Lobo said. 'But when I take out whatever dweebs you threw in that arena at me, I'm gunning for you."

"I'd pay to see that," Mongul said.

"Oh, you'd pay alright," Lobo said. "You'd pay alright!"

"And I trust I know what the Kryptonians answer is going to be," Mongul said. "After all, their honor is amusing, if not a bit unsettling, with how they would hold affection to an obscure planet."

Clark nodded, not trusting himself to do anything else. He had no idea what this War World was all about, but it was very dangerous. He had been suckered into fighting these games, and he did not like it, he did not like it by a longshot. What choice did he have?

* * *

Lara parked herself in front of the computer at the Fortress. She now needed to know what they were going up against. Her obsession had been perfectly blunt. The gates opened and Alura and Astra made their way in. Alura moved over, and her mouth hung completely open the moment she stopped in front of the computer system.

"Is that, what I think it is?" Alura asked.

Astra looked up towards the blip of energy, along with the strange images flashing across the screen. "It almost looks like there's a War World hovering above the planet."

"That's what I thought as well," Lara said. "Which means, Kal has been selected to compete."

Astra's very audible groan showed precisely what she thought about this particular situation. She tried not to lose her mind over this, but she was very annoyed.

"Yes, the last male Kryptonian fighting atop of War World, to the death, would be the sick thing he could be into," Astra said. "Mongul, if he's still around, then he hasn't changed his tricks since Krypton died."

The trio of Kryptonian women had been joined by Raya and Karen. Their expertise would be welcomed. Astra's eyes glazed over when she hovered over the screen in an attempt to piece together a working theory.

"If he refuses to compete, Earth is forfeit," Astra said. "If he doesn't win, Earth is forfeit. Mongul always blows up the planets of the loser."

"We're aware of what that abomination does," Alura said. "Why haven't the Guardians of the Universe done anything about him yet?"

Astra could not help to give a very prominent scoff at the thought of the Guardians doing anything. Those glorified space elves spent too much time debating protocol, and not enough time actually doing anything which might help the people they claim to serve. Astra held no confidence they could help anyone, in any way whatsoever.

"We have a slight issue," Astra responded. "If our army was anywhere near ready, we would have a chance."

"The War World is the most dangerous weapon in the universe, and it has defenses which are just as dangerous as its offensive capabilities," Raya said. "It would take a miracle to even get onboard the ship."

"We don't need miracles, we don't do miracles, we need competence," Astra said. "And thankfully, we have the most brilliant mind Krypton ever produced at our disposal."

Astra turned towards the younger copy of her sister. Alura tried to look modest. Her sister did not do the compliments that often, so when she did, it was a very magical moment. Alura put her attention towards the War World.

"We're going to need help," Alura said.

"I know," Lara said. "And I know where we're going to have to get it as well."

Lara bit down on her lip and made contact with someone on the outside.

"Tess," Lara said. "We have a situation, Plan Seven needs to be executed."

"Well, that's not something I expected to happen, but….at the same time, we should have expected it," Tess said. Her voice sounded very solemn and very somber. "I'll make sure to get the necessary ready to execute Plan Seven."

"So, Plan Seven?" Karen asked.

"Yes," Astra said. "Hopefully, it's going to pay off…although, once we take care of Mongul and get him off of the War World, we should consider something. You know, it's very useful and it's…"

"Astra, no!" Alura said bluntly.

"But….."

"No!" Lara, Alura, and Karen all piped up in unison.

Astra sighed, it was just a suggestion, and she had been shut down rather cold in the process. Her arms shifted together a couple of seconds, but she decided to remain business as usual. Her gaze locked onto Alura who was hard at work on the computer.

"So, I think we might have a potential access point," Alura said. "Indigo, are you here?"

"Present. And it's good to see you again, Alura."

* * *

Mongul stepped out to address the blood thirsty patrons of War World. Everyone was getting very rowdy tonight, all of them pumping their fists into the air and screaming. They wanted blood, they wanted carnage, they wanted all of the benefits of War World.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to another day of games!" Mongul yelled. "Now that the preliminary competition has been over, and your bloodlust is warmed up, we can move forward. And we've got a special treat for you today. Here she is, the undisputed, the undefeated champion of the games. You know her as the one, the only, Big Barda!"

A woman standing close to seven feet tall stepped into the arena. She walked past the cheering crowd, dressed in a black top, and a pair of short black shorts. She stepped into the arena with nothing other than her bare hands as a weapon.

"Damn, what a number," Lobo said, whistling from the side.

"Yeah, well one of you two are going to fight her next," one of the other competitors said to the side. "Maybe you could ask her out on a date when she's busy ripping you limb from limb."

"Hey, buddy, getting beat up by a woman is foreplay on some planets," Lobo said. He turned towards Clark and gave him a smile. "So, do you think I have a chance?"

"Against her in a fight, or asking her out?" Clark asked.

"Ha, ha, what a card," Lobo chuckled.

Barda stepped into the arena and a large, grotesque alien with purple arms, with slime dripping out of his mouth, stepped into the center of the ring. Barda looked up towards him, without blinking.

"And here we have Maxus, from Sector Nineteen, a favorite of the Games!" Mongul yelled. "Do you think he has a chance to take down Big Barda?"

Maxus charged Barda with all six arms swinging. Barda dodged the fists of fury and grabbed one of the arms. She snapped it back and caused a huge break. The snapping of the arm brought Maxus down to the ground in agony. Barda threw him down to the ground and resulted in him in hitting with a solid crash.

Barda charged her adversary and nailed him with a punch to the fleshy part of the stomach. He doubled over and a grayish, green blood splattered out of his mouth. Barda slammed her fist into the man's chest and doubled him over once again. Multiple punches rocked him and doubled him over.

Then, she flipped the alien onto the ground and caused him to slam down hard with one swift shot. Barda took half of a step back and surveyed her handiwork.

"Who else wants some?"

"So, how about it, Fly Boy?" Lobo asked. "Rock, paper, scissors, the winner gets the first crack at Big Bertha."

"Actually, it's…"

"Ready, set, go!" Lobo yelled.

Clark sighed and engaged the Czarnian in the universal tradition of Rock, Paper, Scissors. Lobo held out his hands in scissors while Clark got rock.

"Ah, I won!" Lobo said.

"Rock beats scissors though," Clark said.

"Nah, you don't get how this works, the humans have taught you wrong," Lobo said. "You see, I take the scissors, stab you, and you drop the rock. Easy enough, right?"

Lobo stepped into the battle arena. Mongul looked down at him with a smile. Barda stared at him, with very obvious contempt.

Clark watched from the side. He had to admit, Barda was impressive, but there was something about her demeanor. She was not here willingly, then again, given Mongul's practices, he doubted anyone in this fighting arena was here willingly.

"And we have the final Czarnian," Mongul said. "Will he join the rest of his species? Stay tuned right after this!"

* * *

 **To Be Continued on August 20** **th** **, 2017.**


	51. Chapter 51

**Head to the Page of Important Links and Vote for This Week's Chapter of the Week Voting.**

* * *

 **Chapter Fifty-One: The Main Man Comes to Town Part Three**

* * *

Lobo stepped into the center of the ring. The fans in the war world were getting loud the second Lobo stepped into the center of the ring. They knew one of two things were going to happen. A Czarnian was going to cause all kind of violence, mayhem, and carnage, or a Czarnian was going to step into the center of the ring and get his ass kicked. Regardless, they were excited at the prospect of what was going to happen.

The Main Man raised his hands and stepped forward to lock eyes with a very unimpressed Big Barda. The woman's pointed gazed locked onto Lobo's own the very second he stepped into the ring. The Main Man smiled and slicked his hair back when approaching Barda.

"Alright, I'll go easy on you, and then after we find a way off of this hellhole, we can hook up," Lobo said. "You got it?"

Lobo raised his hand into the air and then extended it out for his hand to be shaken. Everyone booed this gesture of sportsmanship from Lobo. The Main Man just responded with a shrug, and Barda looked over, staring him down. Those eyes burned into his face.

For a brief second, Barda reached forward and took Lobo's hand. She gripped it tight and caused the Main Man to drop to his knees in agony. The Main Man's screams followed when Barda held him down to his knees, squeezing his hand. The sound of bones snapping could be heard.

"Argh, I like it rough!" Lobo growled. "But, you know, we normally need a safe word for this sort of thing….."

Barda hoisted Lobo off of the ground by one hand and twirled him into the air. The people watching in the War World got excited when Barda hurled Lobo halfway across the arena. He fell down onto the dirt, impacting face first onto the ground.

The breath knocked out of his body made Lobo very dazed. He struggled back up to his feet and growled. The Main Man stared down Barda who stood at the other side of the arena. Lobo held his hands together, cracking his knuckles.

"Alright, you want to dance, let's dance!" Lobo yelled. "No more Mister Nice Guy. No more holding back."

Lobo charged into the battle and Barda dodged his punch. The Main Man turned around and nailed Lobo right in the small of the back with a huge punch. More punches started to rock Lobo so hard. Barda hoisted him up, hooking him around the arms in a full nelson. She swung Lobo around.

The fans got to their feet and cheered in excitement. Barda hurled Lobo around like he was on a super-powerful top. The Main Man's horrified screams continued to escalate the second Barda whirled him around. She hurled him down onto the ground and forced him to slam down to the ground very hard. The Main Man pulled himself up to a standing position.

Barda reached in, grabbed Lobo by the throat, and hoisted him off of the ground one more time. She caused him to fly into the side of the arena. The people who were on their feet started to cheer. Lobo got to his feet, and spit on his hands, before rushing Barda.

He caught her with a glancing punch. Another punch had been blocked and Barda swept the legs out from underneath Lobo. She grabbed him by the neck, turned him over, and curb stomped him into the ground. Every single second was hell with Lobo's face being drilled into the ground.

"Is that all you got?" Lobo asked.

"Oh, the Czarnian still has some fight left in him!" Mongul yelled. "Good, because if he loses, his bounty is forfeit. And you know how the Czarnian is about his money."

This reminder inspired Lobo to get back to his feet and swept Barda off of her legs. Barda rolled over and landed on her feet. Lobo charged her, fist swinging in the air. He tried to nail her with one vicious punch to the side of the head. Barda stepped off to the side, ducking the punch before it connected. Barda dropped behind him and grabbed him around the waist.

She muscled him up in a dead lift and hurled Lobo head over heels onto the ground. The Main Man smacked into the ground very hard. Barda jumped down onto the back of his head and grabbed him by the greasy mullet.

"You disgust me."

"Not the first time I've heard that from a woman," Lobo grumbled, tasting the floor of the War World arena while Barda dug her foot into the back of his head. Lobo thrashed and Barda stomped down on the back of his head. She drilled more stomps onto the back of his head, before stepping back.

Lobo rolled over and Barda tossed him off to the side like he was nothing other than a glorified piece of trash. He smashed down onto the ground. Barda stood over Lobo's fallen body.

"Alright, I thought I was going to get some real competition!" Barda yelled. "Who wants to step into the ring with me next?"

"I will!"

Everyone rose to their feet. They had a rare treat today, a Kryptonian stepping into the War World. First a Czarnian, now a Kryptonian, no wonder Mongul was broadcasting his event live and in living color on Pay Per View. The Kryptonian stepped into the ring.

Lobo's body had been scraped off of the arena by several of the guards. He was still breathing, so there was still some use for him in War World.

"Did I get her number?" Lobo grumbled in a slurred voice.

* * *

War World was a heavily disguised Fortress, and it was almost impossible to get inside, without any help. Thankfully, Astra had access to an alien computer who had access to programming of several planets throughout the universe. And who could also hack into this War World and find them an entrance inside. It was going to be a careful squeeze, especially not to get in there, and trigger the alarm.

Astra stepped inside and looked around. They moved down a dark hallway, with Lara, Alura, and Karen following her a couple of steps behind them. The cheers of the crowd echoed through the arena.

"He's still kidnapping people and using them for sport," Lara said.

"Old habits, they die very hard," Astra said. "The main control room is right down the hallway."

"Which means it will be heavily guarded," Alura said. "I trust you have a plan, don't you?"

"Well, you have one, obviously," Astra said. "Do you think we can take control of War World before Mongul uses it to nuke Earth?"

Alura thought about the matters for a few minutes and responded with a nod. She had a pretty good idea they could take control of War World. Would the plan work? That was up for a lot of debate, but none of the members of this crew entered the ship with the intentions of failing.

"Fall in line, and return him to the cells!"

Karen frowned, and she looked forward. The guards were making their way towards their location. She prepared herself to fight them, but Astra put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and shook her head. She leaned in and whispered a couple of words.

"Pick your battles."

Astra surveyed the scene around them and wondered if the guards were coming down their way. The Kryptonian General turned a couple of inches to the side and discovered there was a small set of prison cells. People who would likely have either just been captured or Mongul was not using currently for the games.

"So, let's hurry up in and get him back there then! We're missing the Kryptonian fight"

This piece of news caused Lara's blood to boil a slight amount. They knew there was only one Kryptonian. Astra gave her a look and Alura frowned. They stepped closer towards the area and could see a screen leading to the arena. They saw an image of Clark dodging an attack from an Amazonian Looking woman who towered over him.

"The guards are coming our way," Astra responded. "We better be ready."

Alura noticed a couple of crystals in a console off to the side. It was the air filtration system. The Kryptonian females had breather masks when they entered the War World. The guards, obviously used to the air, did not. Alura had figured out what needed to be done to even the odds. She stepped forward and grabbed onto the crystals, slowly and surely yanking them out of the console, adjusting the air flow.

The guards noticed a couple of seconds later, something was very wrong. One of the guards stepped forward, his breathing turned very heavy.

"Hey, what the….what's going on here?" one of the guards asked.

"Ah, what's the matter, that flight of stairs kill you?" a gruff voice asked. "Oh, and hey1"

Lobo ripped himself free and used the heavy chains wrapped around his wrist to bash the winded guard in the back of the head. The other guards slowly reached for their weapons, but Lobo kicked one of the guards all the way down the stairs with a thud.

He broke the chain over the neck of one of the men and force him down to the ground. The Main Man slammed the chains into the back of the head of the goon and forced him back a couple of inches. He grabbed a blaster and turned it on the guards. The Main Man fired the gun blast and knocked the goons all the way down the stairs. One of the reached for his radio.

"No fair squealing," Lobo said, pressing his foot on the top of the guard's arm. He screamed in agony, with Lobo pressing his foot harder and harder onto the man's wrist.

Lobo turned around to face the bevy of beauties walking down the hall.

"Hey, maybe I died now, and instead of going to the bad place, I'm moving on," Lobo said.

"You better move," Astra said. "I won't hesitate to hurl you into one of those prison cells. It's better than you deserve, Czarnian."

"Hey, hey, no trouble, no trouble at all!" Lobo yelled, holding his hands up in the air when looking at the women. "All I want to do is go down, pick up that little punk Quintox, and get the bounty. Then I'll be out of your hair, all of your hair."

Lobo didn't really want to be on Earth, hell he didn't want to be on War World. He just hoped Mongul didn't already turn Quintox in. There would be hell to pay after all the hell Lobo went through to get the asshole.

"Lives by the bounty, dies by the bounty, doesn't he?" Karen asked.

"Yeah," Astra said. "I wonder if he knows there are a couple of big bounties on Mongul that he can cash in on."

Lobo, who was almost down at the end of the hallway, stopped, his eyebrow corking up in surprise. A big shit-eating grin spread across his face when he took the last couple of steps down the hallway. It resulted in Karen, Lara, and Alura just looking at each other.

"So, is our secret weapon ready to go?" Karen asked.

"Of course," Astra said.

* * *

Clark could see Barda rushing towards him. She did pack a punch and Clark thought the best idea would be not to be around when those punches connected. He played a very deadly game of ducking the punch, and then he dodged the punch.

"You should stand up and fight me straight on!" Barda yelled. "It was going to be a lot easier when you fight me!"

Barda charged Clark and caused him to flip into the air. Clark landed on his feet and used Barda's momentum against her. He caught her in an arm hold, just like Astra taught him, and put her down onto the ground. Barda's own size was used against him, with Clark hooking onto the arm hard.

"I understand if you're upset because Mongul has threatened your planet…."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Barda said. "I have no planet to threaten. I have nowhere to go home to."

Barda kicked Clark back and he flew to the ground. He obviously opened some very hard wounds. The larger woman rushed Clark and tried to punch him hard. Barda rushed him one more time and tried to punch him again. Clark dodged the attack again. This game of ducking and dodging continued, with Clark trying to stay a couple of steps ahead of Barda when she nailed him with a succession of punches.

"What do you fight for?"

Clark grabbed Barda around the neck, leaping on her back. She tried to spin around, but Clark already jumped off. The woman rushed towards Clark one more time. Her hand impacted the ground and left a miniature crater.

"I fight because it's all I have left to do after all I've lost!"

"You must have some other reason to live beyond fighting!" Clark yelled at her.

"Not anymore!" Barda yelled.

Memories, painful memories, crept up in the back of her mind. Barda tried to force them down, but no matter how much she tried, she couldn't keep them down for very long.

"Mongul destroys the planets of the champions of the people you defeat, and the people who refuse to fight in these games," Clark said.

Barda stopped for a minute. Most would take advantage of this opportunity to attack her while she was distracted, while she contemplated where to go next in life. This young man had enough honor where he did not strike out and attack her.

"I believe it," Barda said.

She hated the fact he reminded her of the very obvious. After Granny captured her, and sold her to Mongul, in exchange for a couple of favors, Barda almost lost sight of the reason why she fought against the rule in the first place.

"What are you doing?" Mongul demanded.

Barda almost lost sight, until she had been reminded. She remembered despite the fact her fight had been lost, despite she lost everything, and had been humiliated, there were still people out there who were fighting the good fight. Barda recalled everything.

Reluctantly, she turned around and faced away from her opponent. He did not attack her, proving how valiant he was. Barda stared up into the box, eyes locked onto Mongul. She never had this much hatred for another person as long as she lived like she had for Mongul.

She fought to try and heal the scars from failure, but those scars just flashed out, being more prominent than ever before. Barda put her hands on her hips and stared up. She didn't believe in the destruction of the universe.

"I surrender!" Barda yelled. "I can't defeat him, and I won't…..I won't allow you to do this anymore!"

Everyone booed after Barda surrendered. The people in the War World, they came to see violence, they came to see carnage and mayhem and everything else that went along with it. Now they had been robbed of their glory and each and every one of them hated it. They hurled their drinks into the arena.

"You think this is over just because she went soft, Kryptonian?" Mongul asked. "You still haven't won, you will take her place. You will fight opponent after opponent, and they will fall. You will either beat them, or you will fail. And Earth will fall as well."

Clark sensed someone else coming, and he smiled.

"No, Mongul, you've already failed."

The big boom which followed signaled a huge disturbance from above. Clark could see Lara, Alura, and Karen moving their way from above, taking care of Mongul's guards. Barda looked towards Clark, and then back towards the battle up above. Her eyes finally completely stopped on Clark, resting on him.

"For an extinct race, there seems to be a lot of you," Barda said.

Clark smiled, and to think, she didn't know about the females of New Krypton just yet.

* * *

Mongul hated when his well-placed plans had been destroyed. His fingers curled into an angry fist. He came close to smashing everything. One deep breath later, and Mongul stepped back.

"No, this is not over," Mongul said. "I'm not going to let him win. Earth will serve as an example, and it won't be the only one."

Mongul stepped over the control console and started to access the onboard weapons systems of War World. Only, something had gone wrong. The systems were not responding. The weapons systems went fuzzy, and a bright blue triangle, upside down, with three dots connected appeared. Mongul knew the symbol, everyone in the universe knew to fear the symbol.

One look at the symbol resulted in horror to spread through Mongul's eyes. He locked onto the symbol and threw his hands into the air.

"No, you can't do this!" Mongul yelled. "We had a deal."

"No, you had a deal with Brainiac Prime," Indigo said. "I'm not him, and I'm taking control of your little War World now….thanks Alura for the hookup, but I'll take it from here."

The master of War World took a deep breath and could have hurled something. He could hear his guards going down, and made his way towards the side entrance. He had an escape pod if worse came to worse.

The doors blew open and Mongul had been sent flying a couple of steps back. Lobo stepped into the room.

"So, I'm sure you're wondering how your day could get any worse?" Lobo asked. "Well, then, I came calling, and yep, you better believe your day just got a lot a lot worse!"

Lobo rushed in and nailed his adversary with one of the biggest punches ever. Mongul dropped down to his knees, the Main Man rushing towards him.

"I'm not going to smash your face in," Lobo said. "Granted, it might be an improvement, but they need to know what your face looks up."

Mongul reached up and grabbed Lobo by the throat. Lobo went flying through the glass window. He rolled over, onto the balcony, trying to pull himself to his feet in the middle of all of the glass and carnage. Mongul stood on his back and rolled Lobo over. Lobo struggled to find his way to a standing position.

"That's the problem with you Czarnians," Mongul said. "You might be able to take a beating, but you never, never, shut up!"

Mongul hoisted Lobo up around the head, spun him around, and threw him as hard as he could in the other direction. The Main Man dropped down to the ground. Mongul took another step forward. Lobo pulled himself to his feet.

The master of the War World stopped and he came face to face with the fabled General Astra In-Ze of Krypton. She did not look too happy with him either.

"You target a planet which I've decided to call home," Astra said. "What did you think was going to happen?"

Astra punched Mongul hard in the face and caused him to bounce over the railing, slamming down onto the ground with a thud. Mongul rose to his feet and turned around.

He came face to face with his undefeated champion, Barda. Barda stared down at him, arms folded, and a snarl on her face. Mongul stepped back from him.

"Can we discuss this?" Mongul asked.

Barda nailed him with a punch to the face which answered that particular question. Barda reared back and nailed Mongul with multiple rapid fire punches. She threw him around and caused him to smash into the ground. Mongul received a worse beating than ever before.

"Please, have mercy!" Mongul yelled.

Astra leaned down and shook her head, it was pathetic. Barda hoisted Mongul up and slammed him down to the ground. She pushed him into the ground.

* * *

The dust cleared, and Mongul's face had been covered in bruises, and he was chained. His guards were chained. All of the patrons of War World had been escorted out by the Green Lantern Corps. They all grumbled about the fact that War World was shut down.

Astra and Alura walked off to the side, both of them are in deep concentration. The look on Astra's face turned a bit surly, and not to mention extremely sour. Alura leaned closer towards her sister and looked her straight in the eye.

"You can't tell me this isn't for the best," Alura responded.

"We could have used a War World if Earth had been threatened by invaders," Astra said. "We could have blasted an entire invading fleet before they even threatened their first human life."

Alura sighed, Astra had a good point, as she always did. Unfortunately, though, there were other points to be considered, and Alura had to think of everything. She leaned forward and touched a hand to the top of her sister's shoulder.

"Do you really think people would trust us if we had a dangerous weapon?" Alura asked. "The humans aren't very comfortable with aliens in the first place. Aliens having weapons, that would be a far lot worse, when you really boil it down."

Astra groaned, Alura was right, as she always was, and there was a huge part of Astra hating it. The most frustrating governing body, this side of the Kryptonian Council, the Guardians of Oa, were overseeing the moving of the War World and the returning of all of the prisoners.

It was amazing how the Guardians got anything done, Astra thought they would be handcuffed by Protocol.

Meanwhile, Clark waited for one person, in particular, to make her way off of the ship. Barda stepped closer towards him and offered him a brief smile.

"I don't like admitting I'm wrong," Barda said. "But, I was wrong, and you helped show me the light. Just because, I've lost everything, it doesn't mean there are not others who have something to hold onto. And something to hold dear in their lives."

Barda gave the young man the once over.

"You are a credit to the legacy of Krypton, Kal," Barda said. "It's a shame they ended up where they were, a tragedy, a tale which many planets wouldn't learn."

The taller woman swooped down, and kissed him on the cheek very lightly. She had been surprised by her own daring, but she did not regret it at all, not by a longshot.

"Where are you going?" Clark asked.

"I'm going to a place where I hope someone with a virtuous heart like yourself is never going to visit," Barda said. "And I hope this heart never gets corrupted. You have a dangerous time ahead of you though, so I wish you the best of luck, Kal."

Especially if the influence of that madman and his cackling witch of a second-hand reached the planet Earth. She hoped to do something to stop it, even if it meant more great sacrifices of her life.

"There are others who haven't escaped the rule of the Madwoman who sold me to Mongul, along with her master," Barda said. "I hope to liberate them from that evil can spread throughout the universe….and yes, it can spread even to Earth."

A planet as young as Earth, they were prime for trouble, and they were vulnerable even during the worst of times. Barda hoped to prevent this darkness from spreading.

"So, if I can help you in any way….."

Barda smiled and lightly squeezed Clark's shoulder. "You've helped me re-find my purpose. That's more than enough, but….perhaps our paths will cross again someday."

Lobo made his way out and he did not look like a happy campier.

"I can't believe it, the Guardians of Oa aren't going to pay me for turning in that dirtbag Mongul," Lobo said.

"To be fair, you were on the ground, and it was Barda and me who did all the work," Astra told him.

"Yeah, yeah, split some hairs, why don't you?" Lobo asked. "Look, I might not have gotten that ugly fragface, but I've got this little twerp, finally."

Quintox struggled underneath Lobo's grip, and he realized he was going to be turned in.

"After all of this, I need a freaking drink!" Lobo grumbled.

He moved his way outside, where his motorcycle waited for him. He made sure Quintox was secured and went into the night.

Clark joined the group of Kryptonians watching Lobo leave.

"So, will he ever be back?" Clark asked.

"Unfortunately," Karen said. "Well, the Green Lanterns will take care of everything, so we can head home."

Astra, Lara, and Alura followed, with Clark catching a glimpse of Barda going in the opposite direction. She most certainly had the weight of several worlds on her shoulder.

"It's her mission," Lara said. "Worry about yours."

Clark had a feeling Barda's mission, and his might intertwine sooner than they all wanted it to.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on August 27, 2017.**


	52. Chapter 52

Vote for the Chapter of the Week Voting on the Page of Important Links on My Blog.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifty-Two: Adjustments**

* * *

The last few days passed without too much of an incident. Then again, everything would be pretty silent after Lobo arriving in town and then there being a War World being brought to Earth. Clark thought his usual adventures were insane. Little did he know there would be even more insanity to come.

The Kandorians, meanwhile, had been settling into their new world on Earth. Astra thought many of them had potential, but it was going to take a while for them to adapt to the new world. They mentally came from a Krypton which was flourishing, despite being part of a huge civil war. It was a huge adjustment for them to come to the determination their lives had changed.

Clark hoped their lives would flourish here on Earth. Both Karas adapted well enough, Astra did in her own ways, Raya, Lara, and Alura did as well. They were making the most of their time on the world which was a fair bit different than the one they left behind.

Now, Clark and Karen arrived, dressed in their civilian attire, at the museum of Metropolis. They were heading to visit an old friend who was out of town. Karen flashed a smile at Clark the second both of them dropped down onto the ground from their flight to Smallville.

"So, what do you think Diana and Doctor Sandsmark stumbled upon this time?" Karen asked.

Clark really didn't give it too much thought, at least just not yet. "It could be anything. They were gone for a few weeks, and Diana said Doctor Sandsmark was pretty confident this was going to be a big trip."

"I think the question I'm getting at, do you think they brought back any Kryptonian artifacts?" Karen asked.

The slab they had many months ago was a very interesting curiosity, although merely a relic of Ancient Krypton. It depicted a legend of a time long ago. Karen hoped they could uncover more information about it as time went on, but for now, they had other concerns which mandated a fair amount of their time.

"Why don't we go in and asked them?" Clark asked.

"Sounds like a plan."

The two survivors of Krypton stepped into the museum. They came across Doctor Helena Sandsmark, who was just talking on a cell phone. A frown appeared on her face when she was discussing something with the person on the cell phone. Clark and Karen hung back, they did not want to intrude on the woman's conversation, even if there was something in her eyes which was very much akin to supreme frustration.

"I disagree, I think the trip was more than worth it," Helena said. "I think some of the exhibits will bring in new revenue….yes, I understand."

Helena had the look of someone who was going to go around in circles just to convince someone that it was a good thing what they were doing. Karen knew some people were stubborn and the look on Helena's face showed how stubborn a lot of people were being.

"Of course, seeing is believing," Helena said. "And once you see the people this brings in, I think you'll figure out this assignment is for the best. Yes, I understand, but what's life without a few risks…..I'll talk to you on Monday….are you making the trip? Fine, I'll see you then."

The look of pure exasperation on the face of Doctor Helena Sandsmark only increased when the woman hung up the phone. Her sighing doubled, but she turned around in time to see the two Kryptonians with a smile.

"Kara…..I guess it's Karen now, " Doctor Sandsmark said.

"Don't worry, people are struggling to make that adjustment," Karen said. "Hell, I have to….having a secret identity can be a lot of work…Clark has a lot of practice because he is Clark Kent, Kal-El is the foreign one to him."

"It's nice to meet you again, Doctor Sandsmark," Clark responded.

Clark took the hand of the woman, who smiled. She peered over the pair of glasses at him, shaking his hand for a minute before slowly pulling away.

"Trust me, Clark, the pleasure is all mine," Doctor Sandsmark said. "I actually wondered when you two would show up. We've got some interesting artifacts from our trip, but nothing Kryptonian now, this time, sadly."

The Doctor could see the disappointment filling the face of Karen, even though the beautiful blonde woman tried not to show it. She looked towards Helena and tried to keep the disappointment off of her face. The Doctor waved her off as if this wasn't that big of a deal, and to be honest, it wasn't that big of a deal.

"Well, I didn't….it was a long shot you would find anything, anyway," Karen responded. "But, you did find something, which got you excited, didn't you?"

Astra would have liked to see some of those lost Kryptonians safely away. Hell, Karen would have, along with Lara, Raya, and Alura, and pretty much anyone. Humanity had come a long way, but even the most stone-age Kryptonian technology was very advanced for humans. Put the technology in the wrong hands, and there would be some huge problems.

"Yes, I found some things," Helena said. "If you would like me to show you what we've found and then…"

"Actually, we would, wouldn't we?" Clark asked.

"Oh, yes, we would actually," Karen said.

She didn't mean to imply anything else to the contrary. Sometimes, her own disappoint got the better of her. Doctor Sandsmark smiled and escorted both of them down the hallway. They turned around the corner and caught sight with Diana, and Diana was not alone.

The Princess of the Amazons talked to a beautiful woman who was a significant amount shorter than Diana. She dressed in a business assemble, with red hair coming down past her shoulders and a pair of piercing green eyes which shined.

"This is fascinating," she muttered.

"It's nice to see someone thinks that," Diana responded. She noticed the two newest members of the party walking around the corner and flashed them an accommodating smile. "Diana, Karen, it's good to see you both."

"It's good to be here," Clark said. "So, how was your trip?"

"Going through the tombs was very exciting actually," Diana said. "I was just showing Doctor Hall what we found."

"Doctor Shayera Hall at your service," she responded. "I helped fund the trip, hoping to find a curiosity some of my people stumbled upon a while back, and I'm glad to say they did."

"My name's Clark Kent, this is my cousin, Karen," Clark responded to her. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Doctor Hall."

"Please, Shayera," she said.

Clark could see the eyes of the shorter redhead looking him over for a minute. He was more than used to pretty much every woman he met giving him a once over the moment they met him. It put a very prominent smile over his face.

"Well, Shayera, it's a pleasure to meet you," Clark said. "What did Diana find that got you so excited anyway?"

"Here, let us show you," Diana said.

The party of four made their way over. Clark saw out of the corner of his eye, Doctor Sandsmark had gotten a call from another one of her investors, hopefully, this call ended up a slight bit better than the last investor call went. Clark felt a little bit bad how things were going for her.

' _Then again, they want results, and they don't care about the historical interest. It's all about the bottom line, and nothing else.'_

"See, right there," Diana responded.

Diana extended her finger and showed them three statues of what looked like winged human beings. One of them carried a shining mace in his hand, which was different from the rest of the statue's metal. The other carried an ax, and the third warrior did not have any weapons in his hand.

"It looks like a form of Nth metal," Karen said.

"Nth metal?"

Shayera crumbled up her face in a frown. Why did something about this Nth metal sound so familiar to her? Couldn't she process it anyway?

"Yes, commonly used by the people of Thangar, the Thangarians," Karen said. "They must have visited Earth at one time, a long time ago."

She wasn't sure what was the fate of the Thangarians. They were a race constantly at war.

"Why don't you tell me more about these Thangarians?" Shayera asked. "What were they like? Did they have any reasons from visiting Earth?"

"Well, I don't claim myself to be an expert on alien culture," Karen said. She flashed a brief smile to Shayera. "But, I'll do my best to tell you."

The two of them moved off, and Diana looked towards Clark.

"She was detached with all of the other things we found," Diana said. "But the statues of armor, and the weapons and this Nth metal I guess, that interests her for some reason. I don't know why."

"Well, everyone has their own areas of interests, "Clark said.

"Sorry, we couldn't find anything Kryptonian," Diana answered. "I think there's still some of that technology out there, although I don't have the slightest idea where it might be."

"Hey, it's okay," Clark responded, leaning over and placing a hand on the top of Diana's. "We'll find it eventually, it can't hide forever."

Diana could sense their frustration. If there were countless Amazon artifacts just out in the breeze, she would want to have collected as many as possible. She shuddered to think what would happen if some of the armor or weapons which had been forged by the Amazons, had fallen into the wrong hands.

"Someone is calling me," Clark said. "Do you think I could…"

"Hey, go ahead," Diana said. "I have to help Doctor Sandsmark with inventory anyway."

Clark smiled, that sounded like the most exciting job in the world. He moved over to pull out the phone and answer it.

"Hey, Clark," Daisy said. "Just wondering if you forgot about the fact you're joining Alex and I on a night on the town?"

"No, I haven't forgotten," Clark said. "You're still going out at six, right?"

"Yeah, right," Daisy said. "Unless there's an alien invasion or something which needs the DEO's attention, we're going to be out in the town then. Hopefully, we'll see you real soon."

"Oh, I'll be there," Clark said.

Clark hoped for a nice, time relaxing out on the town, with good friends.

* * *

Astra tucked her hand underneath the chin and stared at the computer in the Fortress of Solitude with a frown on her face. She waited for Raya to come back with the latest medical reports. Alura and Lara were currently working on something else. A couple of upgrades at the monitoring of Earth would be beneficial. They just barely missed a War World coming here.

"So, do we have some upgrades?" Astra asked.

"Thea and Helena both generously offered me the Queen and Wayne satellites respectfully to increase the scope around our monitoring," Lara said. "We should be able to piggy back if the world's governments see anything. They might pick up things they won't be able to interpret, well until it's too late."

Astra just responded with a nod. That was the problem with the governments across the world, in any world. They didn't interpret things until it was much too late.

"And the Kandorians are adapting," Lara said. "We haven't told them they should have powers underneath the yellow sun."

"And they don't yet," Astra said. "Which means Jor-El's little scheme worked."

She didn't agree with many things Jor-El did, but Astra agreed with this one thing. Having a group of superpowered Kryptonians who would be assimilating on a new world, that would be a disaster waiting to happen. The measures Jor-El took to make sure they did not get empowered, well, it was useful. Astra would have to give him points, even if crafting his Artificial Intelligence off of an archaic process left a fair amount of work to be desired.

"Are you surprised?" Lara asked.

"Oh, he succeeds when he sets out to do something," Astra said. "I'll give him that. His results might not be to the benefit of everyone around him, but I'm not discounting the man's intelligence. No, not in the slightest."

Lara could have smiled. She never thought Astra would pay Jor-El such a big compliment. It was a strange situation she was entering. She moved over to double-check the monitoring of the planet.

"War World would have been very nice to have," Astra said casually. "You know, just in case we have an actually dangerous invasion."

"You have your army of Kandorians," Alura said walking over. "Well, technically, they're Faora's army of Kandorians."

"They were Zod's army of Kandorians," Astra said. "But, I'm not about to extract him from the box. Maybe if I could find a way to make him an obedient female, who would comply to my every whim, and kneel before me, but the Fortress's technology isn't quite adaptable to that."

"Plus, you would have to turn him into a female in mind, body, and soul," Indigo said. "And your monitoring network is one hundred percent solid, without any holes in it."

"Thanks, Indigo, I appreciate that," Lara said.

Lara hated to say it, but Earth was in a very delicate state right about now. There were many things going for the budding young planet, and also, there many things going against it. They had the potential to be as great as Krypton. And the people of Earth also had the potential to make the same mistakes which lead to Krypton's doom.

They hoped for a brighter future, even though there were some times where the future didn't look as bright as they wanted it to be.

The entrance of the Fortress opened, and Raya stepped back in.

"So, what's the report?" Astra asked her.

"All of them are in various stages of denial regarding the end of Krypton," Raya said. "I would have to concur with General Astra's earlier report, it would be better off them not having any kind of abilities here on Earth. They might use them to work out their aggressions."

"We don't want it to happen, not if we can help it anyway," Astra said.

"It's a nasty shock some of them are in a new world," Raya said. "I haven't broken it to them they were clones….the last thing about ninety percent of them remember, they were getting a routine examination for the Kandorian army."

Alura whistled, she had forgotten about that particular process. The only reason why she had awareness of being a clone, was her own merging with her artificial intelligence self.

"Did some of them know they were being cloned?" Lara asked.

"Faora was one of the few who did," Astra said. "But, many of the others, they did not. I would have never allowed myself to be volunteered for the process."

"Well, you are one of a kind," Alura said. "And I think we thank Rao each and every day for that."

Astra smiled, her sister was sharp enough to give her both a compliment and fire off an insult at the same time. She really appreciated that, in her own way. Regardless, they had a lot of work to do, at least in Astra's mind. They didn't have that much time to get it done, unfortunately.

"We're going to have to keep them confined to the portion of the Arctic we have them in," Indigo concluded. "And monitor them, for any signs the blue Kryptonian and red solar radiation bombardment Jor-El gave to them, wearing off."

"Is there a chance of that happening?" Astra asked.

"There is approximately a ten percent statistical probability of it happening, yes," Indigo said. "But, certain circumstances can raise that statistical probability up anywhere between fourteen point seven percent and nineteen point three percent."

"There's a chance then," Lara said. "Keep monitoring the situation, Indy."

A sound of someone dropping behind them, Karen, caused them to turn around.

"Any luck, Kara?" Astra asked.

The older blond Kryptonian responded by shaking her head. "No, they didn't find anything."

Astra hung her head in disappointment at the thought they didn't find anything. She thought it would be a long shot, but still.

"Okay, very well, let me fill you in on what's been happening to the Kandorians."

* * *

Clark took one look at Daisy and Alex, and there was no question, both of them were beautiful. Alex wore the classic little black dress, and Daisy dressed in a nice green dress. Both dresses flattered their bodies. The way the two of them carried on with each other made Clark want to ask a question. It was actually something he had been wondering about for a long time.

"Well, I dragged you all the way to the club," Daisy said. "I think it's only fair, I offer you one dance….but I have to warn you, I'm not very graceful on my feet."

"Hey, no one's perfect," Clark said.

"Oh, I think she's far beyond not being perfect," Alex said, a grin flickering over her face.

Daisy shot her long-time friend and partner at the DEO a very dirty look, before holding onto Clark's hand and pulling him out in the middle of the club. The music started to rock around them. Daisy wrapped her arm around Clark and guided him into the central part of the dance floor.

"Well, you're not standing on my feet," Clark said.

Clark pushed Daisy back and caused her to gasp for a second. He turned her around, as the music of the club picked up.

"Oh, Mr. Kent, you're not too bad," Daisy said. "Could use some work, but hey, those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones?"

Clark smiled at her thought. He could see Alex over by the bar, getting a drink.

"I'm surprised she's interested in you actually," Daisy said. "Not that I can blame her, oh heavens no, no one could blame anyone for taking any interest in you. She's just….well she's never had much of an interest in other guys."

He took this comment with an interested, raised eyebrow. Daisy just smiled and leaned a little bit closer towards Clark.

"The two of you….you're very close to each other, aren't you?" Clark asked.

"Well, we started as roommates in college," Daisy said. "Then we were partners in the DEO, and partners….in other ways if you catch our drift."

Clark took a half of a second to just comprehend that. He wasn't really surprised, given how the two of them seemed to work together. He didn't want to say too much. Their personal life was their business after all, and Clark thought he shouldn't interfere with it at all.

"We're always looking for new ways, to spice things up," Daisy said.

One of the things they had not tried, is bringing a guy into their relationship. Daisy figured Alex was more bisexual than Alex thought she was, even if her preferences leaned towards women. It was just, she didn't really rule out guys to be honest, which was perfectly fine for Daisy.

"She's been a bit….well, I think she's warmed up to the idea after spending some time with you," Daisy said. "Plus, she wants to do something that her older sister hasn't done yet."

Before Clark could react, Daisy leaned in and stole a brief kiss from him. The kiss was extremely brief, but at the same time, extremely intense. The two parties pulled away from each other, with Daisy dropping back on the ground, a slight smile on her face.

Clark moved his way over, to join Alex. She eyed him up a bit curiously.

"So, I don't know why, but I like you," Alex said. "Actually, I can think of some reasons why…..you're making me question my sexuality all over again, you know."

"Sorry about that," Clark responded.

"Hey, don't apologize," Daisy said. "Sometimes we have to go through this journey…..you just like women more, but you won't say no if the right guy comes along."

Daisy leaned over Clark and gave Alex a reassuring kiss on the lips. The two women pulled away, a strand of saliva being left between their lips. It looked rather nice.

"I've got us the VIP room in the club," Daisy said. "Well, I didn't get it. Patricia Swann did. She owed me a favor."

Clark could only imagine. Regardless, Daisy took Clark in one arm and took Alex in the other arm, and marched them into the office. Alex shook her head, torn between exasperation and anticipation.

"You're really not going to let this one go, will you?" Alex asked.

"Not when you need to get laid badly, I'm not," Daisy said.

"I thought that was your job," Alex said.

"All of the times you've been undressing Clark with your eyes, it's obvious you want….well it's obvious what you want," Daisy said. "It's not as bad as the times where you check out your sister."

"Carol or Kara?" Alex asked.

"All of the above," Daisy said. "But, I don't blame you."

Clark found himself pushed back onto the couch. Daisy and Alex stood a few feet away from him, predatory looks dancing in the eyes of both of these beautiful young women.

"So, we're going to do this, aren't we?" Alex asked. "We're really going to do this?"

"Just kiss him," Daisy said. "You never know until you try it."

Alex leaned in and took the plunge, plunging her tongue into Clark's mouth. She half expected to think this was a really bad idea. Clark reached the back of Alex's head and slowly worked his tongue, exploring the inside of her mouth.

She was a bit less reluctant now with the kiss and pushed deeper into his mouth with her tongue. His hands lightly touched her body. Alex could feel his hand on the back of her leg and it gave her shivers.

Daisy slowly slipped the strap of her dress down and stood before them, wearing nothing, but a pair of lacy black panties and a bra to match. She sauntered over and bit down on her lip. She motioned for Alex to pull away from Clark and she did.

Now, Daisy jumped in for the attack, giving Clark a passionate kiss. She straddled his lap, and slowly pulled his shirt over his head. Her hands lightly caressed his muscles. Clark tightened his grip on Daisy's ass when she ground up against him.

Alex decided to move to Clark's side, and wrap her hands around his neck. She kissed the side of the young man's neck and kissed him the side of the face.

Daisy and Alex peppered kisses down Clark's body, worshipping it like the god they thought he was. They were getting closer towards his pants. Daisy stopped and smiled, cupping Clark through the edge of his pants.

"Looks like someone needs some air."

* * *

Without another word, Daisy slid Clark's pants off and pulled out his huge cock. It had been let out in the air, and Alex's eyes glued onto it.

"I can't wait to have my lips wrapped around that handsome thing," Daisy said. "And I think you'll agree, my lips are perfect for sucking cock, really big cock."

Daisy wrapped her hand around the base of Clark's cock and she groaned. The woman's perfect lips slowly wrapped around the head, which caused Clark to lift his hips up to allow her further access. Every inch of Clark's cock had been surrounded by the warm pleasure.

Alex slipped her dress off, dressed in a pair of red panties with a bra to match. She slowly dropped down, kissing Clark's abs when going down. She could not believe she indulged in this body so much. The dark haired Danvers woman worked her way down Clark.

' _Okay, I am Bi, damn it, Daisy, why did you have to be right?'_

She licked the side of his cock, the part which did not enter Daisy's mouth. Clark grabbed the back of Daisy's head and worked a little bit more into his mouth.

Daisy took Clark as deep into her throat as possible. She gave him a very messy blowjob, with lots of deep-throating, and sucking, and it tasted so good.

"How do you do it?" Alex asked.

Daisy pulled off of Clark's cock which now dripped with her salvia and smiled. "Here, why don't I help you? Start with tasting his head, do it slowly."

Alex rolled her eyes. She knew how to give a blowjob, she just never gave one more. Still, Clark's mighty rod was an intimidating sight for her very first time. She lowered the point of her mouth down around his head and slowly drew his rod into her mouth.

The first few inches of Clark's rod parted Alex's lips. Clark held onto the back of her head. She tasted him and he tasted good.

Momentum finally had been established, with Alex coming down, wrapping her warm lips around his head. She slowly and sensually sucked him. She was really getting into this now, but then again, it was hard not to.

Both of these beautiful women took turns sucking Clark's rod. Each time, their mouth felt warmer and better than the last time. His balls throbbed when the girl who wasn't sucking his rod grabbed them and sucked them.

"I won't be able to hold out much longer!"

Daisy took him deep into her throat and started to vibrate around his lengthy rod. Clark closed his eyes, clutching onto the top of her head. The beautiful Asian-American girl really gave him an amazing blowjob with a hard sucking and the vibrating of her powers. Alex meanwhile sucked his balls. Both worked in tandem to make Clark blow.

Oh boy, did he ever blow! The sticky seed shot down Daisy's throat. Daisy brought her lips down and made sure to drink all of the contents from Clark's balls. She closed her eyes and sucked him down. Every burning blast of seed fired down her throat.

"Mmm," Daisy smacked her lips. "Want a taste?"

A handful of hair guided Alex towards Daisy's lips. Both of them grabbed their faces and sucked each other's mouths, and going into their bodies. The two of them grabbed the back of each other's hair. Daisy shared her seed with Alex, and she sucked him down.

"So, how was your first taste?" Daisy asked.

"Pretty good," Alex said. "Oh, I could get addicted to this."

Clark reached over and pushed both of the girls down on the bed in the private suite. He took off their bra and panties at the speed of light. Their tight, wet pussies just called to Clark. And what they called for, was a nice hard fingering. Clark aimed towards their cunts and shoved a finger inside a piece.

Pleasure racked every single inch Alex's body. Alex clenched her thighs around Clark's finger and released them. A second finger added to her pleasure, followed by a third. Clark really was making her feel good, and Alex couldn't argue with the results. Her cunt gushed something fierce from his fingers being shoved in her.

"More, please!" Alex mewled at the top of her lungs.

Meanwhile, Daisy's body warmed up with the orgasms. Her hips vibrated underneath Clark and caused a miniature tremor. She hoped that could get under control by the time they were done.

"Fuck, this is so good," Alex moaned.

"Told you it would be," Daisy said. "It would feel better to have a cock in you though, wouldn't it?"

Clark pulled his fingers out from inside of Daisy's dripping pussy and caused her to fall into position. Her legs were spread when she was on her hands and knees.

"Why don't we show her how a woman takes that big thing?" Daisy asked. "Come and get it. It's all for you."

Those thighs spread enticed Clark like nothing else before. He aimed his hard cock at the edge of Daisy's womanly pussy and rammed himself inside of her. He buried so much of his cock inside of Daisy's warm and willing pussy, she moaned out loud.

"Oh, like that, baby!" Daisy yelled.

The sight of Clark's huge cock being buried inside of Daisy's body caused Alex to get very excited. She watched the manhood push inside of her.

"Only half of its inside of you, and you're already cumming?" Clark asked.

"Only half?" Daisy asked. "I need more, please give me more."

"You asked for it."

She certainly did. Several more inches of Clark's big cock pushed inside of Daisy's warm walls. She could take it, her body stretched out to accommodate his thick, throbbing cock.

"Yes, I asked for it," Daisy said. "I asked to be hammered hard. Please, hammer my pussy hard. Make me feel your cock inside of me! I need it so badly!"

Daisy really needed it so badly, so badly she could almost taste it. Clark pushed his rod inside of her tightening womanhood and pulled almost all the way out. He pulled out of her completely and shoved inside of her. Every time he entered her body and retracted from her, she moaned.

Clark decided to explore every inch of this beautiful woman. Her skin shined with a sheen of sweat. Clark lightly caressed her nipples, causing them to harden underneath his fingers. Daisy's moans increased the second Clark touched them and tempted them.

"Baby, it feels so good!" Daisy begged him.

Every now and then, Clark flickered at Alex's clit. It caused her hips to thrust up. She watched, Clark plunging into Daisy and she got hot. Clark's strong hands worshipped Daisy's body. Alex closed her eyes, thinking about what it would be like to have those hands all over her body.

Suddenly, Clark now was on top of Alex. His cock brushing against her stomach, and the woman shuddering.

"Just tell me when " Clark whispered.

Alex nodded. Clark lightly touched Alex's nipple and caused her to moan. His cock dragged against her dripping slit and was about ready to demand entrance. The dark-haired vixen rose her hips up and wanted it inside of her.

Two hands full of Alex, and then Clark slipped into her body. The first few inches had been gripped by her extremely tight pussy. Alex rose up off of the bed. Her moans, light, and low. Her hands grabbed onto Clark's back. She broke a nail trying to scratch on his back up.

Clark pushed himself inside of her body. Her core gripped and released Clark. His balls smacked against Alex, and she rose up off of the bed.

"More, I can take as much as she can," Alex said.

"Famous last words," Daisy said.

Daisy enjoyed the show and the show as Alex getting her male penis to vagina virginity being taken away from Clark's extremely engorged cock. The manhood pushed inside of her, and Clark worked himself into Alex, driving her to an orgasm.

The moment Alex had been pushed up and sent crashing down from her own orgasm, Clark moved over and rammed his cock inside of Daisy's dripping pussy. Daisy clenched Clark the second he slammed down into her.

"This is a pleasant surprise!" Daisy moaned at the top of her lungs.

Clark held onto her ass for leverage and pumped his thick manhood into her body. Daisy spent some time lifting her hips off of the bed in time with Clark's thrusts. Both aliens connected with each other, feeling the pleasure of their loins connecting with each other.

Daisy closed her eyes and experienced the pleasure rising through her body. The bed was rocking, in more ways, than one thanks to her powers.

"Damn it, Daisy!"

Daisy's powers caused miniature vibrations to escalate through Alex's pussy. Her hips bucked up and down off of the bed. Her heart stammered a couple of beats ahead, and then she found Clark inside of her once again.

Clark established the pattern of giving one girl a pounding, leading her to an orgasm which left her dazed for a while. He switched between Alex and Daisy, fucking them both as hard as they could take. They would be a little sore, but Clark knew his limitations. He could afford to be a little rougher with Daisy due to her enhanced biology, where Alex, he was a bit softer with.

He alternated between both of the women. His cock rammed into both of them and drove both of them to multiple orgasms. All while Clark's balls filled up, towards the breaking point. He closed his eyes and was now balls deep into Alex. He was reaching the end.

"Don't worry, I know there's plenty more where that came from," Daisy said. "Cum in her, Kal-El….bathe her walls with your divine seed!"

Daisy tasted it, as did Alex, so both of them could attest to how divine it tasted.

Alex could not believe her sister's cousin was going to cum inside of her. Her legs tightened around his waist and Clark drummed his fingers against them when ramming deep inside of her. She closed her thighs around him and Clark worked into her. His balls slapped against Alex's moist thighs and they were so full of cum for her. Alex tingled with excitement when sliding her warm walls up to the base of his cock.

Clark filled Alex, bathing her womb with his seed. Alex jerked up off of the bed and took Clark's manhood inside of her. Each spurt of cum filled her up and launched as much cum inside of her as she could handle. Clark held onto her and rocked himself against her hips.

Both settled down on the bed from their mutual orgasms. The moment Clark rolled over, Daisy climbed on top of his lap and started to vibrate her pussy against him.

"Hope you're ready for more fun, stud."

Clark grabbed Daisy's thick ass and told her she was. Her pussy brought his hard cock back to life, and Clark slid Daisy down the pole. The beautiful DEO agent rode his cock like there was no tomorrow.

* * *

A gruff looking men and two men dressed in rags made their way down to the tomb buried deep in the heart of Egypt.

"It's hard to find anything, these days," one of the men grumbled. "All of the good tombs have been cleared out, by archeologists….all of those treasures going to waste in a museum."

"Quiet!" the leader of the pack yelled.

"Oh, sorry, I wouldn't want to wake the spirits." one of the henchmen said, his sarcasm becoming very obvious when he spoke.

The leader of the pack came across a tomb of a man who looked like he had the wings of a giant hawk. The gentleman pulled out the crowbar.

"Finally."

"Do you really think there's anything in there, other than bones and dust?" one of them asked.

The leader of the tomb robbers declined to answer. He put the crowbar on the edge of the tomb and grabbed onto it with a solid tug. Try as he might, it was a struggle to get it open.

Crack, the crypt broke open. Dust parties flew out of the tomb and swarmed around the two raiders. The particles were sharp and started to rip into the tomb robbers who screamed in absolute agony from the attacks!

The leader of the tomb robbers was much more fortunate, at least that was how things appeared. The leader's eyes glowed red and wings slowly, but painfully retracted from his back. He resembled a giant hawkman just like depicted on the crypt.

"Finally, I've risen again!"

The Black Axe in his hand smashed against the wall. More dust fell as the transformed tomb raider walked down the hallway. It was time for him to resurrect his brothers and sisters, and to be reunited with his soul mate.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 3** **rd** **, 2017.**


	53. Chapter 53

Head to the Page of Important Links and vote in the latest Chapter of the Week poll on my blog if you're so inclined.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifty-Three: Midnight Sun Part One**

* * *

The freedom of flight and all of the sensations which went along with made Carol Danvers feel alive. The superheroine, known as Captain Marvel, flew through the skies. The gentle breeze whipped the wind against her hair which flipped against her face. So much excitement entered her body, with Carol closing her eyes.

Ever since she received her powers, life most certainly had changed for Carol. There was plenty about her life which had gotten a lot more interesting. Potentially, a lot more complicated, not that Carol feared any complications in her life. What was a complication in her life, Carol saw as a very interesting challenge which she had to deal with. And she would rise to every single challenge.

Everything settled down and Carol closed her eyes. She noticed she flew somewhere over Egypt. Everything was very peaceful and tranquil. Carol soaked up the sun and pretty much everything around her. Life was pretty good, life was more than amazing in fact. She couldn't be…wait, what was that?

Carol stopped in mid-air and turned her head around. There was a presence in the air, and it most certainly was a frustrating distraction. She dropped down onto the ground and took a couple of steps to one side. The blonde woman frowned, unable to figure out the source of what she was looking for.

Then, it hit her. Some strange energy signature caught her attention.

' _Well, if there is one thing my work has taught me,'_ Carol thought. One heaving sigh stopped her thoughts before Carol pressed on. _'Strange energy signatures are never a good sign.'_

Curiosity got the better of Carol Danvers. There was no way she was not going to investigate, to be honest. Carol walked over the edge of the temple. The markings on the temple showed her there was something interesting going on. An alien language of some sort was written all over the temple. Carol pressed her palm against the temple and a frown appeared on her face.

' _It's not like anything I've ever seen in my life.'_

Through her studies, Carol came across a number of very exotic alien languages. Some of them were very complex, and others were similar to languages found on Earth. The vast nature of the universe showed the languages found in it were extremely complex.

A heavy breathing sound could be heard from inside of the temple and needless to say, this particular quality caught Carol off guard. There was not only something inside of the temple, but there was something inside of the temple alive. And the doors entering the temple opened up a couple of cracks.

Carol decided to take the plunge and step further inside of the temple. Her eyes shifted from one side of the temple to the other and soaked in every inch of that particular temple she could. Carol crouched down and picked up what appeared to be a knife of some sort. Something melted the knife and contorted the metal.

Two steps later, a canteen laid on the ground. Carol picked up the canteen and studied it. There was most certainly someone in the temple. The only thing she couldn't determine whether they had been innocent explorers, ignorant to all of the potential problems. Or if they had been tomb raiders, who had managed to get their hands on something they shouldn't.

"Rise! RISE!"

Carol heard the screams and the loud chanting. She thought neither would most necessarily be a good thing. The blonde poked her head, and saw a tall man, with glowing black wings sticking out of his back and an ax. He had been surrounded by a statue of hawk warriors.

"Break free!"

Carol knew she would need to get some help because these hawk warriors were too vast for her. She took a half of a step back only to notice a bright light flashing.

The hawks showed signs of life. The leader of the hawk turned his attention right around and locked his beady little eyes right onto Carol's. Carol froze when he stared her over, and a grin passed over the man's face.

"Well, what do we have here?" he demanded. "Looks like we have an unwanted guest."

In situations like this, Carol could see there being two obvious choices. Fight or flight, and while flight would be the sanest solution in matters like this, one look at the hawk monsters showed Carol really didn't have much of a choice. One of them flew towards her and swung a huge ax much like what his leader flew.

Carol dodged the ax and caught it once more on the backswing. She punched the hawk in the face. Two more swarmed onto Carol and grabbed her. Carol pounded the hawks with all of her might. She grabbed one of them by the wing and swung him around before launching him to the ground. The hawk collapsed on its fellow warriors. Carol backed off, breathing heavily.

"Grab her, my children!"

More of them appeared behind Carol when she flew back to form a little bit of space. They grabbed her and pushed her to the ground. Carol struggled and sent them flying against the wall. Two of them smacked against the wall hard, one of them leaving a blood smear.

One of them rushed forward to make a bloody smear out of Carol with a spear. Carol blocked the spear and hooked it underneath her finger. She twisted the spear out of the hand of the hawk.

One of them smashed her down to the ground. Several chains flew out and caught Carol, pinning her on her knees. Carol struggled to break the chains, but much to her horror, they held her into place.

The leader of the hawk gods stepped over and placed a hand on Carol's chin. Carol looked at the warriors, who surrounded her, and realized the situation had been pretty dire.

"Excellent, you will make a sacrifice to restore my beloved queen back to her proper place."

* * *

Diana mentally counted down the minutes until she got off of work. Don't get her wrong, Diana loved her job, but there were times where it could be challenging for her. And she was going to hang out with Clark, Karen, and Kara. Alex requested Diana help out a bit with Kara's training, and from what little Diana saw, she was headstrong.

Then again, as Hippolyta reminded Diana, she could be pretty headstrong when she was that age. Hell, she was still a little bit headstrong. She saw Clark, Karen, and Kara make their way around the corner.

"Kara wanted to see the armor you found," Karen said.

"Yeah, real life Thangarian armor," Kara said. "They were some of the fiercest warriors in the universe, you know. They never knew the meaning of the word surrender."

"I notice to speak of the past test," Diana said.

"Well, they disappeared after the great war," Kara said. "No one knows where they went, there might be some of them still out there."

Clark smiled, if Kryptonians were any indication, then groups who they thought to be extinct, were not exactly as extinct as they thought they would be. Then again, the self-preservation methods of Krypton were interesting, as some had been sent on in pods, some made AIs, some had been sent to the Phantom Zone, and there were many clones.

"Looks like I'm not the only one interested," Kara said.

They turned around and noticed Shayera had arrived at the museum. She had a funny look in her eyes and walked over towards the exhibit with a purpose on her face.

"Shayera?" Diana asked. "Are you okay?"

Shayera didn't even acknowledge Diana's question. Clark could tell something was wrong. Her heartbeat was quite irregular for what he could pick up with his super hearing. Said heart beat continued to go off when Shayera approached the wall.

She dropped to her knees.

"Should I call…"

Karen's question had been stopped at the last precise minute. Shayera's hands started to shake and her breathing escalated to an insanely high level. Her eyes glazed over before wings ripped out of the back of her shirt. They were all taken aback by how much these wings resembled the ones on the statues which Doctor Sandsmark found out her expedition.

Shayera gave a feral roar of rage and ripped the mace off of the wall so quickly. She swung the mace at Kara, who dodged out of the way. She moved around to take a swing at Clark.

"Shayera!" Diana yelled.

"I don't think you're talking to Shayera," Clark said.

There was some other person in the driver's seat. The archaeologist's body was there, but her mind, and potentially her soul, it had been hijacked by someone else, or maybe something else. Clark looked up just in time to see the mace out of the corner of his eye.

She moved pretty fast, and those maces packed a huge punch. Clark shivered when he felt the mystic energy. It wasn't that Kryptonians were more vulnerable to magic than anyone else, despite common misconceptions. It was just, they were as vulnerable to magic as anyone else.

Another violent swing almost nailed Clark in the side of the head. Both versions of Kara jumped on Shayera's side and held her in place. The strength of both girls could not be matched, but she was putting up a hell of a fight. She growled and spoke in some kind of language which Clark could not pick up.

"Thangarian, I think!" Kara yelled.

"Yeah, it is, but the wings should have clued us in on that," Karen responded. "She's lost it, lost it big time, I don't know what to do."

"Let her go!"

Diana moved over and both Kryptonians really had no choice, but to let Shayera free. Shayera broke free from their grasp and the second she did, Diana used her lasso to bind Shayera. Diana pulled Shayera down to her knees and she smacked into the ground.

Just in time as well, because if they would have waited too much longer, Shayera would have caused immense amounts of damage to the museum, and there were priceless artifacts which could not exactly be replaced.

"They are rising!" Shayera yelled. "The world will be doomed!"

"Who is rising?" Diana asked.

"Diana?" Shayera asked. "Why do you….what the hell is going on here?"

"That's….what we want to ask you," Karen said. "You went completely insane and started trashing the place….you grew wings, and spoke a different language."

"Wings which she doesn't have now."

Clark looked at Shayera, the back of her shirt still was ripped, showing where the wings would grow out.

"It's happened again," Shayera said. "I've blacked out a couple of times, but, I don't think it's been anything this bad. I've never woke up with rips in my shirt and museum property in my hand."

"Has there been anything else strange happening?" Diana asked, making sure to hold the lasso tight and not let Shayera go.

"There have been dreams, dreams about a place where I've never been in my life," Shayera said. "I really don't know what to make of it."

None of them really knew what to make of it, Clark especially. His cell phone started to go off and the Last Son of Krypton didn't waste any time sending it. Karen and Diana were still looking at Shayera, but Kara looked at Clark curiously.

"Alex, she wants to see me," Clark said. "I better go real quick."

Clark's frown deepened, those coordinates could be right. They were pretty close to where Doctor Sandsmark and Diana went on their last expedition. And if Clark was right, Alex may have stumbled upon something which may have explained what the hell just happened with Shayera.

Maybe she did, at least, Clark held out some hope she could have.

Kara bit down on her lip and offered a frown. She wondered why her sister sent Clark an urgent message. She decided to follow off after him, while Karen and Diana were preoccupied dealing with Shayera and her problems.

* * *

Alex Danvers had been looking for this signal for every angle. It was very weird, and the weirdest part was Carol sent a distress for help. Carol was the person who always pulled people out of the fire, she wasn't someone who needed much if any help of being pulled out of the fire.

' _I don't understand it, none of it makes any sense.'_

She sent the distress signal to Alex, approximately twelve hours ago. Alex thought about getting the DEO involved but decided, there was something really rotten here. She didn't even tell Daisy about it. Rather, Alex was searching the area which Carol had been found and it brought her all the way to Egypt.

Research indicated there was some bad news here, and it wasn't just because it was a haven for grave robbers, although it was part of the reason why. Alex folded her arms and looked up into a sky. She hoped Clark could help her actually.

"So, what's up?"

Straight to the point, Alex liked that. She liked to avoid any bullshit whenever possible because it caused a lot of stress and a fair deal of frustration in her life.

"Twelve hours ago, Carol sent a distress signal," Alex responded. "But, it was very brief, and there weren't many details. And I'm not sure she sent it intentionally."

"Have you heard anything else?" Clark asked.

"No, I haven't," Alex responded. "And I'm sure you've figured out something, or maybe you haven't. But, Carol doesn't do trouble. She's the one who gets people out of trouble. And we're in an area, where there have been a lot of strange disappearances of the years."

Clark listened closely. This particular area was one which had its fair share of extremely mysterious disappearances. A lot of the artifacts from ancient civilizations ended up being alien artifacts, and when alien artifacts were used, everything was not good.

"Carol's in trouble?"

Alex turned around and noticed Kara dropping down behind her. The two sisters exchanged a look with each other.

"Kara, what…"

"You followed me here, didn't you?" Clark asked.

Alex didn't like this at all, mostly because she didn't want to have to worry about two sisters being in danger, and Kara's presence here indicated she would have to worry about two sisters being in danger. Clark turned his attention from Alex to Kara.

"Kara, you shouldn't have followed him here," Alex said.

Kara put her hands on her hips. "I thought I did pretty well helping you a couple months ago. And besides, if Carol's in danger, then you're dealing with something nasty. And you need all of the help you can get."

Clark turned his attention towards one of the temples and the writing. He turned back around and held up his hand, to hopefully alleviate another potential sisterly squabble. He wondered though if he was barking up the wrong tree, trying to stop that from happening.

"We could use all of the help we can get," Clark said. "I think this is tied with Shayera's episode at the museum."

"I think you better get me up to speed," Alex responded.

"Shayera went all weird, grew wings, grabbed a mace off of the wall, and tried to attack us," Clark explained. "And then, when Diana bound her with her magic lasso, she yelled about how they were coming. Then she snapped out of it."

"It was like nothing happened," Kara said. "She didn't remember going full Thangarian."

Alex sighed, the fact this insanity met something in her life really showed something. She could see Clark leaning closer to the loud sounds and listening very intently to something.

"Their heart beats are quickening," Clark muttered. "It was just like Shayera's when she had her episode, they're most certainly here."

"You're telling me Carol stumbled upon an alien ship, where there were still alive aliens in them," Alex said.

"Not exactly," Kara said. "They're not alive, but…..someone may have been possessed by the spirits of them…..aren't there a lot of tomb robbers in the area?"

Alex only nodded, the true gravity of what they were up against hit her suddenly. Things were going to get really insane in a big hurry. It wasn't like life wasn't pretty insane, but it was more insane right there. Alex decided living a normal life wasn't a real luxury she could have.

"So, let's take a closer look," Clark said. "I'm thinking that temple in the center is where we can find our answers."

"How?" Alex asked.

"It has the highest concentration of Thangarian heart beats," Kara said.

* * *

Carol's eyes dropped shut when she hung high above the rafters. Then slowly opened, the legions of hawk warriors shifted around in excitement. Carol took a full view of what was beneath her inside of the temple. She dangled beneath some kind of red liquid which glowed.

The chains she had been wrapped in were hooked to a crank which obviously had been meant to drop her inside. Carol hoped her last ditch effort to call for help, had gone through. Carol shifted her wrist a little bit. What were they waiting for? Did she even want to know what these hawk warriors were up to?

The leader of all of the hawk warriors stepped around to the pit. Carol could see him standing proud and tall and she noticed he was about ready to go into pure monologue mode, which was always a treat, she thought. Carol tipped her head back a fraction of an inch.

All of the Hawks kneeled before the leader of the warrior. Carol wondered what they were going to do next.

' _Got to find a way out of here.'_

If help was not coming, Carol would have to find a way out of this particular situation herself. These chains were made of the same metal as the weapons of these Hawk warriors, and they caused great consequences with Carol's powers. The more she attempted to struggle, the more difficult it was for her to break free from those chains. One of them snapped back onto the ground.

Carol gritted her teeth. There were some problems to put it very lightly and very mildly. Her head started because something was happening in the temple. The loud chanting increased in volume.

"Rise my children!" the leader of the Hawks declared. "And look upon you, at the gift we have been given. The gift of a sacrifice."

Carol figured about as much. This little encounter ticked off all of the checkboxes for a human sacrifice. The chains remained as solid as ever, even though the way she was positioned, it might be very hard to fly away from the pit before she plunged into whatever the red liquid was beneath her.

She really hoped it wasn't so kind of alien blood they were about ready to dunk her in, even though it was pretty obvious it might be.

"We have been given a gift of a sacrifice, which will bring us to prominence once again!" one of them yelled out loud. "This gift will allow us to return our queen back to the realm of the living!"

Everyone involved cheered, and Carol found herself tense up. It was going to be a very long drop.

"We need to sacrifice this woman to the elders, so I can locate where my queen is," the hawk said. "I can feel here, she's on this primitive world. Our souls have been lost for an eternity, doomed to never meet again."

The various hawk warriors looked excited. Carol, meanwhile, summoned all of the energy she could and tried to fly out. The chains snapped back quite painfully and left her dangling like a slab of meat over the pit. The pit bubbled as the hawk god continued in intensity.

"You can struggle all you wish," he said. "The fact you stepped inside of this temple, means you offered yourself as a sacrifice. And when the stars have aligned with the planets and the moon, we will present you as a sacrifice to the elder gods. Chay-era and Katar will rise, and will rule over the lands of this world like they should before we were entombed."

"Are you sure you're not just crazy?" Carol asked. "Because, you seem pretty crazy right about now, just think about it."

"SILENCE!" one of the hawks bellowed out loud.

"It's fine, she's a nonbeliever," the hawk leader responded. "Let her assume an ignorant stance. The most ignorant will mean a great sacrifice, and will allow me to locate my queen and allow her to finally unlock her true potential in this primitive world."

' _You know something,'_ Carol thought. _'They're trying to kill me by boring me to death with this speech. Okay, Carol, you've really got yourself into this mess this time. How are you going to find a way out of it? You better think, and think carefully.'_

"She's here, I can feel her!" the hawk warrior leader bellowed at the top of his lungs.

All of his followers cheered, and Carol again closed her eyes. The sound of footsteps could be heard from the other side of the chamber. Carol hoped it meant help was on the way, although she didn't know whether or not this would be out of the pay grade of the DEO or not.

' _Still, most certainly an alien problem,'_ Carol thought.

Hope dashed immediately when Carol noticed it was only one of the hawk warrior guards.

"Great one, someone approaches."

The Hawkman leader looked up and noticed something up in the sky. It wasn't anything avian, or a vessel of some sort. It was two someones in fact.

"Star Child!" the leader yelled.

It could not be the so, it could not be the same one they encountered so many generations ago. The Hawkman clutched his fingers together so tight, his knuckles almost became white.

"Take care of him, and his companion," the hawk leader said the moment he regained his composure. "The sacrifice must not be interrupted."

He would not have gone this far, without finding his queen. There would be no denying the power and his destiny of reuniting with his beloved.

* * *

Alex circled around the temple in a reconfigured ship the DEO found and modified. Kara and Clark had made their way towards the temple, looking for a way inside from the top.

"I'm going in through a back entrance I've found," Alex responded. "The ship is picking up a lot of Carol's bio-energy….looks like I'm going to have to walk the rest of the way, but I know she's most definitely inside."

"Okay, be careful," Kara said.

Kara and Clark hoped to meet Alex inside when they got through the front entrance. Only, the front of the temple started to rumble underneath them. Clark and Kara looked down and saw them move out of the temple. Dozens of hawk men, many of them with weapons.

"That's a lot of Thangarians," Kara murmured underneath her breath.

Clark sensed the mystical energy coming off of their weapons, so they would have to be extra careful. One of them flew towards Clark like a mad man. He came inches away from parting Clark's hair with a giant ax. Clark dodged the ax from impacting the top of his head and spun around. He nailed the hawk warrior down across the back of the head and took him to the ground.

Kara circled around them at super speed. She created a miniature cyclone and caused several of the hawk warriors to fly up into the air and snap them back to the ground. The Girl of Steel dropped down to the ground with a smile on her face.

"Kal, to your left!" Kara yelled.

One of the hawk warriors rushed towards him. Clark blocked the hand of the warrior, turned his arm behind his back and kicked him down to the ground. The creature dropped down to the ground with a huge thud.

"Okay, about six down, about six dozen more to go," Kara said.

The creatures rushed towards the two Kryptonians, and Kara and Clark looked into the air before they nodded and did the one thing the Thangarians didn't expect.

They flew straight at them.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 10** **th** **, 2017.**


	54. Chapter 54

Head to the Page of Important Links and vote for the latest chapter of the week voting. The Week Thirty-Six poll is located on the top of my blog.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifty-Four: Midnight Sun Part Two**

* * *

Alex took a couple of nervous steps. She lost contact with both Clark and Kara, but there was no time to worry about that. The only thing Alex concerned herself with was the fact Carol had been captured by these hawk like creatures. It was terrifying to say the very least, and maybe she should have let the DEO get involved.

She reminded how this might not have been a good idea. The DEO was good at their jobs, but there was a lot of red tape to navigate through even at the best of times. Despite them being unconventional for many reasons, they were still a government agency at their heart. They still had to do things by the book, and Alex appreciated that, but during times like this, she was annoyed by it.

Especially during times like this, when time was of the essence. Alex turned her head around and looked down the tunnel. She could see the tunnel illuminated by these torches. She was most certainly getting pretty close, to be honest. Alex reached to her side and pulled out a gun. Something about this weapon made her feel not quite as armed as she would have liked to be.

Yet, she pressed forward, because Alex had to press forward. Alex took those casual steps deeper inside of the temple. She peeked around the wall and heard some very eerie chanting off to one side. The eerie chanting put Alex on guard and caused her to keep looking around. Alex re-loaded the gun and made a movement forward.

She stopped short and walked past a glass case. Alex eyed the case up nervously. Inside the case, rested a blue scarab. The scarab remained motionlessly. Alex looked at it for a long minute and then turned around. She moved, gun in hand, three hundred and sixty degrees to the point where she needed to go.

The eerie chanting coming down the hallway got even more prominent. Alex kept her hand as steady as possible and moved closer towards the chanting. The sounds of battle could be heard slightly above her head. It was Alex's hope that Kara and Clark were going to find their way inside.

' _As good as I am, I'm going to need some backup,'_ Alex thought to herself. _'Okay, here we go.'_

Alex noticed the carvings of the magnificent hawk warriors on the wall. She took another tentative step towards where she needed to go and saw a small army of the hawk warriors standing in the circle in the room. The largest of them all stood with his staff lifted high in the air. He looked to be in the process of making a speech, or perhaps leading a prayer. From Alex's vantage point, it was hard for her to tell.

Moving a couple of steps forward, Alex leaned in and saw Carol dangling above a pit of some kind of red liquid. Alex leaned in and eyed the pit with a nervous gaze in her eyes.

' _Oh, please tell me that's not what I think it is.'_

Alex thought it couldn't be what she thought it was, there was no way possible it was what she thought it was. Still, her stomach was turning, twisting, the stench was overpowering. It was some kind of weird stench, coupled in with some kind of decay, or something.

' _Thirty,'_ Alex thought making a headcount. _'At least, thirty of what I can see. They're not going to make this one easy, are they?'_

"Brothers and sisters, hear me!" the leader of the hawk warriors said. "Hear me, and listen to my words. The time for a sacrifice is near! The time for our warrior goddess to return to us is near. You have all lead me in a prayer, hoping for the safe return of her soul!"

The Hawks all rose their hands in cheers. All of them looked ready.

"And now, you're going to help me bring about her grand return," the leader of the Hawks responded. "I would like to thank this woman who has arrived, for it would not be possible without her noble sacrifice."

Alex tensed up, and she knew with the words "noble sacrifice" she had to make their move. They were going to kill Carol unless she did something about it.

' _Well this is a first, saving Carol from trouble, and not the other way around,'_ Alex thought.

Alex wondered how good this gun would do against those Hawk warriors. There were so many of them and only one of her.

' _Well, you didn't join this line of work because it was easy,'_ Alex thought. _'Let's do this.'_

Alex took a step forward, but before she could shoot, there was something flying in from above her head. She stepped back a step, holding out her gun and bracing herself for what was about ready to go down.

A thunderous crash echoed from high above. Alex followed the progress of both of them dropping down to the ground. She watched Clark slamming the hawk warrior down into the ground from the ceiling. The hawk leader turned towards Clark and raised an ax into the air.

' _So much for stealth,'_ Alex thought to herself, nervously.

Alex pointed her gun towards one of the hawks and took a shot. The shot connected with the back of one of the hawks and caused him to scream.

The others turned their attention towards Alex and blasted right at her. Alex was ready for them, ready to defend herself through any means necessary. They all rushed towards Alex at the same time. Alex avoided the oncoming rush of the hawk warriors. She noticed Clark hurling the other hawk warrior off to one side and getting knocked down to the ground in the process.

"Hang on!" Alex yelled.

* * *

Shayera closed her eyes. She thought all of this was under control, but she guessed not. Shayera was in the process of having another episode. Hard to describe, but Shayer guessed she was experiencing some kind of past life. Several past lives at once.

"No!" Shayera yelled. "No, we can't….we're not gods…you can't make me do this!"

Shayera's wings retracted from the back of her shirt again. Karen and Diana stood on the other side of her, with Diana holding onto the Lasso, finding her.

"Shayera, listen to me, you have to fight whatever you're feeling," Diana said.

"The lights are on," Karen said. "But, I don't think anyone we know is listening."

Karen was no stranger in having false memories, but she doubted this was it. It was something else, something she had never encountered before in her entire life. One look towards Shayera showed the woman thrashing about and trying to break free.

"Shayera, what's going on?" Diana asked. "Come on, you can talk to us, we're your friends!"

"Are you sure that lasso is going to hold?" Karen asked.

Diana was about to mention the lasso should hold, but she felt a tug on it and Shayera had a burst of adrenaline which caused her to rip from the lasso. She flew off to one side, with Diana trying to hold onto the Lasso, struggling to hold onto the Lasso.

One swift mid-air movement and Shayera took flight through the windows of the museum and flew out.

"We've got to go get her, now!" Diana yelled.

Karen answered with a nod and the two of them followed. They had to keep a close watch on Shayera, especially if she turned back to normal in mid-air. That was not going to be a good look on either them. Both of the women followed, as fast as they could go.

"She's making pretty good time," Karen said. "I'll see if I can get in front of her to cut her off, wherever she's going."

Diana frowned, it was almost like there was some kind of divine force causing her to go. She watched when Karen zipped off to the side. Diana noticed her lasso frailing in the air, wrapped around Shayera's waist. It was almost out of reach. Diana had to grab onto it.

So close, yet so far, Shayera pulled away from Diana one more time. Diana kept flying towards Shayera and tried to grab her out of the way. She rushed towards her.

"Shayera, listen to me, you have to stop this!" Diana yelled.

"No!" Shayera yelled. "I have to stop him!"

Diana stopped and wondered who was the he, Shayera was referring to. The Princess of the Amazons made her way closer towards her target in flight. Diana was a couple inches away from grabbing onto the rope around Shayera, but she pulled away one more time.

A blur of light zipped in front of Shayera. Shayera had her hands back on the mace, somehow, and she swung it towards Karen. Karen zipped off to one side and avoided the mace from caving in her face. The Princess of the Amazons moved into the Kryptonian Survivor.

"We're going to have to grab her, now!" Diana yelled.

"I'm on it!" Karen yelled. "Okay, I'm not on it!"

A swarm of Hawk warriors blasted in their direction and came towards Karen and Diana. Diana grabbed one of them by the wrist and flipped him onto the ground.

Karen avoided the swing from one of the blades of the hawk warrior. She grabbed onto the warrior's blade and took him down to the ground. She punched away at him until the blade had been ripped from the hand of the hawk warrior. Karen caused him to land down onto the ground hard.

"We lost her, I can't believe we lost her!" Karen yelled.

"Keep your head before you lose it!" Diana called back.

Another blur came out and caught one of the hawk warriors down. She held a spear in her hand and plunged it into the wings of one of the creatures which caused him to go to the ground. Karen pulled back her sight to see Kara moving her way in. Her face looked pretty scratched up, her cape was torn, and there were dirt smudges all over her, but overall, she was fine.

"Kara?" Kara yelled. "Behind you!"

Karen turned around just in time to block the Hawk's swinging ax. She grabbed him by the wrist and headbutted him in the chest. The Woman of Steel flipped the hawk down to the ground and then she flipped up into the air. The ax had been turned, and Karen flung it, causing some of the hawk warriors to scatter.

"Don't hold back, they're zombies, statue constructs created by the hawk god in the temple!" Kara yelled. "Alex and Clark are in there, fighting them…and I just saw Shayera fly past as well, going into the temple."

They would have really loved to do something with this information, but they were up in their necks with zombie hawk warriors who would not let up their attacks for any reason. Karen grabbed onto one of the axes and pushed the hawk warrior down to the ground with a solid smack.

Diana engaged them in battle. She went sword to sword with her attackers, never once breaking up the battle. The Princess of the Amazons pushed back as hard as possible.

She didn't know why, she didn't know how, but she did know they were running out of time somehow. She took in a deep breath.

* * *

Clark jumped up and kicked one of the hawk warriors down on the top of the head, causing him to crash down onto the ground with a solid smack. Clark returned fire and nailed him with a series of punches down to the side of the head. The hawk warrior tried to push his head up, but Clark held onto his head and forced him down to the ground.

Carol dangled and Clark needed to get her out. Alex fired a shot at the wing of one of the hawks, and it left Clark's path open to grab Carol and remove her from her spot on the ceiling.

A loud boom echoed from the ceiling above where Clark stood, and he knew he dodged a bullet somehow by pulling Carol out of the line of fire. The woman took a deep breath and nodded in response.

"Thank you!" Carol yelled. "Behind you!"

The leader of the hawk gods knocked Clark back with a vicious swing. Clark flew head over heels down to the ground. Carol tried to help, but three of the hawk zombies blocked her path. Good, she needed someone to take her aggressions out on, after being bound and hung over that pit of blood for so long and nearly sacrificed.

"You're not going to ruin it!" the leader of the hawk gods yelled. "No, you're not going to ruin it, not again!"

The leader rushed Clark with the ax and tried to part his hair. Clark held onto the ax and struggled against the attacker. He put his feet underneath the attack and kicked him back into the went towards him and tried to punch the attacker in the side. The hand had been grabbed and the hawk warrior twisted Clark down to his knees. Clark gagged when he had been pushed down to a kneeling position.

"You won't stop me again!" the hawk warrior yelled. "You will not steal my destiny, do you hear me? Thangar will rise again?"

Clark took a deep breath and tried to break out of the attack one more time. Something about the hawk warrior's magic caused Clark to become very dizzy, and made him become vulnerable. Still, regardless of the fact he was vulnerable, he had to fight out of the attack as much as possible.

"No, not at Earth's expense."

"You don't understand, we enriched this planet," the hawk warrior said. "They treated us like gods, and we blessed them….."

Clark broke free of the hawk warriors grip and sent heat vision at him. The hawk warrior used his ax to block the attack and took a deep breath.

"You want to impede progress?" the hawk warrior asked. "Then it will be on your head, literally."

A swing and a miss with the ax, and Clark moved around the hawk warrior. He started to punch at the warrior and catch him with a series of jabs. The hawk warrior's knees crumpled out from underneath him.

A sound echoed, and Shayera of all people burst from the floor. She flew through the Hawk warriors who inclined their heads as if worshipping the woman. They received a violently swung mace to the face for their efforts!

"Get out of my head!" Shayera yelled.

Alex had been pinned down in the corner, but not for long. Shayera rushed to the hawk warriors and obliterated them with the mace being swung hard and fast at them. Alex collapsed against the wall, taking several deep breaths when realizing a very real truth.

' _It's a good thing she's on our side.'_

A damn good thing, as Shayera started to kick ass and take names. She saw the blonde woman who was about to be sacrificed in her name and moved over to take out the zombified hawk warrior statues. She rushed towards the man who brought her to life.

"Welcome, Queen Chay-era!" the hawk warrior boomed in his loudest voice. "You might not recognize me, but I am your beloved…."

Shayera responded by swinging the mace at the ax of the man in question. Both of them looked at each other.

"I know, you're upset, confused," he said. "But, you will become your true self, just like you have in every single other life…"

"No, he was killed, and he moved on in our last life," Shayera said.

She didn't know why she had been chosen to stay behind, but it was what it was. The memory core in this temple must have downloaded the memories of Katar into the mind of this gentleman. He had no sense of himself and believed he was a long dead hawk god.

"He's dead!" Shayera yelled.

"No, I'm not, can't you see it?" the hawk warrior asked. "I'm right here, I'm right with you!"

Shayera swung the mace one more time and smacked it against the wall when the hawk warrior ducked. This was an insult to the memory of her once husband.

"No, no, he's dead!" Shayera yelled. "He's at peace, you're just a victim. The memory core must have uploaded his memories into your mind, it's making you confused."

Shayera swung the mace one more time at the abomination who looked at her. He swung the ax to block it and forced her back to the ground. His hands wrapped around Shayera's throat.

"I'll make you remember!" he yelled. "You will rule beside me again, enlightening the people of Earth…..we will be worshipped. We will be revered. We will be gods!"

Clark returned back into the fight and headbutted the hawk god in the back of the head. He slammed down onto the ground and turned towards the Kryptonian. Fire burned through his eyes and raged filled his body.

"You will not take her away from me!" the hawk warrior bellowed. "Not again!"

Shayera shook her head and noticed a crystal statue at the end of the hallway. She clutched her mace and realized right away what it was. She charged the statue and smashed it as hard as possible with the mace.

A bright light filled the temple along with a loud humming sound. Karen, Kara, and Diana stepped into the temple to join them, almost blinded by the light.

"What happened?"

Shayera had the worst headache possible, and she was down on the ground, breathing heavily. She didn't know what to make of this insanity, one way or another. All she knew, was something really went wrong, in the worst possible way.

Clark turned around and all of the hawk warriors in the temple turned to statues. A cloud of dust covered the ground where the leader of the hawk warriors once stood.

"Everyone okay?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, now we are," Carol said. "Thanks for the assist."

She took a couple of steps forward but collapsed to one knee. She got more of a thrashing than she thought. Thankfully, Alex and Kara were there to hold her up and prevent her from collapsing down to the ground.

Clark looked from one side to the other. He couldn't put a finger on exactly what, but Clark just had one of those feelings something was going on here, and he was pretty sure, it wasn't something she liked.

* * *

Carol Danvers took a deep breath when sitting down on the chair. She was a survivor, no question about it. Today's battle had been a step too close to her though. She thought everything could have gone much worse, had things changed.

' _Well, at least I'm still here.'_

They were back in the DEO headquarters, who learned about the incident after the fact. Carol hoped Alex didn't get in too much trouble for breaking protocol and going into the battle alone. Technically though, she wasn't alone, as Carol reminded herself.

Clark saved Carol as well. She would have to thank him later. Carol turned around and saw Kara standing in the doorway.

"That was way too close, wasn't it?" Kara asked.

"Yeah," Carol said. "So, you did a pretty good job out there, I hear."

"I try," Kara said. "I've got a lot of big shoes to fill, between my sisters and my cousins, but I think I do alright, all things considered."

Carol smiled and shook her head. Glad, Kara came over to keep her company, because Carol was getting a bit stir crazy just sitting here, without much of anything to do. She looked towards the younger girl who sat down.

"Alex wants to make sure you stay here until you're medically cleared," Kara said.

"So, she's enlisted your help to make sure that happens, "Carol said. "I don't think I'm going anywhere."

"Well, it's a good thing we picked it up. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Yeah, we're going to study it."

Alex made her way over, having a conversation with Daisy, and some of the other DEO agents. She moved towards the room and popped in on her sisters.

"So, you two doing okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, we're doing fine," Kara said. "You didn't get in too much trouble."

"Given, I averted a potential interplanetary crisis, I didn't get in as much trouble as I could have," Alex responded. "It was just the standard, never do anything without the consent of the DEO lecture I always get in situations like this. It's no big deal, not real."

"Just as long as you don't get in too much trouble," Kara responded. "I would hate to see anything happen to you."

"Yeah, I would hate to see you lose your job over me," Carol said.

"No, this isn't your fault," Alex said. "But, what happened is pretty weird."

Something told Alex this entire mess was far from over. She couldn't be sure why, but regardless, she made her way around the corner and stopped cold. The blue scarab was in a case and it flickered in the light. Almost as if it reacted to Alex's presence.

"Daisy, did you see that?" Alex asked.

"See what?"

"The scarab, it's flickering," Alex said.

"I don't see any flickering," Daisy said, shrugging her shoulders. "You've had a long and hard way, and you have a lot of paperwork to file….so you really can't go insane before doing that. Because let's face it, paperwork brings enough insanity on its own as is."

Alex's lips flickered into a smile. That it did, that it did.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news."

The voice of Indigo came over the DEO system and caused them to jump into the air. Alex and Daisy both looked nervously at each other.

"She really doesn't have any concept of personal boundaries, does she?" Daisy asked.

"The temple while the statue was destroyed sent out a signal," Indigo said. "It may have been picked up, but someone."

"Who, the Thangarians?" Daisy asked. "I thought they were all extinct?"

Alex shrugged her shoulders. Something rotten was going on right here and now, and she couldn't quite put her finger on what. They would have to keep a closer watch on this situation as it progressed.

* * *

Lara studied the scans which were coming in, and sure enough, The Fortress technology verified what Indigo said to be true. The woman bit down on her lip and took a moment to breathe it.

"I've informed the DEO about the potential invasion coming," Indigo said. "Thangar is not what it used to be, but it still could be a potentially dangerous threat, as there are pockets of Hawkmen and Hawkwomen out there who could cause problems. And Earth is a strategic location for one of their ongoing wars."

"Well, we have a problem," Astra said.

Lara nodded in response. There was a chance Thangarians would not receive the signal, even though it had been sent out. It was hard to trace where the signal exactly went at this point.

"If they received the signal, we do," Lara said.

"We should be under the assumption they did, and prepare for war," Astra said. "It's a good thing, we have an army at our disposal."

Lara took a second to think about that fact and nodded. They did have an army at their disposal, but would that particular army be ready?

"They're going to have to be ready," Astra said. "The real question is, do we take the ultimate step to prepare them?"

"They were a great army without super powers," Lara told Astra. "Therefore, they can still be a great army without them."

Astra nodded in agreement. They needed to prepare for war and all of the horrors within.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 12** **th** **, 2017.**


	55. Chapter 55

**Chapter Fifty-Five: Desperate Measures**

* * *

All things considered, Shayera thought the events of today were a whole lot to take in. Karen and Diana explained everything to her in the best detail possible. Her mind certainly was going a million miles a minute with everything and it took her a fair amount of time to process every single little thing that happened. Her lips pushed together and allowed out one single, tiny whistle in response.

"I know, it's hard to believe," Karen said. "But, it's what happened, you know."

"Oh, I believe it," Shayera said. "Even when I don't want to believe it, I believe it. So much of my life makes sense now, but at the same time, there's a lot more of my life which is absolutely terrifying. I guess you're going to have to take the good with the bad."

Shayera closed her eyes and recalled certain moments in her life, where it seemed like a part of her was was more than she thought she could handle, at least at the moment. She closed her eyes. The change from Shayera to Hawkgirl, or maybe Hawkwoman, was not something she could subconsciously trigger. Only through great moments of stress, or maybe involvement from the Thangarians could she turn it on. It was most certainly not a faucet.

It frustrated her, to say the least. At least now, she was halfway across from the temple. Shayera was tempted to return to the temple, even though the hawk statues inside of it could not harm anyone. She wanted to see what else she could remember by walking around. Maybe, something down there could trigger a past memory?

At the same time, Shayera feared what she might find out. She didn't really remember this past life of hers or really any other past life. It was something which frustrated the stunning warrior woman. She rose to her feet and paced around the museum.

"Hey, it's hard trying to find out you've been living a lie," Karen said.

"Well, this is more than just living a lie," Shayera said. "Is this a cycle I'm doomed to repeat for hundreds of years? Thousands of years even? How far does it stretch back anyway? Am I just going to go around in a circle until the end of time?"

"Just take a deep breath and relax," Diana said.

Shayera responded with and settled back down. She figured Diana had a pretty good point. Relaxing was a good thing, she didn't want to trigger a violent change where she attacked her friends.

"Sorry about any trouble I caused," Shayera said. "I don't think I've said that enough, but I'm truthful…"

"Don't worry about it," Diana said. "There were circumstances beyond your control….but I would highly advise you trying to get the circumstances back under your control. I think it would be a lot easier for all of us, if….what our friends at the DEO are reading this right, and there's a good chance at all."

Aliens, no wonder Shayera always felt a pull to the most strange and mysterious things. She lived several different lives, which she had been put in the middle of the strange and mysterious. Really, Shayera didn't think she could be capable of such a thing as a mundane, standard life. Something about that just didn't resonate with her all that strongly.

"These Thangarians," Shayera said. "It's like a memory which I can't reach."

"Don't try and force it," Karen warned her.

"No, I'm not trying to force it," Shayera agreed. "It's close though. I can feel it. But when I think about it, it's like I'm not ready to remember it. There are some horrible things."

Shayera was once one of them. She still was one of them, if what Karen and Diana said was accurate. Thangarians was a war like race and not at all peaceful to be perfectly honest. They preferred to solve their problems with weapons, and not so many words. It worked because many of the races they were at war with, they were somehow worse.

"If they have targeted this planet, it's not exactly a good thing," Shayera said. "From what I remember, and more importantly, from what I feel. They will not stop until they have what they want. And what they can't have, they will rip apart."

Shayera couldn't help but remember this particular point in the galaxy was an important point for the Thangarians. They must have been submerged in a war, after not checking back on the team they sent for scouting purposes all of those years ago. At least, that was what was evident in Shayera's mind.

"We're going to have to prepare for them," Karen said. "So, if you feel anything else coming on, please let us know."

"Earth is important to them," Shayera said.

"I know," Karen responded. "It's a strategic point in one of their wars. I can't explain it, you're going to have to ask my mother and my aunt about it."

Shayera wished she had the missing piece of the puzzle to explain it as well. There was something missing from all of her past lives, and she couldn't just reach out and grab onto it, no matter how much she really wanted to. Life most certainly wasn't what it once was.

"We're going to have to prepare for them," Shayera responded.

"We have an army which is ready for an invasion," Karen said. "I just really hope there are ready."

Shayera closed her eyes and she could see a flash of something. Winged warriors mobilized for battle, and several war ships descending down on a planet which might have been Earth. Shayera had no idea whether it was an image from the past, a dream she had, or a premonition of the future.

' _It would just be great on top of everything else if I'm seeing into the future as well,'_ Shayera thought. _'This incident on Earth, the beacon, it's bound to draw the attention of the Thangarians.'_

No matter how scattered they were throughout the universe, Shayera honestly felt there was a chance they could invade.

"They're going to get what they want," Shayera said. "I saw them preparing for battle."

"You saw them?" Karen asked. "As in, you saw them recently?"

"I thought I only saw past lives, but maybe I caught a glimpse into a future one," Shayera said. "When I remember more, you're going to be the first to know, I swear, I'll tell you everything I can."

Shayera just wasn't one hundred percent certain they were going to appreciate the answers. Hell, she wasn't one hundred percent certain she was going to appreciate the answers when they were given.

* * *

Astra hated to rush along a process, but at the same time, she understood the circumstances. The Thangarians, even a small chance of them invading a planet which she took on as a personal project, worried Astra greatly. Those war-mongering, brutish hawks left damages to most of the planets they took over. Strategic point or not, Astra didn't see this one being any different. Those hawks would have caused more than a sufficient amount of damage.

Outside of the gates of new Kandor, Astra waited. She could see some of the natives were very restless, which made her decision not to re-power them be even more clear. She stepped outside of the gates and made her way inside of the camp, where training had just concluded.

Astra turned her attention towards a beautiful woman, with dark hair, dressed in the usual Kandorian military attire. She had shining blue eyes, which always locked in a very intense gaze at anyone who encountered their gaze. She always had the look which could crush someone, anyone in her path.

"Faora," Astra said.

"Astra," Faora said. "The fabled General wants a word with me?"

The two of them smiled, and Faora leaned in to allow Astra into the main complex. Most of the Kandorian military officers had their quarters elsewhere, and the troops were spread out across the base. They were able to make the Arctic their own, with a little help from some technology to help expand some living quarters.

"It hasn't been two weeks yet," Faora said.

"Can't I come by for a visit?" Astra asked.

Faora folded her shoulders and looked towards the older woman. The younger clone of the woman who would eventually grow up to be one of the most feared in Krypton locked her eyes onto Astra.

"You are not the time who stops by for a social gathering, Astra In-Ze," Faora said. "You are always business, but in the matters of the Kandorian military, I can hardly blame you. This is not an ideal place for us to be right now. It is a shock to many of us to wake up in this new world."

The last thing many of them remembered was undergoing some kind of medical examination. It didn't seem to be anything, in particular, just a routine physical, which ended with them on a different world. Astra, Lara, and Alura filled them in on everything. They had been part of an emergency effort in case the worst came to worse.

Which was odd, when the Council decided Krypton wasn't declining, despite making plans against it twenty years previous. They had been too reliant on the machine known as Brainiac, Faora found out. It was based on Alura's brilliant system, Indigo. Only, the Council made some not so brilliant tweaks to the system, which were far than from the best.

"No," Astra said. "I understand the Kandorians are still struggling to adjust to their new life.s"

"Struggling to adjust, that's putting it very mildly," Faora responded. "Considering the fact, we're only allowed to see a small portion of the new world we're living in."

"You understand the reasons, don't you?" Astra asked.

"I'm well clear as of why " Faora said. "Knowing the official reasons doesn't make things any more bearable, it just makes them more frustrating."

Astra sighed, she understood where Faora was coming from in a situation like this. She would have been in the same situation if she had been put under house arrest.

"I do agree with the fact we shouldn't be empowered," Faora said. "I thought at first it was our right to receive these powers, but Kryptonians were not meant to live under a yellow sun. Jor-El and Alura were right to deprive us of these powers."

Granted, just because they were fundamentally right, didn't mean Faora had to necessarily agree with them one hundred percent of the way. Still, she knew of the reasons, and could grudgingly accept them, at least she supposed she could grudgingly accept the reasons for this.

"The Kandorians may not be idle for long."

Faora sat up straight. Finally, she had some answers, some transparency on what was going on, maybe.

"Earth is vulnerable to invasion," Faora said. "And you need an army to repel it. Don't you?"

Astra looked like a woman who had exercised all of her options and came to the people of Kandor for a last ditch effort. She took a deep breath and sighed.

"It's the Thangarians."

Faora heard of the Thangarians alright. Who hadn't heard of these war mongering hawks who caused more than enough problems to last several planets an entire life time? Krypton was very fortunate not to cross paths with any of them just yet.

"You're not going to re-power us for this, are you?" Faora asked.

"No," Astra said. "You're a great army, without your powers on Krypton. You can still be a great army without your powers on Earth."

"And given Kal-El is trying to gain the trust of the people of Earth, having an entire super-powered army would undermine that trust," Faora said. "I don't like it, but I understand it."

Earth was not like Krypton, well it was actually more like Krypton towards the end, but without the knowledge, there were other worlds out there. It was distrustful of outside influence, it even had tensions in its own world, which Krypton didn't even have. Earth was very unique, and potentially not in a good way.

"We'll be prepared when you need us," Faora said.

"That's all I ask of the Kandorians," Astra responded. "And good luck with your training. You have the hardest job in all, appeasing them."

"I try," Faora said. "Although we have been given a second chance, and many of them appreciate that. So we have at least that much going for us."

* * *

Outside of Smallville, resided a gateway. Diana and Clark were waiting on the outside of the gateway, dressed for the autumn weather in Smallville.

"Shayera says she remembers a few small bits and pieces," Diana responded. "But at the same time, she doesn't really remember anything too tangible."

"I didn't think she would," Clark responded. "She didn't remember fighting all of those hawks after it happened."

It was like an entirely new person took over her body. Clark could really relate to that particular situation, thanks to some of his past adventures. He leaned back a half of an inch and listened for the hum of the gateway to announce a new arrival.

The gateway flashed open in a blink of an eye, and a young girl, about sixteen years old, exited the portal. She dressed in a black top, a jacket, and a pair of jeans. She looked like a miniature of Diana in every single way possible and had a very wicked grin on her face when she approached. Mischief danced through her eyes.

"Donna, welcome," Diana said.

"We're glad you can make the trip," Clark said.

"Hey, I'm glad I can make the trip too," Donna said. "Mother was going back and forth for ages….but I buckled down and worked on my studies hard, worked on my training. I promised her I would enroll in school when I came back here as well….that would be an adventure."

Clark smiled, she really had no idea how much of an adventure. Donna moved over and hugged Diana in greeting. She shifted over and threw her arms around Clark with a smile.

"Too bad Kara isn't here," Donna said. "Or is it Karen now?"

"Well, Karen is her civilian name," Clark explained. "Like, how I was born Kal-El, but I'm really Clark Kent in the real world."

"Oh, that makes sense, but Diana is still Diana," Donna said. "Or something, I guess, I'll never quite get the hang of this secret identity thing."

Diana just smiled and put a hand on her sister's shoulder. Donna put out her tongue a slight amount in response, as the trio made their way over towards the Kent House.

"Finally, I get a taste of what Diana's been bragging about," Donna said. "I swear, every time she comes back to an island, she rubs my face into the fact she's here, and I'm not."

"Hey, I'm not rubbing your face into it," Diana said. "I'm just trying to give you the incentive to work harder."

"Well, it's working," Donna said. "It's like Ascension day all over again, trying to bust my ass hard. At least, this time, I didn't get into a fight with you, where I got soundly thrashed."

Clark looked at the interaction between both of the sisters with a smile and they continued the banter when heading towards the Kent House. It was a surprisingly short walk from the gateway which had been placed on the island.

He knocked on the door and footsteps could be heard. The door opened up, and Martha opened the door, smiling when she saw her son.

"Clark, it's good to see you," Martha said.

"Sorry, Mom, I would have visited much sooner, but…"

Martha responded by hugging her son and pulling him into the door. Diana and Donna followed inside a moment later.

"No, Clark, I understand how busy you get, "Martha said. "And it doesn't matter because you're here now."

Clark moved closer into the room and saw Chloe and Lana already sitting at the table. They had been hanging out here, waiting for Clark to arrive. Chloe had a cup of coffee, while Lana abstained from doing so. Clark's attention turned to the mysterious teenager sitting at the table with them.

"Hello, Diana, it's good to see you again," Martha said. "Anything interesting at the museum?"

"Well, pretty much the same level of excitement, really," Diana said. "This is my sister, Donna. She's heading to Smallville High School."

"Oh, be careful of the weekly meteor mutant attacks," Chloe said.

"Chloe, you shouldn't scare her like that," Lana said.

"Weekly attacks?" Donna asked in an excited voice. She thought school would be boring, but there would be a chance to be a hero like her sister.

Diana gave Chloe one of those looks which plainly told Chloe not under any means to encourage her sister.

Clark's attention had been focused on the girl who had been sitting at the table. She looked about sixteen, seventeen years old, but there was a haunted look in her eyes. A look of someone who had gone through a whole lot in their life and didn't come out well at the end.

Martha noticed her son and called him over for a second.

"I found her on the road, cold and alone, so I offered her a ride and a place to sleep," Martha said. "She has been staying here and helping around the farm. She claims her name is Tara, but she doesn't remember much of anything else."

"Hi, Tara," Clark said. "I'm Clark."

"Oh, you're Martha's son," the girl said, with a light smile on her face. "I'm borrowing your old room, I hope you don't mind me staying in it."

"Not at all, I'm just glad it's being put to good use," Clark responded.

"Not like the good use you put it through with your star gazing, right, Clark?" Lana asked, with a knowing smile on her face.

The doors opened up and Lois stepped around the corner.

"Hey, Clark," Lois said, she looked half asleep when she made her way.

Lois stopped to kiss Clark, and move over to grab herself a cup of coffee before sitting down on the table.

"Morning, Lois," Tara responded.

"Hey, kid, how are you doing today?" Lois asked. "Guess, you finally met Clark. Told you, he was a big old boy scout, didn't I?"

"Yeah," Tara said.

"But, you couldn't find a better guy, in…..twenty-four galaxies?" Lois asked.

"Twenty-eight," Clark corrected her.

Lois responded with a shrug. "So, there you go?"

It was really surprising this particular girl got along with Lois, given her brazen attitude. Still, Clark couldn't be all that surprised. He looked towards the girl and saw the bracelet "QTX19" on her wrist.

"What's that?" Clark asked.

"What?" Tara asked.

"QTX19?" Clark asked.

"Oh, that," Tara responded. "I don't really know what it is, it's just….I don't know. I was wearing it when I went to Smallville…..do you need any help with the dishes, Mrs. Kent?"

She changed the topic so abruptly, Clark thought he was going to get whiplash. She obviously didn't want to talk about it. Tara moved over to help Martha with the dishes, while Chloe looked at Clark, and moved over to whisper in his ear.

"Trust me, I'm on it," Chloe said.

"Oh, before I forget," Lois said. She was a bit more alert now she had a cup of coffee in her. "Lucy is coming to town next week, for her birthday. So be prepared for her."

"Oh, it would be good to see her," Clark said. "I really thought she was sticking around the last time."

"You know, Lucy, she never sticks around in the same place for too long," Lois responded with a shrug. "Just be ready for anything. I think she might want to stake her claim this time."

"Another one?" Lana asked. "This would be the third girl with the LL initials….pretty soon, we're going to outnumber the rest of the group."

* * *

Clark left the Kent Farmhouse and moved to an apartment on the outskirts of Metropolis to check up on a friend of his. After Carol's little episode with the Thangarians, Clark decided to give her a few days to rest. Alex and Kara both told Clark that Carol was more agitated than anything about being put on the bench.

' _Can't say I really blame her.'_

He took a look around and it was a pretty nice apartment. Not too extravagant, but at the same time, it was very nice. It was in a very respectable part of town as well.

Clark decided to move over to the door and knock on it. He waited for Carol if she was up and around to come and answer the door.

"Jess, I'll call you back."

A pause followed and footsteps approached. The door swung open and Carol answered the door, dressed in a silky red bathrobe which came down to her thighs and showed a glimpse of her magnificent legs. It had been tied at the front as well. Her hair had been let down, coming down in blonde curls.

"Hey, Clark, come in," Carol said. "Hope, you don't mind a bit of a mess."

Clark stepped inside, and saw a couple of pizza boxes in the front room, and an empty gallon of ice cream.

"You'd figure with all of the time off of work, I would have more time to clean up," Carol said. "But, I guess I could…"

Clark zipped about the room and cleaned up the mess. Carol watched him in awe when he made the living area of her apartment about as presentable as possible.

"You're a real life saver, you know that?" Carol asked.

She leaned in closer and captured Clark's lips in a very brief, but also very intense kiss upon the lips. She pulled away from him.

"So, how are you doing?" Clark asked.

"Better than expected," Carol said. "You know, it's going to take more than a couple of hawk zombies to put me down for the count….although from what I could get out of Alex, it seems like the real life thing is about ready to invade sooner rather than later."

Both sat down on the couch.

"And if these Thangarians are going to invade, it's my job to help do what I can to repel the invasion," Carol said.

"We're still trying to figure out if the temple phoned home or not," Clark said. "Given how many light years away the Thanagarians could be, at least we have some time to prepare."

"Good," Carol said. "Better to be prepared, then caught with our pants down…and not in a good way, when the actual invaders come here."

She moved a little bit closer and Carol rested her hand on Clark's thigh.

"So, I overheard Alex and Daisy talking about their big night out with you a couple of weeks ago," Carol said. "And I thought about it, and it wouldn't be right if I didn't get the piece of the action?"

Clark only nodded, Carol was beautiful, powerful, smart, and what man wouldn't want to be with her in a relationship? She rose to her feet and took a nice long look at Clark. Slowly, Carol undid the front of her robe and allowed it to drop down to the ground.

The eye-popping sight of Carol dressed in her bra and panties had been revealed to Clark. Her round melons had been pushed up in a bra, making them look even more immense. Clark's eyes traced down her body, her abdomen was toned, with a sexy navel that looked good enough to eat. Her panties stretched over her wide hips, and there were legs which went down to miles. He traveled up her body, to see her beautiful face.

"I'm not one for waiting around, Mr. Kent," Carol said.

Clark moved across the room and wrapped his arms around Carol. Carol brought her leg around Clark's body and pulled him into a kiss, before slowly guiding him to the bedroom, and also guiding Clark out of his clothes.

* * *

In no time flat, Carol deprived Clark of pretty much every article of clothing, other than his boxer shorts. The beautiful blonde looked at the handsome man before pushing him back on the bed.

Carol pinned down Clark on the bed and climbed on top of him. She heatedly kissed Clark, working her warm lips against his. Clark reached up and grabbed Carol, lightly grabbing onto her backside when she deepened the kiss. She moaned, working her tongue as far into Clark's mouth as possible.

She wanted even more. Carol's tongue shoved into Clark's mouth. The busty blonde beauty rubbed her hands all over Clark's body and could feel the muscles underneath him. Her hand slowly worked down his abs and slowly worked closed in on his crotch, underneath his boxer shorts.

The feeling of Carol's strong hand wrapped around his cock caused excitement to brim through Clark. Carol pumped his rod a couple of times when she kissed Clark. The kisses left his mouth and slowly made their way over the side of his neck. Jolts of pleasure shot all over Clark's body with Carol's intense kissing heating up. She sucked the side of Clark's neck.

"Going to leave your mark."

Carol pulled away from Clark and kissed down his chest, his abs, and then finally released his cock. Only to pull his boxer shorts down and reveal the cock, standing up like an iron bar.

' _Man of steel, indeed.'_

Red plump lips wrapped around Clark's hard cock and Carol pushed it into her mouth. She sucked, as hard and fast as possible on Clark's engorged rod. Her hand cupped his balls when sucking Clark off.

Clark closed his eyes and felt Carol's mouth wrapped around his throbbing hard cock. Every single inch of that extremely sexy and extremely able mouth tightened around Clark's rock hard rod. She slowly slurped Clark's manhood.

Carol smiled and could feel the reaction of Clark when she sucked his cock. It turned her on to have such a big, throbbing piece of meat in her mouth. The oldest Danvers sister wanted to ride it in a moment or two. Carol grabbed Clark's hips and slowly sucked him down her throat. Her warm lips kept smacking around him.

"CAROL!"

Her mouth felt so good. Carol knew what she wanted and was going to do everything she could to achieve those ends, Clark suspected. The rewards of this temptress sucking his cock was great. He wanted to do more with her. Clark reached up and gripped the back of Carol's head. Blonde locks grabbed in Clark's hands when he pushed his hard rod into Carol's waiting mouth.

The intense mouth fucking made Carol's eyes water ever so slightly. Those big swollen balls bounced across Carol's chin. Every single inch of Clark's mighty rod stretched out her mouth. Carol breathed lightly and could feel more of Clark buried inside of her mouth.

Clark kept working himself into Carol's mouth. His balls grew heavy. Carol, sensing weakness, grabbed onto his balls and squeezed them tight. The bursting of cum shot into Carol's mouth. Clark rose his hips up and injected a blast of power seed into her mouth.

The pleasure released in Clark's loins was very intense. Carol kept sucking Clark, as hard and fast as possible, to the point where the young man saw stars. Her able hands grabbed Clark's balls and gave them a hearty squeeze while sucking as much of his cum as possible down.

Clark groaned at the sudden release of cum firing inside of her mouth. She sucked him down as much as possible, drinking the essence from his balls. Clark's expanding and releasing of his cum kept firing his immense load inside of Carol's throat.

Carol drank down the seed which dribbled to her mouth. When she was done, sucking, she used the cum still dribbling down Clark's cock as a lubricant. She rubbed his cock up and down.

"Ready for more, stud?" Carol asked. "I know those big balls can hold a few loads….and the power of the yellow sun can recharge you….but here's something else that can recharge you."

Her bra dropped to the ground, and Carol held out her ample breasts, making them look larger. They bounced with her movement. Carol turned around and slowly slid down her panties. Legs had been spread for Clark, her dripping pussy exposed for him, along with her ass. A slap of Carol's round ass caused him to groan. She moved closer and Clark reached out to grab her ass and held it tight.

"Nice, ass," Clark groaned.

"Thank you," Carol said.

Clark spun her around and positioned the super-powered blonde on his cock. Carol's wet pussy lined up for his manhood, about ready to receive it. Clark worked his cock inside of Carol's willing lips and could feel her walls tighten around her.

"Damn, so tight!" Clark demanded.

Carol closed her eyes. She never felt a cock so mighty penetrate her walls. Granted, she could count on one hand the number of long-term boyfriends she had and have fingers left over. Carol pushed her walls around Clark's massive cock to bury it deeper inside of her body.

"Yes!"

The meeting of their flesh increased. Carol rose up on Clark and pushed her loins down onto his rod. The stretching of the beautiful blonde's pussy got even more intense. Carol rose up and dropped down on his throbbing hard cock. Every time she edged a little more of this hard cock inside of her, Carol felt really good.

Clark felt the feeling of Carol pushing up and down on him. Those round, tanned breasts slapped his face. Only one thing to do and that was for Clark to take a hearty helping of flesh.

Those round orbs melded in Clark's hand. One glimpse of Carol's bouncing body only encouraged Clark to delve into more of the sexy blonde's flesh. The moans increased in passion and doubled in intensity when Clark latched his mouth around her nipple and sucked the hardened nub as hard as possible.

Carol's pleasure doubled the more Clark worked over her nipple. She couldn't deny this huge cock parting her walls was intense. Carol tried to keep up with him, but she had been tested. Carol re-doubled her efforts, to ram his cock into her body.

"I want this, I want all of this!" Carol begged him.

Clark spent some time alternating between her nipples and slightly pulled back before motor boarding Carol's ample chest. It shot pleasurable sensations down her body the more Clark pleasured her nipples. Clark worked over these ample mounds of flesh and made Carol particularly ooze with lust the more Clark worked over her nipples.

Determination to cum hit Carol, or maybe an obsession to cum and make Clark cum. She drove her warm walls down onto Clark's engorged cock. Each rise and each lower made her pussy get filled with as much of Clark's cock as possible. Carol clenched around Clark, and for the first time in a long time, worked up a sweat.

The sweat was good, it was like she was really feeling the burn, and really feeling how she got fucked. Harry pushed his hands around Carol's thighs and squeezed her hips around him. Carol brought her warm hips down onto Clark's throbbing cock and released him with a few more solid pumps. Carol slid down onto the base of Clark's cock and released.

"Mmm, yeah, right there," Carol breathed. "Harder, Clark, harder, really make me feel it! Stretch my pussy, out, make me feel so good!"

Clark grabbed onto Carol and pushed his rod inside of her tightening pussy walls. Carol gripped onto Clark as hard as possible and released his cock. More of his cock penetrated her tight body when rising and falling on it, at a very fast, and intense speed.

"You've got it," Clark groaned, pushing his iron rod inside of Carol's waiting pussy. She stretched out and rose and dropped on him.

Every single time Carol dropped her pussy down onto his cock, Clark could feel the moisture of her walls wrapped around his throbbing cock. Carol stretched her wet walls down onto his throbbing hard cock and released it. Every single time, it was good, it was intense.

Every single time Carol came, she thought her mind was going to explode. She pushed all the way down onto Clark's rock-hard cock and then released him. Carol kept bouncing her way down his throbbing rod and made sure to feel his cock inside of her body.

"Mmm, Clark," Carol breathed in pleasure. "That's the best spot, right there!"

Clark held onto Carol's hips and pushed her further down onto his aching rod. Her womanhood stretched around his cock and released him in a fluid motion. Several long rises and falls made Clark feel really good. His balls ached, and he knew it was only a matter of time.

He made sure to work Carol to another intense orgasm. Two round breasts were ready to be played with and Clark didn't hesitate in taking them in hand. He molded her breasts and made them his.

Carol descended down onto his throbbing cock. She channeled all of the strength into her vaginal muscles, stretching her walls around them. Carol rocked up and down on Clark and shoved more of her pussy down onto his throbbing hard cock.

"That's it, right there!" Carol begged him.

Clark's balls constricted and released their seed into her wet pussy from underneath. He couldn't hold himself back from pumping a very thick load inside of Carol's body.

Carol grabbed and released Clark's cock to milk him. Her body shook at the intensity of his balls firing inside of her body. Every single motion was fluid poetry, and Carol brought herself down onto his hard cock with a smile. Every time he filled her, Carol entered a blissful thrill.

One final orgasm passed through Carol, and Clark could feel the effects of it. This round was just completed, but the night was far from done, which suited Clark fine.

Carol slid off of Clark's cock and collapsed back on her bed. Her thighs spread invitingly when they oozed with cum. Clark rolled over and gave her a light kiss, before moving on top of her. His powerful body pressed against hers, causing a delightful amount of friction.

"More," Carol begged him.

"Of course."

Clark was hardened for the third time, Carol's curvy body got him hard. He grabbed onto her hips, positioned his cock, and slammed inside of Carol. Her moans excited Clark and made her want to fuck her even more.

So, Clark Kent did, until the sunrise the next morning.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on 9/15/2017.**


	56. Chapter 56

**Chapter Fifty-Six: Vision**

* * *

A bright light surrounded Lana Lang and she took a moment to take in her surroundings. Her head shook, and it almost felt like she was surrounded by deep water, which she had been submerged inside. Lana took a deep breath and tried to adjust to her new surroundings, but it was very hard to adjust to them where she was.

Lana found herself submerged inside a cloud of mist next. She took half of a step forward, and the mist got thicker. Yet, Lana just had to keep walking, there was something which compelled her to keep moving forward, despite this entire situation seeming like it was just her going around in a circle. Several minutes of walking passed, but then Lana stopped.

The mist lightened up a little bit and allowed Lana to turn about in the field. Things were much more visible, and she didn't think it was a good thing. Lana saw hordes of winged warriors descending down on the sky. She turned around, just in time to see the people of Smallville back off in horror.

Those poor people, they have been through so much. Lana could hardly name everything they had been through during their lives. One of the men screamed when the warriors destroyed a home. Lana clutched her fist, which shook with rage. Her deep breathing continued, when looking around.

"It's awful, isn't it?"

Lana turned around and noticed a figure standing in the midst. She motioned for Lana to follow her through the mist, and Lana did, not quite knowing what to make of this situation. There were a lot of things about this entire vision which seemed off, even though Lana could not quite put her finger on why.

' _Okay, this is weird,'_ Lana thought. _'Actually, I'll go even further and say, this is really beyond weird.'_

The last thing Lana remembered, she drifted off to sleep, after getting some homework done. Then, she ended up in the middle of the field. Could this be a dream? Lana had to think it could be, but things seemed so much more vivid than the usual dream. The sights, the smells, the sounds, just everything around her seemed far more vivid than even Lana could realize.

Suddenly, Lana looked up and could have fallen over in surprise. The mysterious green-eyed girl from the painting stood in front of her.

"You, you're real."

"In a sense I am," she responded. "But, in a sense, I'm a long distant memory. But exactly what I might be, and what I might not be, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is the world around you. We are reaching a very pivotal point sooner or later."

"So, wait, this is the future?" Lana asked.

"Well, this is a potential future," the girl concluded. "One of many potential futures, but it isn't the only future."

Lana really hoped this future wasn't the only future. Everything seemed so dire, and it made Lana just want to cure up. A soft and encouraging hand fell onto Lana's shoulder. Lana could feel strength coming from the touch, but also, there was something else to this touch. Lana couldn't put her finger on what.

It was almost like a great burden was being placed upon her shoulders now. A year or so ago, Lana might not have been ready to receive such a burden. Now, times have changed, Lana did a lot of thinking and realized, she had her own part to play.

"A potential future," the mysterious girl repeated. "Clark, he has the potential to lead Krypton to a brand new age, and Earth as well….but Lana and the rest of his friends…..which is rapidly becoming his Collective Network, you all have your parts to play."

Lana didn't know what to make of this. She saw the images of brutality and war around her. Not something she liked to see, no matter how much she was used to seeing it. Spending most of her life in Smallville made her sadly used to a lot of problems.

"Just who are you?" Lana asked.

All Lana received for her troubles was a very soft and very mysterious smile. The woman reached in and cupped Lana on the top of her head.

"My name isn't relevant to our conversation, at least not right now," she responded. "Just remember, stand by Clark, and embrace yourself, embrace all you can be. Embrace all you can be, and remember, don't let what your ancestor did you taint your full abilities."

Lana didn't really know what to make of the situation. This woman, the same one from the painting, visited her in this dream, or maybe vision for a potential future. Everything started to grow fuzzy around them until Lana and the woman stood next to each other in a field of mist.

"Good luck."

The emerald-eyed figure leaned in and touched her lips onto Lana's with a very powerful kiss. Lana had been surprised, but at the same time, very pleased with the quality of the kiss. Her lips warmed, and something swelled through her body. Was it power? Lana couldn't tell. Regardless though, it was something which sent a pleasurable heat through parts of her body.

A blink of an eye passed, and Lana turned over in bed, surprised. She could still feel the tingles in her body. It was some dream, wasn't it?

But yet, there was a sense in Lana's body, what just happened was very real, even though it took her a very long time to process her thoughts.

* * *

Clark could have registered his amusement very handily. Lois always had a tendency to get excited about things, or rather get deadly focused on things. Chloe sat next to him and was torn between laughing, and just crying out in exasperation.

"Okay, I just got a text from Lucy," Lois said. "And she's keeping out of trouble, for once in her life, that's a good thing."

"Well, maybe she's learned her lesson," Clark said.

"You should know one thing about us Lane girls, Smallville," Lois responded. "It takes us forever to learn our lesson….and before you make a snappy remark about how I'm speaking experience, yes, I agree with you, I am speaking from experience."

Clark just turned his attention away from Lois to smile. It wasn't really too much fun when she made the snappy retort herself, instead of allowing Clark to do so. Maybe it was just him though.

"But, still, she's coming for her birthday," Lois said. "Maybe this time, you can convince her to stick around."

As much as Lucy annoyed Lois a lot of time, it was still a good idea to keep her sister under close watch. If Lois knew where Lucy was, then she could get her out of trouble. Besides, Clark and Chloe could help her as well.

"She's mellowed out a little bit, Lois," Chloe said.

"That's because she knows she'll get something out of being a good girl," Lois said. Her eyes traveled onto Clark for a minute, before turning to Chloe. "I don't really mind, well not now. I would have minded if she would have gotten a piece of Clark before I did."

"Nice to know I'm a prize in a race," Clark said.

Lois just shook her head, half-smiling, and half-ignoring Clark.

"Maybe, half of her problem is, she hadn't gotten properly laid," Lois responded. "I don't know, but I think everything really just went to hell when our mother was gone."

Lois rarely talked about her mother, and Chloe knew the good reason. She had some mild abandonment issues over her mother dying. It left Lois to mostly take care of herself and her sister, when General Lane was moving them around the country, to protect it from whatever threats.

"Maybe, you should just talk to each other," Clark said.

Lois snorted in response. "You really think it's that simple, Smallville?"

Clark thought it was only not simple because Lois made it not simple. She complicated her own life through several means, and she could have had a lot easier life if she would have allowed herself to do so.

"The point is, I'd like to ask you a favor, for you two to join me when we pick her up tomorrow," Lois said. "I'm sure she would be over the moon to see you, she would have gotten in your pants if some asshole hadn't attacked the club you were in and ruined the moment."

"That happens way too much in Smallville," Chloe said.

"Yeah, tell me about it."

Lois hated to admit it, but Smallville might not have been the normal town she thought it was. Granted, she had been to some pretty odd places in her life. But, given the fact she was currently part of the collective of an alien, perhaps Lois shouldn't be the one to talk about how odd things are. Maybe she really shouldn't.

"I'm heading off for a drink," Lois said. "If you want to join me….fine. But if not, I'll be back by sunrise….although listen for a phone call, just in case."

"Oh, we know the drill," Chloe said, smiling.

Boy, did they ever know the drill? Lois leaned over to steal a kiss from Clark, and also she hugged her cousin, before giving her a kiss as well, as if this was no big deal. Lois made her way over to the club.

"So, what are the odds we get a call?" Chloe asked.

"Pretty high," Clark said. "What have we gotten ourselves into?"

"The same thing we've been getting ourselves into once a week since we were about fourteen?" Chloe asked, with a shrug.

A blur popped up from the sky, and Karen dropped down in front of them. She had just returned from New Krypton with news.

"So, Astra informed them about the potential Thangarian invasion," Karen said. "So, the troops are getting ready for that, and getting ready for battle."

Clark would have preferred there was no invasion, but it was nice to see everything was getting ready for a battle which may come sooner rather than later.

"Also, we may have figured out how to stabilize our daughter," Karen said. Chloe looked confused. "You know, our Bizarro twin which took on aspects of both of our DNA."

Chloe nodded, that made perfect sense.

"She could be useful if we can get her stable," Karen said. "Alura, Raya, and Faora are working on her, we should hopefully get some progress."

Clark hoped they were right with the progress. There was also the fact the Thangarians were coming.

"Did Astra say whether or not we should empower the Kandorians or not for the invasion?" Clark asked.

"Astra did mention she didn't think it was a good idea," Karen said. "They were a great army without their powers on Krypton, and they could still be a great army without their powers on Earth."

Clark was in two minds about this entire situation. On the one hand, he didn't think more super powered Kryptonians would be a good idea. But on the other hand, it would be useful. Jor-El and Alura seemed to agree it would be more trouble than it was worth.

Then again, Astra took painstaking care to make sure some of the more problematic clones did not escape from the orb. So, there was that as well. This wasn't exactly an easy solution for anyone to make, Clark especially.

"Is it our right to make that decision for them?" Clark asked.

"Commander Faora actually agreed," Karen said. "Whether or not any of the others agree, that's something you're going to have to ask the Kandorians on a case by case basis"

* * *

A small group of shady looking gentlemen surrounded a table, which overlooked a lab. The screams of a test subject could be heard in a distance.

"We need to regroup with our next plan," one of them responded. "Our benefactor requires more soldiers to stop the alien threat from overwhelming this world."

"But, with QTX19 disappearing, we have lost one of our most valuable assets," one of the scientists responded.

"We have lost an asset, but not the most valuable asset. We are taking steps to ensure there are no problems with the next one."

All of the scientists turned around, in time to see the man walking up the steps. The chief advisor of the science department, Professor Hugo Strange made his way around the corner to face the scientists. All of them looked at Strange with a fair amount of respect, coupled with an extreme amount of fear. Strange's reputation of sadistic brutality proceeded him.

"My friends, we learn much more with each batch of recruits," Strange responded. "We have learned that death is not the final road for the meteor mutants. As long as there is enough of their bodies intact, then we will use the same meteor rocks which gave them their abilities to bring back to life."

"Yes, Professor Strange," one of them nodded. "But the results have mixed. We have had some real Frankenstein creations."

"Remember, Frankenstein was the scientist, not the monster," Strange said, chuckling. "Although, some scholars think the distinction between the two was very narrow indeed."

A small group of scientists, working for this organization, wheeled in a body.

"The rate of decomposition is much slower thanks to their exposure to the meteor rocks," Strange narrated to the people involved. They all responded with casual nods in response. "Therefore, we can bring them back to life, even if they had been to officially deceased for several years."

Many people would have thought it would not have been right to play God. Strange disagreed through, he looked very much forward to seeing the process of someone coming back to life. Strange would have rubbed his hands together in excitement.

"The file, as you requested, sir."

Strange received the file in his hand and opened it. He flipped through the file, interest flashing through his eyes when he read every single word of the file.

"Well, many of them have a connection to Clark Kent," Strange said. "But, I've learned much about this young man, through my conversations with Mr. Luthor some time ago. And the more I read through these old files at Belle Reve, the more I realize just how unique he could be…..must be why my supervisor commissioned this particular…"

All of the other scientists looked at Strange with curiosity. He worked with another team higher up in the pecking order in the organization.

"Regardless, our newest guest, she died a few years ago," Strange responded. "Killed, by a zealous man, despite the fact she could have easily teleported out of the way, should she have chosen to. Lead appears to be her Kryptonite….to use a term."

Strange chuckled in response and looked down at the file. His grin widened when looking over everything.

"Everything is connected to Clark Kent, but this connection is among the most intimate I've ever seen," Strange said. "No matter, she will be given a brand new life, and a brand new purpose."

Strange snapped his fingers and turned towards his scientists.

"Prepare her for the refined process," Strange said. "And do take proper care to make sure there are no foul ups. I prefer there are not any surprises this time."

Everyone worked to bring this newest guest of the facility back to life. Strange smiled, he gained access to several important files at Belle Reve, copying them over from his time working there, and he also learned a lot from Mr. Luthor.

Cadmus would have the final line of defense for alien threats in the world. They would be the last people to block the menace. And the menace was growing, after whispers of a hawk warrior women flying around in the world. This was just the beginning.

Strange would be on the edge if it wasn't so interesting. He always had been excited with tapping into the secrets of a human mind. Never, in Hugo Strange's wildest dreams would he ever think, he would be tapping into the secrets of a more alien mind.

* * *

Daisy just politely listened to Alex when she was trying to tell her something. The two of them moved over towards the scarab, and they were starting at it. It remained immobile.

"Okay, you want to move when there's no one else looking," Alex said. "But, when no one else is around, you don't want to move. I don't get you, I don't get you at all."

Daisy started on the scarab, focusing. She started to turn away, and then she snapped her head back, hoping to catch the scarab in the act of movement. Unfortunately for her, it didn't seem to want to play ball, which was a very frustrating thing to be possible.

"Please tell me you don't think I'm going crazy," Alex said.

"Well, you have been working hard," Daisy said. "But, no, I don't think you're going crazy. At least, I don't think you're going crazy about this. This is some kind of weird alien tech where we haven't been able to scratch the surface of what it does. If it does anything."

Oh, it did something alright, but Alex was at a loss to figure out precisely what it did. Alex thought about trying to talk to it when no one was around. She debated on whether or not it was a good idea to take the scarab out of the case but dismissed it as a very bad idea.

' _That's just encouraging trouble,'_ Alex thought.

Regardless, she locked her eyes on the scarab and waited for it to make some kind of move, no matter how creepy that might have sounded. She eyed the object in the tank when it shifted.

"Okay, it being unmoving is even more creepy than it moving," Daisy said. "I'll give you that much….but do you really think it's stalking you?"

"It wouldn't be the first person, thing, whatever, to stalk me," Alex said.

Daisy sighed, boy was that ever the truth. Alex had more than her unfortunate fair share of stalkers, hell, Daisy had quite a few stalkers from back in the day as well. It was a very frustrating thing to think about for sure. She turned off to the side and then turned back, to face forward.

The doors opened, and they had been surprised to see Tess walk into the DEO. She had a very tense relationship with the management of the DEO and for very good reason. Alex and Daisy greeted their fellow Collective member with smiles.

Tess stopped for a short moment and looked at the scarab. She stared at it for a few seconds, and it made Alex and Daisy wonder why she was staring at it for so long.

"Well, that's interesting."

Tess turned around and walked completely out the way. Daisy rolled her eyes before turning back to Alex for a minute.

"Am I the only one who hates when she's all vague about what's going on?" Daisy asked. "Because, seriously, she could just tell us, or something, if she knows something."

Alex responded with a shrug. She had been working in the government for a very long time, so dealing with people who were vague just went along with the territory to be perfectly honest. Come to think of it, Daisy should have been just about as used to it as well, having worked in the government.

Then, there was the scarab, that creepy thing. It shifted a fraction of an inch when Alex moved closer towards it. She thought about opening up the case but decided not to. Alex could not under any circumstances.

"Hey, guys."

Alex and Daisy turned around and saw Kara standing there. Alex wasn't going to lie, her young sister wore the standard issue DEO uniform quite well.

"So, you're part of the team now," Alex said.

"Yeah, you said if I wanted to help, I should do things officially," Kara said. "Besides, who better than to go against aliens than another alien?"

"Just remember," Alex said leaning towards her sister. "You're a junior agent of the DEO."

"Yeah, but if I do a good job, I can work my way up to full-time agent, can't I?" Kara asked.

"Well, I can't fault someone with ambition," Daisy said. "Speaking of which, hey kid, get us a cup of coffee…..nice and hot….but not too hot, because we don't want to burn our tongues or anything."

"Right, two cups of coffee on the way," Kara said.

Daisy and Alex were directly supervising her, so she needed to listen to everything they said. Even the mundane stuff like fetching them a cup of coffee, which they were doing right now.

Alex turned to Daisy, who shrugged her shoulders in response.

"You can't just use my sister as an errand girl to…"

"Here, you go."

Alex stopped and Kara handed her a cup of coffee. She handed one to Daisy as well. Alex took the cup of coffee and drank it. It wasn't too bad, not bad at all.

"Not bad, at all," Daisy said. "Could use a bit more milk, but considering it's your first day, I'll let you slide."

Alex sighed and then turned drinking her coffee. She kept her eyes fixated on the scarab, expecting it to move and being a bit nervous when it didn't. She didn't really know what to make out of a situation like this.

' _I guess I'll find out sooner rather than later.'_

* * *

Smallville's notoriously brisk Autumn weather caused a mild breeze to blow around them. Clark, Lois, and Chloe awaited Lucy's arrival in town, and they were not the only ones who were standing there. Diana and Donna waited for them as well.

"So, how's Shayera?" Clark asked.

"She's back to work," Diana said. "I think she's keeping herself busy, to try and avoid thinking about what happened too much."

Clark answered with a nod. Learning you're an alien could be a heavy burden to bare, boy Clark knew that about as much as anyone else out there. Shayera didn't have a sufficient amount of time to come to terms with everything, including several past lives by the looks of things.

A nice sport's car pulled up, and Lucy exited the car, with a smile on her face.

"Clark!" Lucy yelled in surprise. "Lois didn't mention you were coming to meet me when I came into town."

Lucy ran down the driveway and went right past her cousins, and the two Amazons. She threw her arms around Clark and descended her tongue down his throat with a very intense and passionate kiss. Clark held onto the back of Lucy's head and guided his tongue into her mouth without too many problems.

Lois sighed when she shook her head. Chloe looked about ready to laugh.

Without any shame, the younger Lane sister pulled away from Clark with a squeeze of his ass and she winked at him.

"Hey, Chloe, you've been keeping out of trouble," Lucy said.

"Trying to," Chloe said. "How about you?"

"Trying to," Lucy said with a smile.

"You remember, Diana, right?" Clark asked. Lucy nodded in affirmation.

How could she forget such a beautiful and imposing woman? Lucy looked over the younger girl next to Diana.

"This is her sister, Donna," Clark said.

"Oh, another person who knows what it's like to have an overbearing older sister," Donna said, moving over. "Hey, Lucy it's good to meet you."

"Hey, nice to meet you as well," Lucy said. "Although, Diana isn't half as bad as Lois is."

"Thanks for the compliment," Diana said dryly.

"Are you trying to say I'm really bad?" Lois asked.

Diana just smiled and responded by lightly touching the top of Lois's head. Lois shook her head and turned around. Lucy, finally, turned around to her.

"So, it's my birthday," Lucy said. "Did you remember to get me something this year?"

"Don't worry, I'll remember to give you a good kick in the ass."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 19** **th** **, 2017.**


	57. Chapter 57

Head to the page of important links to vote for the latest chapter of the week poll at the top of the blog.

* * *

 **Chapter Fifty-Seven: Night Out.**

* * *

Clark, Chloe, Lois, Lucy, Donna, and Diana arrived for a night on the town. They made their way into the same club Alex and Daisy took Clark to a few weeks ago. The sounds and the sights were amazing when they entered the club, and Lucy turned to Clark with a smile.

"Hopefully tonight ends a lot better than the last time we went on an outing," Lucy said.

"Oh, hopefully, you didn't just incur Murphy's wrath," Chloe said with a smile. "Seriously though, Lucy, just try and relax, and have a good time. If something happens, we'll just go to have to worry about it on our own terms, when it happens."

Lucy responded with a nod and a light smile crossed over her face. She really hoped nothing happened, but given some of the stories regarding Smallville, it seemed highly likely there might be some chaos. Still, she made her way over, to get a drink, because it was her birthday.

Donna stepped into the club, in awe of the sounds. This was a very new experience for her. Lucy noticed the younger girl's looking around the club, almost in awe.

"You look lost," Lucy said, almost teasingly, but she did look at Donna for a few seconds.

"Actually, kind of," Donna answered, shrugging her shoulders lightly. "I've never been in a club like this before, there's nothing like this back home. I didn't even think there were places like this….."

"Come on, let's get a drink," Lucy said.

Donna shrugged, to be honest, Lucy had a little bit more experience in these matters than she did. Lucy grabbed her by the hand and lead her over towards the bar. She was just glad to be a part of this, even though Donna really had no idea what to make of the new experience in the club.

Diana and Lois watched the two of them for a few seconds, and both wondered if they were going to get into any trouble. While their little sisters both had mellowed out recently, there was also that mischievous spirit dancing within both of them which could be potentially very worrying.

"Why don't we have a drink as well?" Lois asked. "To keep an eye on them?"

Diana responded with a nod. She liked to give her sister a little bit of space, she enjoyed space when she was that age. Unfortunately, she didn't get as much space as she would like at that particular age. Diana took a half of a step forward towards the bar.

It left Clark and Chloe alone in the midst of the club with each other. Chloe turned her attention to Clark. "Well, I'd ask you to dance, but why embarrass both of us?"

Clark laughed at Chloe's rather light hearted attempt to lighten the mood. He turned his attention towards another figure who made her way into the club.

"Hey, Lana," Chloe said, acknowledging her first.

Lana's eyes snapped off to the side and smiled, before nodding at Clark and Chloe. In an instant, Clark knew something was going on. Lana really wasn't her usual self to be perfectly honest. Clark decided to move over towards her and close in on Lana.

"You look like you could use a drink," Clark responded.

"Yeah, that's why I was here, actually."

Clark took Lana to the arm and brought them over to the bar. The far off look in Lana's eyes was very concerning, and Clark wondered what was going on with her. She didn't seem like her usual self. The two old friends turned lovers, settled down by the bar. Lana reached in and grabbed Clark's fingers with a desire.

"I had a weird dream," Lana admitted out of the blue. "Well, it wasn't necessarily a weird dream, it felt more like a weird nightmare, or something like that….where I met her….the mysterious ancestor who was in that painting."

Clark knew precisely who Lana was talking about, and hoped, for all of their sakes, they were not having a relapse of the entire Isobel fiasco. But Lana didn't seem to think so, by the look on her face.

"I saw something, Smallville…it was being attacked by aliens," Lana said. "Hawk aliens…they were going to destroy everything. I'm pretty sure it just wasn't Smallville, they were everywhere…..and you might be the only hope to save the world."

"Maybe, but there are others who can help out," Clark responded. "This was just a dream, right? Or was it something else?"

"No," Lana responded. "It was more than a dream, it was like a glimpse into the future, it was a glimpse into a possible future."

Lana didn't like these glimpses in the future if she would be perfectly honest. The people of Smallville had already been through so much, especially over the past couple of years. How life was, before the meteor shower, it was like a distant memory to be perfectly honest. She closed her eyes for a second.

"I'll be here," Clark said.

Clark tried not to look too worried and ruined this night, but Lana's vision, dream, or whatever it was, started to confirm a very ugly truth. The Thangarians may have gotten the signal. Were they going to be here in a matter of weeks, months, or years? Clark didn't know, but he had a strong suspicion they were going to be here sooner rather than later.

"Lois was so pissed off when it happened!" Lucy cried. "But, she admitted she did worse, but I had to practically twist her arm to do it."

"Diana would have been upset as well," Donna said.

"I was such a brat when I was younger," Lucy admitted. "I guess….we've all grown up, but there are some of us who always will have some growing to go."

Lucy admitted, she wasn't perfect, far from it. She had the same challenges Lois did, trying to please their father. General Lane had been colder since their mother died, even though Lucy didn't remember their mother. Lois did, but trying to get her to talk about it, was like trying to get a mule to move.

"Hey, Lana, do you mind if I snag Clark for a moment?" Lois asked.

"Sure," Lana said. "It's fine, Clark, I'll be fine."

"If you're sure?"

"Yes, Clark, I'm sure, trust me," Lana said, and she leaned in to kiss him on the lips, firmly, to show just how sure she was about this entire situation.

Chloe and Diana hung out with each other, watching Lois and Clark disappear around the corner.

"So, anything with the Thangarians?" Diana asked.

"Well, that weird vision of Lana's got me worried," Chloe said. "But, I don't even know if it was just a vision, or if there's something even more tangible to it. The Kandorians are supposed to be ready for battle….have you asked your sisters for help yet?"

"I'm going to go and talk to my mother," Diana said. "They helped with the Ares incident because that's a problem which affected the Amazons. Whether or not they're going to help for this one, well, we're just going to have to wait and see."

Diana had an uphill battle in convincing her sisters, this was a matter which affected them. They were isolated, even though Hippolyta loosened the reigns. There were some who thought they were better off not mingling with this world. And there were those who thought they should go to war, a though Hippolyta discouraged because it went against the teachings of Hera.

Still, Diana was confident in her abilities to convince them that joining forces was the right thing to do, at least, that's what she hoped. She leaned back on the chair and took a drink.

"Shayera's doing better at least," Diana said. "She hasn't had any more episodes yet, but she's still on edge."

"And rightfully so," Chloe responded.

* * *

Daisy often joked how Alex could get fixated on a problem like it was no one else's business. She frowned and looked at the object in front of her. A fixation on this particular item, this scarab, was something which dominated Alex's mind for at least the last few weeks.

The scarab only showed signs of movement, and signs of life, when Alex was around. Alex hated it because it made her look very insane, except, Alex thought she was not insane, at least, she had not been driven insane by this particular thing. Alex locked her eyes on the scarab, almost as if studying it. She hoped to trick it into revealing its hand.

How long had she been sitting there? Alex had taken to spend a couple hours each day sitting here, trying to figure out the scarab. She tapped on the case, to try and get it to react. One of the lights blinked, and the scarab shifted its movement, before dropping back into place.

' _What are you?'_

This question and a couple more pressing ones made their way into Alex's mind on a very constant loop. She edged closer to the side of the case and frowned when taking a careful look at the edge of the glass case. She thought about opening it, if nothing else, to see what might happen if she did.

' _That's a very bad idea,'_ Alex reprimanded herself.

Alex pulled away from the scarab in the case and continued to frown. She heard some footsteps, which meant someone was coming. Kara made her way around the corner, holding a cup of coffee. Alex turned to her sister, half of a frown on her face.

"You didn't have to bring me coffee," Alex said.

"I didn't have to," Kara concluded with a nod. "But, you looked like you needed some coffee, so I brought some for you."

Alex hated when her sister spoke logic, either of them in fact. She took the cup of coffee without any argument and settled herself down. Kara took the seat next to Alex. Alex took a drink of coffee, for no other reason other than to make sure her mind didn't start wandering in the wrong way.

"So, do you know what it is?" Alex asked.

Kara turned to the scarab for a few seconds. Her nose scrunched up when looking at it. She narrowed her eyes and tried to used her X-Ray vision to penetrate the shell of the object. Only, she couldn't get past the shell, without getting a mild headache.

"There's something high tech in there," Kara said. "And it looks familiar…..have the lab guys at the DEO had it out of the case yet or is it classified for us junior agents?"

"No, they haven't, and if they had, that would be classified," Alex responded a few seconds later.

"It does look kind of familiar to me," Kara said. "But, I'm not one hundred percent sure if I'm right."

Alex sighed, it would be back to the drawing board if Kara didn't know. She had studied the DEO's database, and they didn't have a match for it yet. Their knowledge of aliens was pretty much as they went, and there were a lot of gaping holes in their knowledge.

"You know, maybe I should ask Alura," Kara said.

Alex responded with a nod.

"Maybe your mother knows what this might be," Alex said.

"Hey, she's the most brilliant scientist Krypton ever knew,' Kara said. 'If anyone knows about it, she does. And if she doesn't, Lara, Raya, or Astra might have come across it, but one of them might have been able to shed some light on what exactly this thing is."

One could almost see Alex's obvious disapproval at Kara bringing up Astra's name. Kara just decided to step back and let it go.

"it's a pretty good idea to ask one of them if they're not too busy," Alex said. "I know they're preparing for the Thangarians….and really, I should be as well…..at the DEO."

"You're just curious," Kara said. "Nothing wrong with that."

Alex hated to admit it, but there was nothing wrong with that. At the same time, there was a lot wrong with it, when her curiosity caused problems with the security of the world at large. She needed a break from obsessing over the scarab, see if they have any new intelligence on the Thangarians. She and Daisy talked to Shayera for a little bit, but she didn't consciously remember much, other than the fragments from her dreams.

It was a start, Alex guessed, and something they could build on, in the future.

"Why don't we see if we have anything new on the Thangarians?" Kara asked.

"You read my mind," Alex said.

* * *

Tess Mercer spent a fair amount of time looking into the various projects LuthorCorp had been involved in over the past several years. Lionel and Lex blew through a lot of money on their various projects, unlocking the mysteries of the universe, and indeed, some of the mysteries in Smallville.

They had their points, to be honest, but Tess still had about twenty meteor mutants which were on the LuthorCorp books unaccounted for. Some died in the experiments, some had been sent back to Belle Reve, but others just vanished. Lex did keep meticulous records on the matter, and Tess got a look into his obsession, a bit too close to the look.

The two male Luthors were currently in a very secure facility. Lex had been heavily sedated and was not getting out any soon. On Lionel's part, there was no sedation needed. He didn't say much, other than the random numbers he shouted out, and the occasional random ones.

"It's binary," Indy said, looking over the pad which Tess scrawled down Lionel's latest mutterings. "It pretty much says the Hawks are on their way."

"Thangarians, it's nothing we don't already know," Tess said. "But Lionel's mind still hasn't been completely purged of Jor-El's influence."

Tess doubted it ever would have been completely scrubbed on the influence of the Kryptonian AI. Now, Tess and Indy were on a nice little side trip to the Kent Family farm house. It had been the first time Tess visited it, in this particular timeline.

It wasn't for any lack of trying, it was just Tess had been extremely busy as of late, trying to clean up the various messes left behind by various Luthor projects. Regardless, the new arrival Patricia mentioned to Tess, caught Tess's attention.

Curiosity drove any Luthor, and she walked up to the front door. Tess knocked on the door and waited for it to open.

"Mrs. Kent," Tess said when the woman opened the door. "I don't know if you remember me from the last time we've met, but my name is Tess….."

"Yes, I remember you," Martha responded. "Why don't you come in?"

"I would have made the trip sooner, but I have plenty of work to do," Tess said. "Is Clark around?"

"No, Clark is out with some friends," Martha responded.

"Oh, so I just missed him, then," Tess said.

Tess looked over at the edge of the table and saw a young girl, staring from around the corner. She looked a bit nervous. Tess noticed the wrist band around her wrist, still dangling as if some kind of crude souvenir from a time long ago.

"Actually, Patricia mentioned your guest," Tess said. "She might be one of Lex's….."

"It would explain a lot," Martha responded with a sigh. "But, she's…..well she's had a rough life, so I please tell you to be gentle."

Tess nodded, she wouldn't do anything to upset the young girl, naturally, not if she could help it. She was in a pretty delicate state by the looks of things.

"Hey," Tess said. "Don't worry, I'm a friend, and I'm here to help you."

The girl shifted for a second. She could tell Tess was sincere, but still, she was nervous and on her guard, around strangers, until she got a chance to know them and understand what they were all about.

"My name is Tess," she responded.

"Yes, I heard you talking to Mrs. Kent," she responded, voice shaking a little bit. "My name is Tara…."

Tess could see some of the same tell signs in Tara like she had as a child. Nervous, a bit paranoid about the intentions of the people, but also there was a certain strength just bubbling beneath the surface.

She hoped to be the encouraging older sister, to help bring this particular strength out.

"It's okay, there might be more like you out there, who was in a bad situation," Tess said. "If you can help them, you want to help them, right?"

"Yeah, I do," Tara responded. She looked up at Tess, and the older woman looked down at her with an encouraging smile. "But, I can't remember where exactly I've been…..well…..not a lot of it anyway."

Tara took a deep breath. She had been asked this by a couple of different people from escaping, and she would have liked to remember.

"All I remember is it's a bad place," Tara answered with a shudder. "It was a bad place, with bad people….but when the door was opened, I got away. I got away, and kept running until I was far away from that place. It was so bad."

The next thing Tara knew, she escaped that place, where she had no memories of her life before that place. Then, the next thing Tara knew after escaping this place, was that Martha found her on the road.

"I don't remember anything before I ran and Mrs. Kent picked me up, I swear," Tara responded.

The pleading look in the eyes of the girl made Tess believe everything she was saying was the honest truth, at least from her perspective. Tess reached out but thought better of it. She had been lucky enough to get the girl to admit as much as she did.

"Thank you," Tess responded. "And I hope you are truly away from those people."

Tara nodded. "Me too."

"We're not going to take up any more of your time," Tess said. "Hope you have a nice evening."

Tess made her way out, with Indy walking from the shadows next to her. The moment both of the women were out of an earshot from the door, Tess looked towards Indy.

"Scans came up clean," Indy said. "There's no tracker in her, no failsafe….just a normal shell shocked girl."

"I've learned one thing during my time in Smallville," Tess responded. "And that's things really are what they appear to be."

* * *

Chloe and Lois sat at the side of the bar and watched Lucy. Lois had been torn between sheer exasperation and slight amusement at the antics of her sister. Donna and Diana were chatting elsewhere as well.

"Your sister tried to go drink for drink with an Amazon," Chloe said.

"I'd say she was stupid," Lois responded. "But, let's face it, I've done worse in my day."

At least Lois admitted it. She saw Lucy, gripping onto the edge of the bar. The fact she could stand up straight, by any means, was good. She turned towards Clark and motioned for him to come over towards her. Lois and Chloe watched the spectacle unfold before them, it was like something they couldn't turn away from by any means, not either of them wanted to turn away from it.

Clark walked over towards the young woman, who flashed him a flirty smile from the edge of the back room. Lucy grabbed Clark by the hand and pulled himself.

"I don't know if anyone has told you how handsome you are," Lucy said, slurring her speech slightly. She moved closer towards him and staggered, almost falling into Clark's chest.

Clark shook his head.

"I don't know how that girl is still standing up straight," Lucy said, grabbing Clark's hand. Her knees started to buckle, with Clark holding her up.

"Here, take this."

Lucy opened her mouth and took what appeared to be a mint. It had a nice taste, and it also sobered her enough to stand up pretty straight. She looked into Clark's eyes.

"Finally, I have you right where I want you Mr. Kent," Lucy said.

The younger Lane sister leaned forward, arms wrapped around Clark's neck for leverage, and she dove completely in for a deep and passionate kiss. Her tongue met Clark's.

Clark grabbed onto the side of Lucy's leg and slowly slid his hand up underneath her skirt. She gasped, and pulled away from Clark, before shoving him against the wall. Clark had been taken off guard, but he decided to allow Lucy to take control of the situation.

After all, it was her birthday.

* * *

Lucy quickly worked Clark's shirt off of his body and exposed his muscular chest for her consumption. He looked even better with his clothes off. Lucy attacked Clark with a series of quick kisses, slowly working her way down Clark's body.

The passionate affections of the younger Lane sister were something to behold. Lucy leaned in close and undid Clark's belt buckle before pulling it off. She dropped his pants without any hesitation, which got her a nice and proper look at the bulge rising from underneath them.

"Oh, is this my present?" Lucy asked. "Can I unwrap it now?"

"Happy birthday," Clark joked.

"Oh, yeah, a very happy birthday."

Lucy pulled down Clark's pants to reveal his engorged cock for her. Going down on her knees prepared Lucy to worship her god. She covered Clark's cock with a series of wet, messy kisses, getting more intense the more she worshipped his long rod with her mouth. Lucy pulled further away from Clark and eased her warm lips around his throbbing head.

"Lucy," Clark groaned.

Lucy slipped her mouth around Clark's engorged tool and slowly began to suck him from this particular position. Her mouth eased around Clark's cock, sucked him in, and released him with a couple of fluid pumps. Clark grabbed down onto the back of Lucy's head and guided more of his thick prick inside of her waiting mouth.

"Mmm," Lucy moaned hungrily, sucking on his hard cock.

It felt so good in her mouth and tasted better than anything. His cock pushed into her throat and hallowed Lucy's cheeks out. She released him and gave him a sensual kiss on the head.

"You can choke out a woman with this thing," Lucy responded. "I love it."

Lucy rolled her tongue around Clark's throbbing hard head and then pushed her lips around his hard cock. Several more hard sucks followed with Lucy pushing her mouth around Clark's hard cock. She gripped onto his hips and slowly moved her mouth even further around him. Lucy kept up with the heavy sucking, making Clark throb as hard as possible into the back of her throat.

"I'm sure you love it," Clark groaned. "I'm sure you love this a whole lot, don't you?"

Lucy grinned, her lips wrapped around his throbbing hard cock. She shoved about as much cock into her mouth as possible, when bouncing her lips around from Clark's cock and pulled away from him. Lucy spent a few more minutes hungrily sucking Clark's hard prick.

"I need it inside of me," Lucy begged him.

Clark motioned for her to get to her feet. He made quick work of her top, pulling it off and revealed Lucy's perky breasts to the world, and for his consumption. Clark squeezed Lucy's chest and caused her to moan.

"Please, don't tease me," Lucy said.

Clark had her panties down in an instant and pulled her skirt off. Lucy's sexy naked body had been revealed towards him. He pushed her against the wall for a minute, and kissed her neck, before moving down to her chest. His mouth moved quickly, to cause all of Lucy's pleasure centers to be lit on fire.

Lucy thought she was going to pass out from so much pleasure. That large cock dragging against her inner thigh made Lucy twitch even more. Clark leaned as close towards her as possible and whispered in her ear.

"I know what you really want?"

Lucy closed her eyes, the cool tile of the wall pressing against her back. Clark pulled her away slightly, so he could rest a hand on Lucy's lower back. The hand shifted downwards to meet Lucy's ass and squeeze it in a blink of an eye. She gasped when feeling Clark grab onto her.

"Yes, I want you, badly," Lucy said. "You're not going to make me wait on my birthday."

Clark moved around and hoisted Lucy up. She giggled when Clark lifted her into the air. The legs of the younger Lane sister spread in response. Her dripping cunt lubricated the tip of Clark's cock.

Lucy thought, finally, she would get some time with a real man. Her pussy longed to welcome his large member inside her. She wondered how it would fit.

"Lois made it fit just fine."

Okay, now, Lucy was determined to prove anything Lois did, she could do better. Lucy wrapped her hand around Clark's cock and slowly started to guide herself down, with his assistance. The tip of his cock touched Lucy's dripping opening.

Lucy closed her eyes and could feel the pleasure of his engorged rod sliding inside of her body. She rose almost all the way up and dropped down onto his huge, throbbing cock. She could feel several inches of his hard cock fill the insides of her body.

"OOOH, you're so big!" Lucy yelled.

She loved the way his cock slid into her and slowly stretched her walls open. Lucy almost had an orgasm, with half of the cock inside of her. And one light touch from Clark took the almost out of the equation. She has had an orgasm, where her entire body shook.

Lucy was too wrapped up with her own pleasure to notice how Clark had floated a couple of inches off of the ground. Clark reached behind her and cupped Lucy's tight ass to slowly guide her down onto his raging rod. She slowly pushed down onto him.

"You're so tight," Clark groaned.

"Not for long," Lucy said with a wicked grin on her face. Her thighs tightened around Clark's hips when sliding all the way down onto him.

Lucy gained a fair amount of momentum and slowly started to bounce up and down on his engorged rod. It filled her body so much, burying deep into her womanly, warm depths. The feeling of such a hunk of manhood spiking between her thighs made Lucy only hotter and made her want this even more.

"I'm not going to let you go, no matter what," Lucy warned him.

"Oh, I'm going to make you cum," Clark said.

Clark's fingers lightly brushed against Lucy's asshole and caused her to shiver. Those fingers continued their guided tour around Lucy's body. She bounced on his cock hard, to ride out the pleasure she was feeling from those orgasms. Clark pushed himself into her.

"You are!" Lucy yelled in pleasure.

Her entire body gushed with the feeling of Clark's hard rod slamming into her body from underneath. His thrusts stretched out her womanhood with a couple of long thrusts. Lucy's moist cunt clamped around his cock, getting as much into it as she could.

Clark almost pulled all the way out of Lucy, which caused her a great deal of dismay. This particular level of dismay had been replaced by pleasure, with Clark working his hard cock back into her tightening cunt. Clark pulled almost all the way out of Lucy, grinding his hard cock on her waiting moist lips. Clark shoved deep inside of her one more time.

Thick balls, full of cum for her, slapped against Lucy's clit and caused her to squeal in pleasure. She didn't care who heard her. She could feel Clark penetrate her in ways she never thought possible. Every one of his glorious thick inches made Lucy certain her pussy would never feel the same again, and there was no one other than Clark who would ever make her feel the same ever again.

"How many times have you cum, I wonder?" Clark asked.

He grabbed onto the side Lucy's back and pushed his engorged rod into her body. Lucy rocked her hips down onto Clark's hard rod.

"Lost count," Lucy mewled, dropping her wet pussy down onto his hardening rod.

"Maybe, you have," Clark said. "But, it's been about eight or nine times, maybe more…..can we get you to a dozen before you black out?"

"Oh!" Lucy yelled.

She had never been fucked so hard where someone forced her to black out. Clark worked his way into Lucy's clenching organ and slowly, but surely, rocked himself into her body. Lucy returned fire, sliding down his cock onto his cock base and squeezed him.

"We'll see, won't we?"

The minutes ticked by, and Clark worked his rod into Lucy's body. She tapered down for a little bit. The intense sex session did a wonderful job in helping Lucy sober up a great deal. It felt so good to have Clark's mighty cock piercing her walls, and stretching her womanhood out as far as possible.

"Cum for me again," Clark said.

Lucy drove herself down on Clark's cock. She might be sore in the morning, but it was more than worth it to get the best thrill in her life. A thrill greater than anything Lucy ever had awaited her, sparked by Clark touching her in all of the places, almost at once, which got her motor running.

"Don't hold back on me," Lucy breathed. "Please, all I want for my birthday is a big dose of cum inside of me!"

Lucy gasped when Clark held onto her and pumped his rod into her one more time. Her face rolled down with tears, sweat, and also drool, plenty of drool. Clark put both Lucy and her snug pussy through the paces. Those balls showed Lucy what kind of birthday treat she would be having coming up next.

"FUCK!" Lucy yelled at the top of her lungs.

She came, the greatest one ever. Thankfully the loud music in the club muffled her unless someone just happened to have their ear pressed against the backroom door.

"Happy Birthday, Lucy."

She received one more orgasm before Clark pumped his thick seed into her pussy. The warm rush of fluids fired into her pussy and made Lucy excited for more. He really had a huge load to spill into her.

And it was all for her, on this very special day. Lucy came at least twice more by her foggy recollection before Clark finished spilling his essence inside of her body.

* * *

After the fact, Lucy slowly climbed to her feet, on weak knees. She held onto Clark's wrist when trying to balance herself.

"Best birthday president ever," Lucy commented with a smile when she leaned in. She gave Clark one more kiss, before searching for her skirt and panties to put them back on, not to mention the rest of her clothes. "So, I'm better than Lois, right?"

"Seriously?" Clark asked.

He did chuckle at her statement, despite shaking his head in a very incredulous manner. Those sibling rivalries could be amazing, and also, slightly frustrating. Okay, they could be very frustrating. Still, a more stable, and slightly soberer, Lucy led him out of the back room of the club, and she flashed Chloe and Lois a triumphant smile.

"Aren't you glad you got to him first?" Chloe asked Lois.

"Yeah, pretty much," Lois responded. "But, I'm not complaining about my sister getting laid on her birthday."

* * *

Cadmus prepared everything they needed to move forward to the next stage of the operation.

"We are getting close to reaching our primary goal," a distorted voice responded.

"Yes, I agree," Hugo Strange said. "But, what of this other project that you're requesting me to work on?"

"Focus on the here, and the now, Hugo," the distorted voice responded. "I trust there are going to be no other difficulties with this project. We're not going to have any more accidents."

Strange and his team spent quite a lot of time refining the project, down to a brand new letter. They had to move to a different facility, Cadmus had a few, stationed throughout the Midwest. He looked towards the figure who had been on the table.

So far, her signs registered a dead body, but Strange knew her exposure to the green meteor rocks could give her new life. Some people died when they had been crushed by the rocks, some had died of radiation exposure much later, quite painfully from what Strange learned. And there were many others who had received powers. They had something deep inside of them, some kind of meta-gene, which had been awakened by the green rocks.

"And now, I get to bring life to another person," Strange responded. "Prepare for the energy transference process."

The energy transference process started in the next room. The same green radiation which woke up the meta-gene would now wake up this person from the afterlife.

"Increase the frequency," Strange ordered his team.

A shock of electricity coursed through the body. Strange watched the vital signs. Nothing, and then another jolt of electricity. Strange watched the third one where a blip of a heart beep appeared across the screen. Once again, Strange had brought life.

"Keep it up, she's almost there," Strange said.

A light gasp could be heard from the room, as the figure on the table, her arm started to shift and move. Strange smiled, so far, this one was a keeper.

Strange entered the chamber, dressed in a protective radiation suit, with several of his scientist following in suits. The scientist bent down towards the blonde girl on the table, a pair of brown eyes looking up at him.

"Welcome back to life, Alicia."

Alicia Baker's screams of agony pierced the air. Her body thrashed on the operating table, even though she had been restrained. Strange barely batted an eye on this little incident and turned his attention towards his men.

"You know the sedation process by now."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 22** **nd** **, 2017.**


	58. Chapter 58

**Chapter Fifty-Eight: Strange Encounters Part One**

* * *

A couple of goons thought they had the score of a lifetime. Smallville was a town out in the middle of nowhere, the type of small town which everyone knew everyone, and thus, they didn't worry about a couple of low-level petty thugs who were trying to make a quick buck and get that big particular score.

"Are you sure this place is right for us to rob?" one of the goons asked the other goon. "I mean, you heard all of the weird stories, about how this is grand central for weirdness, and there's a lot of freaks here, and….."

A goon pushed his hand in the air and silenced his partner in crime. "Hey, it's going to be fine. We're not going to get into the same trouble we would by robbing this place than we would robbing a place in Metropolis or Central City or Gotham City, or any of those other big places. It's just a couple of small bank jobs, something we can retire off of. And besides, these meteor mutants, they're not going to bother us. If anything else, they're going to help us."

A dubious expression crossed the face of the first thug. He just turned to his partner in crime and shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay, if you say so."

"Joey, listen to me, I don't say so," the gruffer of the two thugs. "I know so….just stand back and get ready to hold the bag. And remember, Daddy needs a brand new pair of shoes."

Both thugs straightened up and looked ready to perform the job at hand. The one self-assured of the two thugs patted his younger partner on the shoulder and turned around. He took out a crowbar. No one needed high-tech ways to enter a building to rob the place when the good old fashioned methods worked just as well. The thug tried to use the crowbar, but the door had been a bit stubborn. He groaned when trying to open up the door.

"Okay, you're going to be tough, aren't you?" the thug asked. "Well, I've got ways of cracking a tough door…..Joey, hand me the blowtorch."

"Um, sure thing, Mikey," Joey responded.

He reached into the case and pulled out a blowtorch to hand to his partner.

"Are you sure you don't need a mask or something?" Joey asked.

"Hey, hey, I know what, I'm doing," Mikey the thug responded. "You might want to stand back, give me all the space I need so I can just blow this door open."

Joey dropped his arms down to the side and stood back. He really did hope his partner was not just blowing smoke out of his ass, and he knew what he was doing. Mikey put the blowtorch to the door and started to go to town on the lock. Sparks flew in every direction possible.

Seconds passed before the door snapped open. Mikey's look of triumph spread over his face and he turned towards the bank, stepping inside. He motioned for Joey to step in towards him. Joey did so, looking very triumphant in his own right.

"Told you, it would be just fine," Mikey said. "Now, keep an eye open, while I figure the safe."

"No alarms or nothing?" Joey asked.

"Nah, small town folk are too trusting to use an alarm, we're going to be fine," Mikey said.

Joey leaned back and he looked at the clock. It was well past midnight. He drummed his fingers on the side of the door, looking very nervous. Something was not right about this job, but it was somehow more relaxing than the one he did in Gotham before. That had been nerve racking for a number of reasons.

Always a chance for a bigger, worse, bad guy to swoop in and get a piece of the take there; here in Smallville, not so much, even though there was a rumor that there was some mysterious savior who helped the people in Smallville. It wasn't bad though, they weren't any of those meteor freaks.

"Just give me a minute," Mikey grumbled. "Okay, I'm going to have to…"

The doors blew up, and a figure moved at the speed of light into the bank and pulled the explosives Mikey was about ready to use out of his hand. Mikey staggered an inch forward and dropped down to his knees. He turned around and noticed something moving through the bank.

"Don't just stand there, shoot it!" Mikey yelled.

Joey pulled out a gun and fired multiple shots towards the figure who moved and weaved at the speed of light. The figure rushed forward and grabbed Joey by the arm, before taking him down to the ground. Joey struggled to get to his feet, only to find himself spun around and dropped to the ground. Something bound his hands and feet behind his back.

Knowing when a job was licked, Mikey decided to rush out the front door, as fast as his stubby little legs could carry him. He breathed heavily when moving towards the nearest exit.

One thug had been taken down, and Clark made his way for the other thug. He wasn't going to get too far, in fact, Clark could still hear the rotund man's heart beating when he left the premises. Clark was going to be right behind him, off to the side.

A loud thud had followed, and Clark showed up. He saw a figure standing over the man, in the moonlight. The figure ground a boot into the back of the head of the attacker. Clark took a second to step towards the figure, and reared back, suddenly seeing a ghost.

Alicia Baker stood on the head of the second goon, having taken out. Clark tried to move closer towards her, but she disappeared through his fingers before he could grab on her.

Clark had seen everything else in Smallville, but a ghost? She was a ghost, right? Clark thought there were only two possibilities, one she was a ghost, and the other, she made her way back from the dead. Either possibility seemed rather off and indicated something was going on.

There was a third possibility, and that was something, or someone was messing with his mind. Clark didn't remember being exposed to any foreign substances which could cause a mental lapse, but that seldom meant anything. All he had to do was get off to the Fortress, and have his brain scanned.

* * *

Clark flew into the Fortress and saw Raya standing over some notes about something. Raya stood up.

"Kal, you look haunted," Raya said in an instant.

"I look haunted, because I was tonight, at least I think I might have been," Clark responded. "Is my mother around?"

"Yes, I'll get her at once," Raya said. "Please, sit down, and take a calming breath."

Raya wasn't going to lie, she had been a bit put off by the look on Kal-El's face. He looked like he saw something which unnerved given all he went through, that really said something. Raya made her way off to the other direction to see if she could find Lara.

"Kal, what is it?"

An instant later, Lara returned and made her way towards her son. He looked rather pale and his eyes had a disturbed look in them.

"I saw someone tonight who I know died a couple of years ago," Clark said. "Alicia Baker, we were….involved, a couple of years back…"

"And she died?" Lara asked.

"Yes, I saw her before my very eyes," Clark said. "But tonight, I stopped a couple of hoods in Smallville, and one got away. But she appeared, knocked him out. By the time I approached her, she disappeared…at least I think it was her. At least, I think I'm not seeing things."

Was he seeing things?"

"I need to know whether or not I've been compromised by anything," Clark said.

Lara nodded. "Understandable, please follow me so I can check you out."

Anyone would have been mildly put off by what Clark encountered, Lara understood that much. She didn't really know how to explain it to be perfectly honest. She led Clark inside of the chambers. Her son looked fine, but Lara knew appearances could be deceiving. And it would give them a piece of mind to ensure he had been cleared of all foreign substances, so they could move on from there.

Lara walked on the other side of the crystal shielding when Clark laid down on the table. The machine locked into place, with the crystals pointing towards Clark. They flashed over his body and formed scanning motions over him. Lara leaned in closer towards the readings.

Clark was well above average in his solar radiation retention, which was a good thing. Kryptonian females absorbed radiation at a much quicker rate than males, but males could store a slight amount more, at least through Lara's readings. Naturally, how much and how fast varied from person to person. Lara chewed down on her lower lip and kept reading the numbers flashing across the screen.

A long and tedious process to get something like this completed, but it was very necessary to ensure Clark was one hundred percent healthy. His mind readings read strong, so there was no hypnotic suggestion planted in his mind. Lara went through for a deeper scan, to see if there were any trace elements of Kryptonite radiation. Even if someone infected Clark with a rare strand of Kryptonite, the radiation would still have a common energy signature.

"You're clean so far, Kal. I want to perform one more deep scan, to ensure you're completely free and clear of any radiation."

"Do it," Kal told her.

Lara nodded and did as her son requested. She scanned him with the deeper tissue scanner, to see if she could break down the strands of Kryptonite at the deepest level possible. So far, she located not even a strand of Kryptonite in his body. No residual traces of magic which could cause problems with Kryptonians, just the same as anyone else.

"You're clean," Lara said.

"Without a doubt?" Clark asked.

"Yes," Lara said. "Without a doubt….which means, you may have seen a ghost….or someone is trying to play with nature, and is resurrecting someone beyond the grave."

Clark didn't think that possibility was a very good one to think about. His mind flashed back to the look on Alicia's face, how haunted she seemed. How she disappeared, almost in fear, when Clark showed up around the corner. Clark didn't really know, but he had a strong suspicion resurrection wasn't exactly a picnic. And whoever pulled Alicia back beyond the grave.

"Now, we're going to have to find her."

"I agree," Lara said. "She's a danger to both herself and others…..but more importantly, we need to find the people who are behind this. That's a pressing matter as well."

* * *

Dead girls showing up when they shouldn't weren't the strangest thing Tess ever encountered in her life. Regardless, it was something which caught her attention when Clark mentioned it for her. Tess showed up at the Star Labs facility, to meet with Patricia Swann, and also, Helena Wayne, who showed up.

"You have news," Tess responded.

"Yes, although, I'm not certain whether or not we're going to like what we find out," Helena answered.

Tess responded with a slight shrug of her shoulders. She had been used to receiving bad news for a very long time. Whatever they found out, they would have to take. The two of them entered the lab area, which Patricia waiting. She had been looking at a sample of blood, frowning.

"It was a body the police found," Patricia said. "The subject has been identified as a meteor mutant who died five years ago."

"That shouldn't be possible," Tess answered.

"No," Helena said. "It shouldn't be possible, but yet it is."

Patricia made a couple of notes about the same of blood she managed to get her hands on. She had a feeling the same facility which had Tara contained, and also apparently brought Alicia Baker back from the dead, was behind this. It was important to find out who these people were, and what their agenda was. They needed to put a stop to them.

"He has higher than usual amounts of Kryptonite radiation in his blood stream," Patricia said. "There's something….unique about the meteor mutants, and how they reacted to the Kryptonite. There were many people who were close to the impacts who died because of radiation poison. But there were a number of them who survived, and got these extraordinary powers."

"We thought it was the meteors who gave them the powers," Tess responded. "But, the meteors were just the shock they needed to awaken their powers."

"Correct," Patricia said. "My father was studying it right before he passed away. It's the meta-gene….no one quite knows how some humans have it, while others don't."

"Some…think, these people who have it, were the ancestors of a group of humans who were abducted years ago, and experimented on by aliens, before being brought back to Earth," Tess said. "I don't know the truth of the matter."

Tess had been trying to hunt down more information about the meta-gene throughout two timelines, but all she had run into was dead ends. She thought it could be the key to understanding why some people got powers, and others had been condemned to death.

"It wouldn't be surprising," Patricia said.

"Well, aliens is one matter, but one of my associates as uncovered actual tangible information about the human beings who are behind these meteor mutant resurrections," Helena said. "The tag number, Tara wore, it was in a database of meteor mutants who were held by Belle Reve."

"So, they're not experimenting with just dead meteor mutants, but live ones as well," Patricia said.

"I've also found references to a project in the notes we uncovered by HIVE," Helena said. "But, these people aren't making the information very easy to uncover."

"That's by their nature," Tess said. "Why don't we ask our resident meteor mutant if she knows anything or if she has any idea?"

Patricia snapped her fingers, they nearly forgot they had a very useful resource, who had uncovered some information about several shady government operations, which got her in danger of being killed. Just because HIVE had been taken down, it didn't mean they were completely out of the woods just yet.

She moved her way towards the area where Claire stayed. Patricia raised a hand and knocked on the door a couple of times.

"It's unlocked."

Patricia entered the room, and stepped into the quarters, with Helena coming along with Tess. Claire raised her eyebrow and looked at all three of the women.

"Let me guess, the shit has hit the fan," Claire said.

"Meteor mutants are coming back from the dead," Helena responded without any hesitation.

"Yes, of course," Claire said. "Well, this was bound to happen…..HIVE might have been crippled, but there were other people who were working with these experiments. And these people harbored a distrust to aliens."

"Do these people have a name?" Tess asked.

"Cadmus is what I heard them referred to," Claire said. "No one knows who is running them, or where they are….and I didn't get in too deep down that particular rabbit hole before HIVE sent their drones after me, to silence me."

Tess knew all about Cadmus, it was like a couple of bad memories coming back to life.

"Cadmus," Tess said. "It was funded in part by Lionel years ago, and I think Lex may have also funded some of their activities, before his unfortunate sabbatical."

Everything had gone from bad, to so much worse, at least in Tess's mind.

"HIVE was working on ways to bring meteor mutants back to life," Claire said. "And it appears Cadmus has gotten ahold of some of their research."

If they had been working together, it would have been easy for Cadmus to get ahold of that particular research and cause an insane amount of damage. Tess wondered how this could get any worse. She turned towards Helena, who wore a grim expression on her face.

"An old friend might be involved," Helena said. "Professor Hugo Strange was working at Belle Reve when the alive meteor mutants were moved to another facility…..none of the administration is willing to admit what his intentions were, as well."

Strange, after his time with Lex, had been very busy. Tess thought she might live to regret not taking care of Strange. There were other unfortunately pressing matters which distracted her. Tess wished she had not been so easily distracted after what happened.

"LuthorCorp had connections to Cadmus," Tess said. "Lionel's very good about covering his tracks, but I'm going to have to be even better at uncovering them."

They were playing with human nature and bringing meteor mutants back to life. Tess moved over to make a couple of calls. She knew they were playing with some pretty heavy fire, but Tara's mind could hold a key to solving exactly where Cadmus was. They had to take every opportunity.

* * *

"No, I don't think you're insane," Karen said.

"Thanks, Kara, I appreciate that," Clark said. "But, she's been brought back from the dead, just like that. There should be something I can do to help her."

"Maybe there is. But it's hard to help someone when they keep running away. The moment you saw her, she panicked, and ran."

Clark had a lot to think about, and there were a lot of very troubling thoughts which passed through his mind. Tess relayed the information they dug up, which wasn't really much, to be honest. Cadmus was a research lab, which had been co-opted by some people with some bad intentions. People who mistrusted those like Clark, and the rest of the Kryptonian survivors. They couldn't distinguish good aliens from bad aliens.

' _Some people see everything as black or white,'_ Clark thought.

Raya moved over to join the other two.

"The scans turned up fine," Raya said.

"I'm not worried about me, not right now," Clark said. "I'm worried about Alicia, and what they made her go through, to get brought back to life. I saw only one glimpse of her face, and I can't get it out of her mind."

"She's living, but she's not alive," Raya said.

Clark understood where Raya was coming from, with that particular comment, even though he really didn't have to like it. Alicia had tried to come back from a very dark place, only to die for it. Maybe there was hope for redemption, maybe she couldn't come back, Clark didn't know. They would never know.

Would this perversion be a second chance of life?

"I've looked at the samples Doctor Swann sent over, of the deceased meteor mutant they found," Raya said. "And a second one which just had been found this morning as well….the process they're using to bring them back is more refined now than it was at the beginning."

"So, they're getting better," Clark said.

Clark looked at the scans and the pictures which had been brought up in the form of holograms through the Fortress. The two meteor mutants looked like they descended into something less than human. Their remains were mutated. Was this the fate which waited for Alicia? The second body looked less deformed than the first one. Clark spent a fair amount of time studying this from every angle.

Suddenly, the doors of the Fortress entered, and Lara stepped in, with Tara, who had her eyes covered with a cloth. Just in case, they didn't want her to see the way to the Fortress.

"Where am I?"

"We need your help with something," Lara said. "It's going to be fine…"

Lara removed the clothing from the eyes of the younger girl. Tara spent a moment looking around with wide eyes. She fell on two friendly faces in Clark and Karen.

"We could find out where you come from," Clark said. "It won't hurt at all, I promise."

Tara nodded and took his word for the fact it wouldn't hurt. It would be just fine, even though she didn't really remember anything for the facility. She moved back onto the table, where a crystal gently shined some light onto her mind.

Lara, Raya, and Karen leaned over to study the brain patterns. Tara closed her eyes.

"She didn't die," Lara said.

"I remember it…..after I escaped the orphanage," Tara said. "I hurt some really bad people who were after me, my powers put me into a catatonic state. The next thing I remember, I woke up in Belle Reve, and there was this weird doctor."

"Do you know who he was?" Clark asked.

"He was balding, with glasses on, a bit fat," Tara said.

' _Strange,'_ Clark thought to himself.

He realized what happened, Cadmus started by bringing people of comas and then delved to bringing them back to life.

"It's odd," Lara said. "I scanned her deeply, with the deep tissue scan, and I found no traces of meteor rock energy at all."

"She isn't a meteor mutant then," Karen said.

Lara shook her head in negative. "No, she isn't, but she is a metahuman."

Tara received her abilities, whatever they might have been, from some other sort. They had very little information, only more direct confirmation Hugo Strange had been involved with this entire Cadmus mess.

"You're all done," Clark said. "Why don't I take you back to the Farm?"

"Really?" Tara asked. "That wasn't so bad at all."

Clark offered her the piece of cloth and put it over her eyes. He scooped Tara up under his arm and flew her away to leave Raya, Lara, and Karen to look over the readings. Nothing out of the ordinary at first glimpse, but if they could find something, anything, they would be able to uncover it.

X-X-X

Ever since the dream, Lana had been on pins and needles. Chloe noticed Lana's disturbed nature.

"You're not yourself lately," Chloe said.

"Yeah, I guess you can say that," Lana responded. "I've had some mysterious ancestor or whatever, pop into my dreams, and tell me that there's some alien invasion coming. And Clark is the only one who could stop it, or maybe he leads some kind of resistance to stop them from taking over the Earth."

Chloe smiled and looked at Lana.

"You know, don't worry about Clark, he always finds a way to come out of situations which he really shouldn't," Chloe said.

"I'll try," Lana responded.

She was more worried about the nature of the woman who visited in her dreams. What was her game? Lana did, in fact, wonder about that much.

The two girls took a walk around Smallville and made their way back to Lana's house. They only had a short way to walk.

Lana stopped short and could see someone wearing a hooded sweatshirt lurking around outside of the front entrance area. She took one look at the figure, and then to Chloe. Chloe rolled up her sleeve, and had her finger on the pulse of the watch she wore, just in case.

"Are you lost?" Lana asked.

The figure turned around and whipped her hood back. Lana almost stopped back, in shock, coming face to face with someone who she thought died years ago.

"Alicia Baker?" Chloe asked.

Alicia turned her attention to Lana and said something in a strangled language which neither girl understood. Then, in a flash of light, Alicia struck and wrapped her hands around Lana's throat. Lana gasped the second Alicia grabbed ahold of her and had been choked down to the ground. She struggled against the tight grip around her neck.

Lana pushed away, with a blast of purple light discharging from her hands and striking Alicia. Alicia had been launched up into the air and dropped down onto the ground. Chloe reached towards the watch, but Alicia disappeared before they had anything.

"Okay, what the hell?" Chloe asked. "Are you okay?"

Lana's fingers still hummed with some kind of energy which blasted from them.

"Yeah, I think so," Lana said. "We better tell Clark about this."

"Lana, those energy blasts….do you…"

"I don't really know," Lana said.

Something unsettled Lana about what happened, even though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 26** **th** **, 2017.**


	59. Chapter 59

**Chapter Fifty-Nine: Strange Encounters Part Two**

* * *

After the little incident with Alicia, Lana had been shaken up. It had not just been the incident where Alicia attacked her which caused Lana some trauma. Those incidents which Lana had been attacked by some meteor mutant had been far too common for her to count. The girl either had been attacked by them, stalked by them, or some strange combination of both.

No, that attack wasn't what caused Lana frustration to be honest. The fact was, somehow, some kind of power manifested which helped Lana repel Alicia, at least for a moment. A confused Chloe stood next to Lana, and if Lana was honest, she expected Chloe to have most of the answers, so when she didn't, it caused Lana a great deal of confusion.

Both agreed it would be a good idea to get Clark in on the situation. Clark appeared in a blink of an eye, and dropped down before both of the girls. Already, by the look etched in his eyes, both girls knew, he knew, something had happened.

"We were attacked, "Chloe said. "And you're not going to believe in a million years…"

"It was Alicia Baker, wasn't it?" Clark asked. Both girls looked towards Clark in obvious confusion and he had to clarify it for them. "I saw her last night, when I was stopping a couple of low level criminals. Someone is bringing meteor mutants back to life. It's a long story."

Chloe shook her head, and turned to Lana who had one of those far off looks etched in her eyes. Both of them could tell it was a long story, but Lana was the one who allowed her mind to run away. Clark grabbed Lana's hand and caused her to jolt up.

"Maybe we should get you to STAR labs, have you looked at," Clark said. "It's closer than any hospital, and more discreet than any hospital."

Nodding, Lana thought agreeing with Clark was the path to the least resistance. At least, it was what she thought in her mind. She was going to have to break it to Clark, she had powers too, but for now, Lana had been too shell-shocked. Clark scooped up Lana underneath one arm, and scooped up Chloe underneath the other arm, and brought them to STAR Labs.

Tess waited for them at the front door. She didn't seem too surprised to see either Lana or Chloe there.

"Alicia had some very aggressive thoughts about Lana, about both Lana and Chloe maybe, before she died," Tess said. "At least according to the medical report at Belle Reve which I dug up….."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she did," Lana said, shaking her head. "She was struggling with something though….maybe it was just my imagination though."

"Maybe we should get you checked out first, before you relieve all of that," Clark responded.

"Right," Lana answered.

Lana stepped into Star Labs. Chloe was giving her one of those looks, which plainly stated she should tell Clark sooner or later. And Lana planned on doing so. She just thought everything had been turned around, for the worst now.

"Alicia may be trying to act on these thoughts she had against us then," Chloe said.

"Well, it's not so much of a coherent thought, but, perhaps an impulse," Tess said. "She had these impulses which triggered…..she made her way to help Clark, which was first and foremost on her mind."

"It's reassuring to know that despite being a Kryptonite zombie, she still likes you," Chloe said, in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Tess turned her attention to Chloe and gave her a raised eyebrow, as if to tell her now was not the time or the place. Chloe fell into a calm stupor.

"And she felt Lana was something she was hostile to in the past, so she targeted Lana," Tess said. "Of course, these are only guesses. Without knowing the exactly process Cadmus did….."

Tess trailed off, and Lana sat down on the table. Chloe and Clark took seats on either side of her as well. Clark, in particular, entered some pretty deep thoughts. Somewhere, out there, there was Alicia Baker, with a series of confused thoughts, or as Tess called them, confused impulses. Clark didn't even know where he wanted to begin.

"There's just more thing I have to tell you," Lana said, finally breaking through the silence. "When Alicia attacked me, I thought I was going to die. My adrenaline was pumping, and some kind of purple energy discharged from my hands, and took her out."

Everyone had grown silent. Tess took a moment to think about it, eyes closed very tight when she did so.

"Do you think I might have meteor mutant powers?" Lana asked.

"It's possible," Tess said. "Given your close proximity to the meteor rocks when they fell down."

Lana inclined her head down, unfortunately, she knew what the close proximity to the meteor rocks went. She thought, over the years, she had been one of the few people in Smallville not to be infected. All she had to live with was being that little girl who watched her parents died, a legacy which Lana tried to shake. And a legacy which followed her slowly throughout the years. Wearing a necklace with a piece of the meteor rock from the meteor which squashed her parents didn't help that.

"Do you think it could be something else?" Chloe asked.

"Lana may have some kind of latent magical abilities," Tess responded. "Given her connection to her infamous ancestor, it's possible some of these powers could have been awakened by this recent stress."

"Well, I can't access whatever they are," Lana said. "It's not like a light switch, or a water faucet, I can't just snap and it happens."

"Don't force it," Clark told her. "That's the absolute worse thing you can do with powers, trust me."

She did trust Clark, having the most experience out of all of them, with dealing with powers. Still, her powers might have been a little bit different than his, at least from what Lana could figure out.

"It's too bad we can't figure out a way to get into Alicia's mind, and try and fix what's wrong," Lana mused.

"Maybe we can," Tess offered. "We're going to have to be extremely careful about what we do, and more importantly how we do it, but there are ways."

Getting her to the Fortress, and putting her through the same process where they re-awakened some of Tara's memories would be a good step to take. Unfortunately, every time they got close, Alicia kept slipping through their fingers.

* * *

One of Clark's former girlfriends coming back from the dead certainly presented them all with a fresh challenge. Kara In-Ze, better known these days as Karen Starr, loved a challenge. She bit back on her lip and looked over the reports Tess sent over. Containing her would be something easy, at least in Karen's mind. Capturing and finding her were two other matters.

Footsteps could be heard, and Karen turned her attention towards Astra, who stepped over.

"This is a distraction we can't really afford with the prospect of Thangarians looming," Astra said.

"Yes," Karen agreed. "I know it, you know it, but there really isn't much we can do about it. These Cadmus people are going to be an annoyance, we're going to need to deal with."

"They have the ability to raise the dead, dead who have been gifted powers by the radiative core of our planet," Astra said. "Yes, I agree they're a problem. But much more than annoyance…it's just a feeling I have, one that I can't really place."

"But, if we find this one and bring her back to a mental state, than maybe she saw something about Cadmus," Karen offered, shrugging her shoulders.

To be honest, she could tell how this one caused Kal frustration. Mostly because he blamed himself for Alicia's death, even though someone else killed her, but that was just how Kal worked these days.

"Are you sure there are ways to bring her back to a stable mental state?" Astra asked.

"We won't know unless we capture her," Karen said. "Finding her and capturing her is a very hard thing to do though."

"Yes," Astra agreed. "I'm not disputing that fact, but I hate to be the one to bring up this point, but what if we can't save her? She is just a walking body, with blood thirsty instincts. What if there are no coherent thoughts to be rescued there?"

"Well, we're going to have to deal with that, when we've exercised all of our options," Karen said. "You really think there might not be no hope for her, do you?"

"All, I'm saying is, we should just make sure we're ready to do what's necessary, when it's necessary," Astra said. "We're going to have to put her down, if she's a threat."

Astra didn't really like it as much as the next person. War, however, forced them to make so many choices which they did not like. And they had to put down people, even though they had a solid preference not to put them down. Astra leaned in and looked towards the report.

"For the record, she can be contained with this, and these should….hopefully cause her to calm down long enough to let go of the feral rage she's holding onto," Astra responded.

"We should try and not think she's a lost cause," Alura said, stepping forward. "After all, if we gave you up as a lost cause, where would be we be now?"

Astra hated to admit her sister had a point. Why did she have to be so right at a time like this? Astra didn't know. She bunched up her hands and sighed in very obvious frustration, shaking her head in response.

"You have a good point," Astra said.

"Of course I do."

Lara stepped into the Fortress, with Raya following them. Raya had a smile on her face, even though it was slightly sad in the process.

"It's ready," Raya responded. "All we have to do is get her, if we can catch her."

"That's down to Clark, and me, if he needs my help," Karen said. "We're going to do everything we can to save her, and get to the bottom of the Cadmus mess."

Out of all of the things Astra said, she was more than correct about Cadmus. It was not the kind of distraction they needed, when they were this close to being visited by an alien invasion. Karen decided to check in with Clark, and hope he had better luck.

"Anything?" Karen asked, sounding a bit more hopeful than she might have been.

"No, but, we're going to find her," Clark said. "I'm going to find her…I'm not going to fail her again."

* * *

The thoughts echoed throughout the shattered mind of Alicia Baker when she reached her destination. Her mind was pounding away, when she stepped into a warehouse. She needed to shake off the cobwebs, the frustration, and everything which went along with an extremely tormented mind. Her mind went about a million miles a minute, and her head started to thump even more loudly.

"You couldn't save me," Alicia muttered.

The final moments of Alicia's life slipped into her minds high. She saw her death, in all of its horrific glory. A moment of horror when she realized her life had been cut off. Alicia didn't know what else to say, other than the nightmares would reflect in her mind.

Yet, she had been given a second chance to do what. All she thought about, was how Clark failed her, and how much it hurt her. She gave her life to Clark, and instead, she had died. Then, suddenly, when Alicia was at peace, something happened to jolt her back to life.

Was she really dead, or just trapped as a prisoner in her own body, in her own decaying body. It was very hard for Alicia to determine this and she wanted to scream, but no one would hear her words. She dropped down to her knees and took a deep breath. Everything hurt, and the only thing which felt right was vengeance.

"You couldn't save me, you failed me."

These mutterings continued to bubble on through the very troubled mind of Alicia Baker. She tried to hold her head back and was on her hands and knees. The cold hard environment of the lab flashed into her mind, before the man, set her loose. Alicia could not remember much of anything, between her death and encountering Clark for the first time outside of the bank.

She had a strong impulse to lash out and attack him, hence why he ran.

' _Clark, couldn't save me, he should suffer because of that,'_ a dark echo thought in the back of her mind. _'He would have jumped a tall building in a single bound to save either Chloe or Lana….but he just left you to suffer, left you to die. Did he think you were damaged goods?'_

Alicia closed her eyes, a tight pounding echoing the back of her head. She could hear something, while on her hands and knees. A security guard made his way to the corner.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

His voice might as well have been thunder, roughly hammering around in the back of Alicia's head. Her knuckles grew white when trying to keep herself calm. Alicia had not yet given into her base impulses, except for one time. The only time she gave into them, was Lana.

' _Well, you are a monster, maybe you deserve to be put down,'_ another dark echo in the back of her mind thought, practically taunting Alicia.

Alicia closed her eyes and gripped the side of her head. The groaning became very obvious the longer things went.

"Hey, did you hear me?" the guard asked.

The guard caught one look at the haunting, depraved stare the girl gave to him and terror filled his body. He reached over to grab the phone, and try and call for backup. The police might have to be called as well, given how this girl was trespassing.

Alicia flashed over in an instant, and grabbed him by the arm. She ripped the phone out of his hand and pushed him back against the wall. The security guard dropped down onto the ground.

"You're one of those meteor freaks!" the security guard yelled. "Stay away from me, you monster!" Stay away from me!"

Alicia picked up a pipe, and considered, it would be the easiest thing in the world to teleport with this pipe extended, and leave it inside of the person. She took a deep breath, and the small part of her, who had not been entombed in darkness just yet, calmed down.

' _No, I can't,'_ Alicia thought to herself.

' _Sure you can, and it would get Clark's attention…..'_

Alicia closed her eyes and swung the pipe, opting to nail the man in the ribs with it. Alicia caused him to drop down to the ground and caused the pipe to clatter. Something was happening in the back of her mind, these dark thoughts threatened to break out and torment Alicia even more.

' _HE FAILED YOU!'_ another scream echoed in the back of Lana's mind. _'Are you going to let him get away with that?'_

Alicia decided to leave, if there were one guard here, there would be many more here. She had to get out of here, there was no question about it.

' _Weak, very weak,'_ the voice taunted Alicia in the back of her mind.

* * *

"She was sighted again, but the witness said she disappeared before they could get too close to her," Tess said. "I don't know, do you think she's playing hard to get?"

Clark answered with a very obvious sigh, and he couldn't put his finger on what Alicia was doing. The theory her mind had been messed up since coming back from the dead was very obvious. He looked at all of the sightings, and tried to find a pattern.

Any patterns had been rather erratic though, another sign Alicia had lost what passed for sanity and was just zipping around. Yet, she knew enough to flee to make sure Clark didn't grab onto her. Clark didn't know what to think of it, although he was pretty sure something bad was going to happen.

"Everything is ready," Clark said. "All we have to do is grab onto her."

"She isn't making it very easy," Tess said.

Tess hoped this situation would get a lot easier in a hurry. Alicia continued to play a very deadly game of cat and mouse with them all, and the stakes were getting extremely high, and very frustratingly so. Cadmus must have been pulling the strings.

Knowing Strange, and Tess got to know him during his time working with Lex, he had let Alicia out into the wild as some kind of project, to see what happened. Her tormented actions could be pinned o Hugo Strange.

"I'm just thinking," Tess said. "Some people….it's hard to reach them."

Tess thought at one time she would be one of those people.

"If I can't reach her, we're going to have to do what's necessary to make sure she doesn't hurt anyone," Clark said. "But, I saw something in Alicia's eyes. It was fleeing, for a second, but there's a part of her which is still alive, buried in all of the feral attacks."

Tess smiled and shook her head. Clark wouldn't be Clark if he didn't bring up this particular point.

"Maybe," Tess responded.

"I'm being serious," Clark said. "There has to still be a part of Alicia which I can reach, and I can help her. And until that part is gone, I'm not going to give up to her….she hasn't killed anyone, even though she has plenty of chances to do so."

Tess nodded, Clark had a point she had to agree with, at least in principle. She took a second to look at him, a half of a smile entering her face.

"I just want to try and reach her," Clark responded with a smile and a shake of his head. "Is that a problem where I want to see the best of her?"

"No, not really," Tess said. "It's one of your more endearing qualities, you have to see the very best in people."

Tess leaned in and caught Clark with a very light kiss on the side of the cheek before she pulled back from him. She locked onto him with a very slight smile on her face.

"Although, there are some times where it might not be the best, to see the best in some people," Tess said. "Still, I can't help, but think your instincts are on point this time. If you saw something, you might have saw something."

For Clark's sake, Tess really hoped Alicia did not go the same way as the other meteor mutants, where they decayed over a matter of weeks. Tess didn't know whether or not they went on some kind of rampage or anything, but she figured it was possible they could have.

' _Always something,'_ Tess thought in bemusement. _'Going to have to take this one day at a time, I suppose.'_

Tess's expression flickered over to the view screen. Much like Clark, she tried to pick out some kind of pattern with what Alicia was doing, but much like Clark, she hadn't figured out exactly what Alicia was up to. She was most certainly moving around in a very eratic manner.

' _You are an enigma, Ms. Baker,'_ Tess thought to herself in bemusement.

"We have another sighting," Indy chimed in. "She's actually close by Star Labs."

"So, do you want to go check it out?" Tess asked. She didn't even finish her sentence, when seeing Clark disappear into a flash of light. Tess cracked into a smile and pulled back from him. "I guess we should count that as a yes."

* * *

Lana thought the last couple of weeks had been weird. She and Chloe had been kept at Star Labs, under the best security possible. Alicia should not have been able to teleport inside of the room, because it had been lined with lead paint.

Wringing her hands, Lana really hoped that Clark and Tess would have better luck in tracking down Alicia now. All Lana could do was lean back and wait for everything to unfold. Chloe currently was working on the laptop at the foot of the floor.

' _Just have to relax.'_

She never had been one to use meditation tactics, but Lana did read up on them a little bit. Living in Smallville with all of the chaos and insanity was something Lana needed some kind of stress relief. Thankfully, she got it, when she finally decided to join Clark's group.

Lana thought about her new powers, which she only could use in times of immense stress. Nothing had ever been simple, but that was just the life of someone in Smallville. And it was the unfortunate life of Lana Lang, if she had to say so.

Suddenly, Lana's eyes opened, and she came face to face with the same woman who showed her the vision of the hawks some time back.

"Why am I not surprised?"

"I'm glad you're not surprised," the woman on the Astral Plan told Lana. "It shows you're learning, it shows you can adapt, which are both good things."

Lana nodded and kept her gaze focused on a woman. The woman moved forward, and Lana turned around. She sat down in front of Lana. It was almost like she sat in the middle of the room with Lana, but Chloe kept typing away at the keyboard, oblivious to what was going on around her.

"If you're willing to work with me, we can help Alicia," the woman said.

"Oh?" Lana asked.

"We have to repair the damage done to Alicia's soul, it had been splintered, shattered, upon her death," the woman said. "It's really a simple enchantment, although it can be very tricky to pull off. And when she's back, she's going to need an anchor to stabilize her to the world."

Lana just nodded in response.

"How did she come back?"

"Hugo Strange was able to bring her back to life, although she wasn't completely dead," Lana's ancestor responded in a sad voice. "Or rather, her soul wasn't completely at rest, at ease with her fate, hence it made it a lot easier for Strange to bring her back. She's very broken though."

"How can I do this though?" Lana asked. "I have these powers, and I can barely use them. I don't know how to consciously use them."

Lana waited for some kind of answer from her ancestor, a real answer, and not some kind of cryptic bullshit answer either. The ancestor placed a calm hand on Lana's forehead and slowly traced some kind of symbol in it. Lana noticed the symbol flashing into her forehead, and some complex knowledge of magical energies long lost flashed in her mind.

"You know what you need to do when Alicia is found," the ancestor said. "It will bring her mostly back to life, but you're going to need a stabilizing anchor, someone to bond her to."

"Clark," Lana muttered.

"You're catching on fast."

Lana's eyes snapped open, and she noticed Chloe peering over from the side of the laptop, with a very evident frown crossing over her face.

"Are you okay?" Chloe asked. "It's just….you were talking into thin air…..should I get in touch with Clark?"

"Yes," Lana agreed. "You should because I know exactly how to fix Alicia."

Chloe had no idea what was going on. This was beyond weird, even for Smallville reasons.

"It was her, the woman I had the dream about," Lana said.

Now, Chloe would be lying if she was not worried. Was Lana being possessed again? Still, if she thought Alicia could be helped, then maybe they should go along with it, for now.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on September 29** **th** **, 2017.**


	60. Chapter 60

**Chapter Sixty: Strange Encounters Part Three.**

* * *

Lana Lang hoped this insane plan would work. If it didn't, well she didn't know where they would go from here. She looked over her shoulder and saw Clark standing about three feet away from her. He had his share of misgivings and if Lana had to be honest with herself, she would have had her share of misgivings as well. Yet, they had to do this, because it was necessary to do this.

"Are you sure you want to do this?"

One particular question always had been loaded, and the thing was, Lana was not completely sure she wanted to do this. The only element of this situation she was nearly certain about was she had to do this. There was really no question about it. She turned towards Clark and responded with a nod. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes.

"I'll be fine," Lana said. "You should….you should stay out of sight until I give the signal."

Clark looked like he wanted to protest, but at the same time, he knew Lana was right. Alicia would never show up if she knew Clark was there. He just missed her one more time, and the game of cat and mouse continued. Lana watched Clark disappear around the corner, and left her all alone to deal with Alicia. Lana took in a deep breath, and reminded herself what was at stake. According to the mysterious woman who she could only see, Lana had the ability to do this.

Lana closed her eyes, mentally prepping herself for the next encounter. She could most certainly do what was asked of her. Lana hoped Alicia would show up, because otherwise this entire trip would have been all for nothing. And that would be the worst thing possible.

A cloud of green mist took Lana aback. Despite the girl's first instincts being to run and get as far away from the situation as possible, Lana did what was right. Lana Lang stood her ground, for better or for worse. She would not be bullied in this particular situation.

"It's always about you, isn't it?"

Lana turned herself towards Alicia who stood forward with an accusatory gaze. She somewhat regained the ability to speak, which might have been an encouraging sign she was not beyond being reached. At least, Lana hoped so.

"I don't know why it's always me…"

"You get off on the attention, and the danger, and you're always a distraction," Alicia said. "Both you and Chloe, you always distract Clark…"

"I know you're upset, and I know we've never really gotten along," Lana responded. "But, you know, Clark seems to see the best of you, and he wants to help you. But, you're going to have to let him help you."

"You don't understand, I don't want to hurt Clark," Alicia responded. Her breathing increased when she approached Lana. "He's better off not knowing where I've been…..it should have never ended like it did….but the only thing to give me piece is to see you dead."

"If you really wanted to kill me, you would have killed me by now. What's stopping you, Alicia?"

Lana really hoped the bluff would work in the best case scenario, or in the worst case scenario, the bluff would provoke Alicia into an attack. A very long, and anxious moment passed before Alicia appeared behind Lana with a flash of light and tried to grab her around the back of the neck.

She pulled out of the attack, and closed her eyes. The energy channeled into Lana's body and caused a warm, tingling feeling to erupt around her being. Lana blasted Alicia almost off of her feet and caused her to drop back down onto the ground with a thud.

Alicia rolled over to her feet and dodged out of the way of another magical attack. Lana turned around and blasted Alicia with all of the force she could. Lana's eyes screwed shut when pushing through the energy beam to connect with Alicia and bring the woman down to her knees.

' _It's not working.'_

' _That's because you don't have faith in your abilities….don't hold back, believe this can work.'_

The voice cutting through her mind gave Lana about all of the encouragement she could. She blasted Alicia again with a full force attack. Alicia dropped to the ground, and she tried to close her eyes. Lana pushed herself into the blast and Alicia closed her eyes.

Everything bombarded Alicia at once, everything, and she found the shattered parts of her psyche being forcefully jammed back together in one fluid motion. Alicia's shaking knees prevented her from standing up straight for a long moment. Lana kept pushing forward, trying to get everything she could into this one solid assault.

Lana prevented Alicia from escaping and dropped her down to the ground, stunned. A flash of light appeared, with Clark scooping Alicia up, and then zipping her off as fast as he could. In a blink of an eye, Lana saw Clark leave, and then reappear down onto the ground right next to her.

"Are you okay?" Clark asked.

"Yeah," Lana said. "That wasn't easy."

Lana took a step forward and collapsed into Clark's arms. One look at Lana's pale sweaty face indicated that Clark would have to also get her off to the Fortress for some medical attention before too long. He hoisted Lana off of the ground and brought her back to the Fortress in a blink of an eye.

Everything appeared to be fine, but there were so many unanswered questions.

* * *

A dark and brooding feeling passed over the mind and body of one Alicia Baker when she struggled to wake up. She had been through terrible ordeal, she had a feeling. The girl's body was cold and shaking, and her mind was temporarily confused as she tried to recall the ordeal she had been through.

The very last feeling Alicia remembered, was she died. It was awful, it was horrible, and she died, full of regrets of some of the things she done in her life. How, she would never get a chance to make the most out of her life.

Alicia slowly opened her eyes, and found herself breathing, alive, or at least in not in a bad place in the afterlife. She was not sure what to believe, with what happened. Her head started to thump, as it adjusted the brand new line shining. The one thing she realized off of the bat, was she was in the middle of what seemed to be some kind of fortress made entirely of ice, at least that's what she was able to guess by looking around.

Seconds passed as Alicia tried to take as much of the area in as possible. These warm crystals gave off some heat, even though Alicia was still cold, confused, and shaking. Everything just happened so fast. Alicia tried to remember something between dying and waking up. She did die, didn't she? Alicia felt like she did, but at the same time, she could feel breath being drawn into her lungs.

Alicia tried to turn over, but found herself restrained to the table for a moment.

"Sorry about the restraints, but we couldn't be sure you wouldn't attack us when you woke up."

The woman turned around and saw Clark standing there right next to her. She could still feeling a throbbing motion between her ears, something which got a little better the longer Alicia was awake. Or perhaps, she attempted to rationalize the pain away. It was very hard to determine what was going on at certain particular points.

"Maybe," Alicia responded. "I'm not sure if I was able to move….if I was move….it's really good to see a friendly face."

Clark took a second to take in a deep breath. She didn't remember what happened in between the time she died and she got resurrected, which Clark was very comforted by in some way. Whether or not those memories would return, Clark really had no idea.

"So, did I really die?"

Clark hesitated for a minute. He would have to explain this to Alicia later, but right now, until it was confirmed she was of sound mind, she didn't need to know all of the grisly details of her death, resurrection, and indeed, what was done following her resurrection.

"You woke up from a very nasty nightmare."

Alicia had half of a thought there was much more to this entire situation than from outward appearances, but she decided not to question it. Death was a bad enough nightmare, but now she was here, apparently among friends.

"I'm glad things came out okay," Alicia said.

"Lana helped me bring you home."

Alicia raised an eyebrow at surprise about that, but said nothing. Apparently, a lot had changed, and she didn't know the landscape of things. She was certain someone would fill her in on a lot of details sooner or later, right now, all Alicia wanted to do is sleep.

"Just yell if you need anything," Clark said.

She gave a half-hearted nod before making her way to bed. There was a few seconds where Alicia thought she might say something, but instead, she just drifted back off to sleep, without any word whatsoever. It left Clark standing in the Fortress, while taking in a deep breath.

Clark turned his attention back to Raya, who had been waiting in the doorway for him. He took a half of a step in towards Raya, who had several scans up on the screen.

"Alicia's brain scans have come back normal," Raya informed Clark. "She's going to be a bit rattled for the foreseeable future, but she'll be fine all together."

"That's encouraging," Clark remarked to Raya.

"And we managed to piece together some evidence from her mind in the building she woke up in," Raya said. "It may have been a different location than the one Tara woke up in."

Clark responded with a nod in response. It was a start, and something they could build on. Cadmus seemed dangerous from what little he knew, but what was their agenda at the end of the day? Clark would have to send the information along to some very trusted people so they could figure out what to do.

"There are no residual effects, none of the high spikes of radiation which lead to the decomposition of the other test subjects," Raya said. "Which means, they've refined the process."

Lara moved around the corner, and nodded, she would have no choice, other than to concur with Raya's findings. "And they're going to keep refining the process, until they get a meteor mutant which we might not be able to talk off a ledge like Clark did with Alicia."

The grim reality of this awful situation began to sink in with all of them. Clark looked over the information to see what he could do with it. One thing was for certain, and he couldn't say it clear enough, Cadmus needed to be stopped at all means. For now, Clark chased ghosts because he didn't know who all was involved in the process at Cadmus, other than one Hugo Strange.

"At least Alicia is fine," Clark said. "Helena and Thea are investigating Cadmus, I'll make sure to get them the information….especially considering this facility is very close to the area they're investigating in."

Clark had to check out something in Smallville, all of the places Alicia had appeared to, because he wondered if they had any significance to Cadmus. Alicia didn't remember, and Clark wasn't going to try and coax the memories out of her mind. He was going to have to allow that information to be left alone.

He moved over to see Lana who was sleeping off what happened.

"She'll be fine too," Raya responded. "I admit, magic is out of my understanding, along with the understanding of most Kryptonians, but she just overexerted herself."

Clark answered with a nod. He knew both Alicia and Lana would be in good hands, and would not cause any problems. Just in case, Clark kept them at separate sides of the Fortress for security reasons.

With those thoughts out of the way, Clark made his way off to see if the places where Alicia gone, had any sort of significance at all, or not.

* * *

Thea Queen knew how some people felt about her now. Helena pulled a disappearing act in the middle of talking with her and left Thea standing out in the middle of nowhere. Her hands dropped to her side, and everything was clear. There were no guards at this facility.

"The alarms are disabled. We can go in now."

It was a mark of years of practiced self-restraint, Thea did not jump, turn around, and put an arrow into the head of Helena. She relaxed the bow a little bit, and the two of them slipped into the unknown. Which, Thea thought reminded her of something out of some kind of bad 1950s B horror movie.

No one was here, and it was quiet, too quiet. The last statement anyone in their right mind wanted to make in a horror movie, but Thea digressed. She just turned around and kept looking. The silence of the room was not very golden, and in fact it was horrifying.

They stepped into an office area, and could see someone shredded a lot of documents in a hurry, given the scraps of paper. There had been a desk where a computer had once set, but it had been pulled. It seemed like the people who were in this facility knew they were coming, so they cleared out any evidence.

Helena Wayne in particular was not going to give up. They always left some kind of clue behind. Helena stepped over and pulled open the filing cabinet, to reveal several folders. She dropped them on the desk, but the files were empty, other than pictures of meteor mutants who had been transferred out of Belle Reve. Some had a Red X slashed through them, and others had a gold circle around them.

"These are the ones who failed the experience, and those are the ones who didn't," Helena said.

"Why would they be sloppy enough to leave something like that laying around?" Thea asked.

"Because, they're taunting us," Helena answered. "It's a game they're playing."

Those words sounded very cynical to be honest, but Thea found some level of truth to them. She watched with Helena turning her head three hundred and sixty degrees to a certain part and then turning it back around. Helena tapped on the wall, clearly in search for something. What she intended to find, Thea didn't know, but she was certain they would find out in a matter of minutes.

The walls retracted, and caused a small staircase to be revealed. Helena stepped down the staircase, with Thea following. The lab was something out of a horror movie as well.

' _I wouldn't be surprised to find brains in a jar or something down here,'_ Thea thought, hoping to keep some kind of levity when going down into this area, but finding nothing.

Helena frowned when kneeling down. Her scanner started with a tiny blip.

"They were doing experiments down there, but all of the equipment was removed when Alicia's mission became compromised."

She looked into the corner and saw the decomposing body of one of their failed experiments. The stench overwhelmed anyone. This particular meteor mutant had spikes jutting out of where his eyes were in the most painful way. Some of his DNA looked to be harvested, judging by the incisions made.

Helena leaned in and scanned the figure down on the ground. For one wild second, she thought there was a still beating heart in the downed creature's chest, but it didn't appear to be that way.

"They would have needed a diamond tipped drill to get through the skin on this one."

"Yeah, because that's not the least bit creepy," Thea said. "There's no one here."

"No, it's been cleared out," Helena said. "The only evidence we found, is evidence we already have. Which means, someone in Cadmus is monitoring investigations, so we have to be very careful."

"If they're a step ahead, how can we catch up to them?"

"They'll get cocky eventually, and then we'll have them," Helena said. "In the meantime, this facility is going to have to go."

One last facility for Cadmus to perform their sadistic experiments in would do the world a whole lot of good.

* * *

What seemed like several hours passed, and Alicia had just gotten through a battering of tests. Raya was very kind to her, and very professional when running through the tests. Alicia felt she was one hundred percent, or at least as close to one hundred percent as possible.

"So, I'm good to go?" Alicia asked.

"From a scientific perspective, your mind and body have stabilized," Raya said. "From an emotional perspective, I'm afraid I can't tell you that. You're the only one who could make that particular decision."

Alicia nodded, she figured about as much. She hadn't been perfectly well for a long time, especially considering she couldn't shake this thought she had just returned back from the dead. Still, Alicia was willing to go with the flow and see where it took her.

The restraints on the bed had been removed, and Alicia had been very thankful this type of trust had been offered to her, where she could move freely as possible. She smiled and tossed her hair off to the other side of her head. Alicia rose up to her feet.

"So, feeling better?"

Alicia smiled at the presence of Clark. There was always something about him which brightened her day. Alicia, dressed only in a hospital gown, approached Clark. She couldn't quite sway her hips the way she wanted, due to being wobbly, but it was the thought that counted.

"Now that you're here, I'm fine," Alicia said. "And thanks for saving me….it always has to be you."

Clark gave her a smile and Alicia leaned in to put her finger on Clark's lips. She knew what he was going to say, and it turned out, Alicia had a counter argument for what he was about to say.

"I know you're going to say Lana helped, and you're right. But, without you, would she have been able to help? Let's face it, you're the person who inspires people."

Here, Clark had been reminded about the dream Lana had, about the upcoming invasion. How he was the only hope for the world, or something. That was a lot of pressure to put on a person, but Clark had been used to having very great expectations.

"I would love to take more credit," Clark said.

"And the fact you don't take credit is what makes you….well you," Alicia responded, when she moved closer towards Clark. Her fingers intertwined with his when edging as close as possible to you. "You were going to say you couldn't do half of you do without the help and support of your friends."

"I only say it because it's true," Clark said. "And I hope to count you among those friends as well."

"Friends?" Alicia asked. "Well it's more than I deserve, and not quite as much as I want…..but, I hope to thank you, if you don't mind. A hero deserves his reward after all."

The gap between Alicia and Clark had been closed with a very passionate kiss between the two. Alicia put everything into this particular kiss, trying to convey all of those feelings, all of the pent up frustrations. And indeed, all of the apologies she had, for some of the things she did in the past.

Could not change the past, but she could make up for the future.

Clark held the back of Alicia's head, and kissed her even more. Her lips tasted tantalizing, and her body pressed against his made things warm up in the cold Arctic in a hurry. Alicia slowly maneuvered her fingers towards the bottom of Clark's shirt and slowly slipped her fingers onto his abs.

"Still hot enough to melt ice," Alicia murmured, with a wicked smile on her face, as she tried to pull the shirt.

"So, bad time?"

Alicia pulled away from Clark, and saw Lana standing there. Lana had a look on her face where she wasn't really surprised.

"You know something, fuck it," Alicia said. "It's just as well you're here, because we have some issues to work out."

For a second, both Clark and Lana thought Alicia was going to attack Lana. And she did, in a certain sense of the word. Alicia jumped in, wrapped her arms around Lana's neck, and pulled her into a sexually aggressive kiss. Lana had been surprised, but returned the kiss.

The least they could do, to ease up the tension is to find some common interest to bond over, and the most common interest they had was the young man who was sitting right before them.

Both girls, dressed in hospital gowns, didn't have much to get undressed for. The tore at said gowns when they kissed each other, before turning their wicked attention to Clark just a mere moment later, with smiles crossing over their faces.

* * *

Lana moved over to attack Clark with a kiss and pull his shirt over his head. Alicia slipped behind Clark and pressed her perky breasts against his back. She moved her fingers down Clark's back and reached down to cup his crotch.

"That looks a bit constricted," Alicia said. "Why don't we help him get some air?"

Lana smiled, and had already worked Clark's shirt off. She slowly kissed down his abs and then reached his belt. Unlooping the belt allowed Lana to remove Clark's pants and drop them down to the ground. His boxer shorts stretched to show his big, throbbing cock which Lana had out.

Dropping to her knees, Lana worshipped Clark and licked the length. Clark enjoyed the sensation of her warm tongue going down his cock in a zig-zag pattern. She moved down the length and then back up towards the head. Lana's wet lips drew his cock in between them and sucked him for a few seconds before releasing Clark from this particular position.

"Where are my manners?" Lana asked. "You want a taste of him, don't you, Alicia?"

Alicia smiled and moved down to grab Clark's cock before sinking down onto the ground. Her lips wrapped around Clark's cock, and she looked up towards him, quite shamelessly sucking him off. She didn't get the entire length into her mouth, but she made a good effort

"Alicia!" Clark groaned.

Alicia's warm mouth caressed every inch of Clark's cock. Pleasure jolted through him when the beautiful blonde meteor mutant sucked him off while on his knees. Clark held the back of her head and guided his length deeper into Alicia's mouth.

Clark pulled back from her mouth and Lana took her place. Alicia's blowjob was intense, and powerful, while Lana's was more slow and rather measured, but both sets of lips felt good around Clark's cock. He grabbed the back of Lana's head and guided her mouth.

The feeling of Clark's cock buried into her mouth made Lana feel good. She sucked him for a few minutes, committing the taste of his length to her mind, and boy was it ever committed. She grabbed Clark's balls and squeezed hem as hard as possible, before pulling away from him.

Lana traded off to Alicia, and both girls took turns sucking Clark. Each action from both of these hot girls caused Clark's cock to tighten, the muscles in his groin were about ready for his orgasm.

"I want to feel your cum all over my face," Alicia said.

Alicia got on her knees and stroked Clark, nice and fast, using both of her hands to do so. She also kissed and slurped at his head to coax the cum out of him. Lana caressed his balls with her soft fingertips to encourage the explosion which was about ready to come.

"Oh, Alicia, Lana, I can't hold back!" Clark groaned.

He fired his cum all over the faces of both of the beautiful women. Alicia and Lana closed their eyes and accepted the blasts of cum into their faces. They took the warm bursts hard and fast, having their faces covered in thick, dripping gooey spunk.

Alicia smacked her lips and climbed to her feet. She collected the dripping cum off of her face and sucked it from her fingers. An erotic look flashed through Alicia's eyes when doing this action. Out of the corner of her eye, Alicia watched Lana do the same.

Clark took them both onto the bed in a flash, and Alicia and Lana's legs were both spread, revealing their very wet and very dripping pussies. Alicia's was shaved bare, while Lana's had a small strip of black hair coming between her legs. Both of them were quite lovely, and Clark couldn't wait to have a piece of both of these girls.

"Oh, I like it when a man takes charge."

Clark slammed his fingers into Alicia's pussy, and did the same to Lana. Both of the girls moaned with Clark ramming his fingers deeper inside of their dripping cores. He pushed into their bodies and made them scream, squirm, and thrust their hips upwards to meet his fingers.

'Oh, yes, I do, like that, right there!" Alicia mewled at the top of her lungs.

What Clark did to her made her gush in pleasure, and caused her pussy to clench Clark. She released his fingers and then he pushed it back into her.

"He's good, isn't he?" Lana asked.

"Yes, this is….more than worth the wait," Alicia breathed.

Clark spent several more minutes bringing both girls to explosive orgasms. He retracted his fingers from their cunts, and then shoved the fingers with Alicia's juices into Lana's mouth and the fingers with Lana's juices on them into Alicia's mouth.

The taste of Lana's juices got Alicia hot and more bothered than possible. Her pussy was more than ready to take in Clark's throbbing hard cock.

"Clark, I need you, please."

Clark smiled and turned his sights towards Lana, who was willing and ready for his cock. Her legs spread out, and Clark sunk his cock between her legs. One sigh of pleasure and one sigh of absolute frustration intermingled in the air between both of them.

Twelve inches of meat half slid into Lana before pulling out. Her pussy was going to get a workout the likes of which it never felt. Intense pleasures built up in Lana's mind. Clark was more than capable of bringing her to an orgasm in a matter of seconds, but what Lana liked about him was how he dragged out the orgasm. He made her want it more, and it in turn made Lana want Clark even more.

"Take me," Lana begged him. "Harder, oh harder."

Lana's wet thighs slapped together with Clark's. Clark reached down and grabbed her breasts, squeezing the perky globes in his hand.

The dark haired girl wondered if her breasts had grown, or was it just her imagination? One thing was certain, and it wasn't her imagination in the slightest, they were more sensitive, and more responsive to Clark's touch. Her legs spread out to make sure she took as much of Clark inside of her.

Suddenly, Alicia, despite not being touched by anyone, felt something strike her clit and caused her body to thrash up and down. It just made her want Clark even more.

Lana hung on, feeling satisfaction at mind-screwing Alicia like that. She held onto Clark, and could feel the big one coming on. Clark set the stage with a series of small orgasms.

Always, Lana's pussy was so tight, and it seemed to be tighter around Clark's cock now with her brush with magical energy earlier. Clark made the fit work, even though her tight walls clenched around his mighty cock when he shoved himself deeper inside of her. Clark closed his eyes, and brought his rock hard cock inside of Lana one more time.

Every scream coming from Lana only made Alicia want Clark's cock even more. She tried not to touch herself, because that might cause her to cum, and that was Clark's job. Her orgasm belonged to Clark Kent.

Every second, Lana's body expanded and contracted around Clark. It felt so good to have him buried inside of her. Her orgasm came next, and Lana almost blacked out from the pleasure. She held long enough to ensnare Clark's cock and squeeze it.

Magic was an even bigger Kryptonite to Kryptonians than Kryptonite, and despite his ability to hold back, Clark let it go and spilled his load inside of Lana as she stimulated every single nerve center of his hard cock. Clark pushed his manhood into her and filled her body up with an increased amount of seed.

Clark pulled out of Lana, his cock dripping with her clear juices. Suddenly, Alicia was now on top of him, straddling him. Her pussy grinded against his cock. The bare, silky flesh of her walls pushed deep inside of her, and caused her to close her eyes.

"I think it's a bit tighter than I remember," Alicia said.

Clark smiled, it had been a very long time. He grabbed Alicia's ass and squeezed it. She slowly sank down onto his manhood and filled her pussy up with his cock. It was hard in an instant, and Alicia slowly started to roll herself down onto his rock hard cock.

"Clark!" Alicia screamed in a passionate voice.

She placed her hands on his shoulder to steady the lift and then the drop. The feeling of Clark's hands tempting Alicia's body made her feel extremely good. Clark tormented Alicia with those small touches.

Clark listened for Alicia's heart beat when he touched certain spots, and learned very quickly what spots drove her completely insane. Clark held onto Alicia's lower back and positioned her to come down on his cock. She did, bouncing higher, harder, and faster. Alicia squeezed him with her thighs when riding him.

"Touch me, anyway you want to," Alicia begged him.

The beautiful meteor mutant craved Clark's touch. He lightly caressed Alicia's nipple and pushed it between his fingers. Alicia closed her eyes and hummed hungrily, when driving her dripping pussy down onto his hard cock driving inside of her.

Every touch brought Alicia to her peak. She rose up and dropped down onto Clark's hardening rod. She pushed down onto him and bounced higher, faster, and with more fluid actions. Alicia spread her thighs down around Clark's rock hard cock and then dropped down onto him.

Clark groaned when feeling Alicia's wet, tight pussy wrap around him. The minutes ticked by, as Clark allowed her orgasm to come freely. Alicia didn't break, she made up for lost time. And Clark's reward was feeling her wet pussy grind up against his cock when she squeezed and released him with a certain rhythm.

"Mmm, that's a good spot, right there," Alicia breathed.

She had Clark all alone, well at least until Lana recovered. Alicia grabbed her hand around Clark's shoulder and kept driving more of herself down onto his hard cock. Time ticked by, and so did Alicia's orgasms.

Everything reached a fever pitch, the moment Alicia saw stars. She came around Clark's hard cock, and then dropped down onto him again.

"Time for you to get a reward as well."

Alicia didn't think she deserved it, but she would take it. Clark worked his cock into her pussy, and made her cum one more time. Every single inch of Alicia's insides had been stretched with pleasure, with Clark working his hard cock inside of her body.

Then, Clark's orgasm hit, and filled Alicia up with cum. She managed to stay with Clark to the end, riding and clenching him, making sure to drop every single drop of cum.

Clark pulled out of Alicia with a smile, leaving both girls dripping with his essence, sore, with a satisfied smile on his face. Both rested on the bed, and Clark decided to stay with them through the night, just to make sure everything was cool between them, after the post-sex high wore off.

* * *

A long and busy night at the DEO was only going to get long and busier, with news coming in about this Cadmus group. Alex hadn't heard about this group before today other than it being a research lab which was underneath the ownership of LuthorCorp, at least until a couple of years back.

Luthors, it always had to be Luthors, at least Tess assured them that Lex and Lionel were locked snugly in their prison cells, at an undisclosed area deep under the ground. The legality of holding them here was something Alex didn't even want to discuss, but given the circumstances, the ends most certainly justified the means.

Saving the world meant you had to be very leisure with some of the laws. Alex responded with a yawn, and turned her attention to a dimly lighted lab. She needed to get a cup of coffee to keep her mind stable, and also maybe check on her old friend, the scarab.

Alex took half of a step to the coffee machine, and saw the case, the case containing the scarab. It had been opened, and the blue scarab, the one which was acting strangely around her, had been missing. Alex drew her gun, not knowing how good it would do against an ancient alien artifact.

' _Not good, not good at all,'_ Alex thought to herself.

Her heart started to hammer a couple of solid beats against her chest. Alex turned slightly around to the left, and slightly around to the right. No signs of the scarab. Maybe someone removed it from the case to investigate it, but Alex had been keeping a very close eye on the movements regarding the scarab.

A stabbing sensation came through her spine, and Alex dropped to the ground to her knees. Alex reached behind her and touched the back of her neck. The blue scarab hooked to the back of her neck and was digging in, and not letting it go. All Alex could do was scream in horror.

The doors burst open, and Daisy made her way inside.

"It's fusing with my body!" Alex yelled.

"Hold still!"

Daisy tried to aim for the scarab and not Alex to rock it off with her powers. Unfortunately, that little tactic was a lot easier said than done. The screams of Alex continued, blood curdling and inhumane. Daisy lifted her hand and tried to once again rock the scarab from its particular position.

"We need help!" Daisy yelled. "Code seventeen, we need help, now!"

Everyone in the DEO knew what a Code Seventeen was, agent compromised by an alien artifact. Alex closed her eyes and could feel something working into her mind, before she consciously blacked out.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 8** **th** **, 2017.**


	61. Chapter 61

**Chapter Sixty-One: Reaching for Answers**

* * *

Lara received a contact, a distress signal which brought her over to the DEO. She arrived and could see a woman on the ground, screaming in agony. A blue scarab implanted in the base of her neck and was slowly, starting to overtake her body. Daisy, Kara, and Carol all stood around, trying to get a closer look at the scarab. She moved closer towards the woman, who screamed out in agony.

"It's your sister, isn't it?" Lara asked.

"Yeah, it….I recognize that thing, but not well, I don't know what it is," Kara said. "It's hurting her though, there has to be a way to get it off of her."

Alex screamed and every now and then, she started to battle in a frenzied flurry in some kind of alien language. Lara understood traces of the language which came out of her and there were parts of the language which Lara did not quite understand. She leaned and placed her fingers on the edge of the scarab.

Another loud scream echoed, and Alex jumped to her feet. Daisy stepped forward, and prepared to do what she could to defend them. This crazed alien artifact could have very well taken over Alex's body and attacked her. Kara and Carol moved on either side of her and restrained Alex.

She screamed out some more before her two sisters wrestled her onto a table.

"We're supposed to have super strength, and she's overpowering us," Carol groaned when her attempts to hold Alex up did not go quite as planned.

Kara responded with a nod and tried to hold Alex back and at bay. Alex struggled against Kara's grip. Kara placed her foot underneath Alex's legs and tried to hold her back even more. She just managed to help Carol get her over to the operating table where they could restrain her.

"That should…that should hold her," Kara said.

It didn't take long for the younger Kara to catch her breath. The thing attached to Alex's neck was going to put up a hell of a fight. She and Carol stepped off to one side, to make sure Lara had enough breathing room to take a look at that thing, whatever that thing was.

A frown passed over Lara's face when she ran her finger down onto it. The artifact sent a very crisp shower of sparks at Lara when she touched the artifact. It warped into Alex's neck, clinging on for dear life when Lara tried to work with it. It would not bend, no matter what she tried.

"Please tell me you at least know what that thing is," Daisy said.

"Actually, I do," Lara responded. "The scarab is a group from a group of aliens known as the Reach."

Kara reacted to the name in a very obvious amount of horror, while Daisy and Carol looked a bit confused by the news of this Reach organization. She shifted her lips together in a frown.

"The Reach is an organization of aliens who sent their agents to infiltrate a planet, normally one rich in resources and abundant in technology, so they can gain the trust of the people, giving them a champion, before turning it around and enslaving them," Lara responded. "There are normally at least half of a dozen other sleeper agents around, waiting for their directive."

"And Alex has been infected by one of these…sleeper agents," Carol said.

"One of them, yes," Lara admitted. "But, it doesn't make any sense. Earth isn't the type of planet the Reach normally targets. Unless they found out about the Kryptonians on Earth…but that wouldn't make any sense, because the artifact was in a temple which had not been uncovered for hundreds of years."

"None of this makes any sense," Daisy said.

Lara shook her head. She would have to concur with Daisy, there was a whole lot of this, which didn't really make any sense at all. She took a couple of seconds to close her eyes and breath in response. She noticed the pulsing item on the back of Alex's neck.

"We're going to have to reach it somehow," Lara said.

"Reach it?" Daisy asked.

"The scarab is bonding with Alex," Kara said, wringing out her hands in frustration. "It won't be too long before she becomes one with the collective mind of the Reach…and if there's any other their agents here…"

Kara trailed off an instant later and there was no need for anyone else to say another word. They understood precisely what she was going for, and what she was going to say. Carol leaned in and put a hand on her younger sister's shoulder to calm her down. Despite the fact Carol was really freaking out over worry regarding her second oldest sister.

"Please tell me there is a way….."

"The only way is for the host to be destroyed," Lara said. "That I know of."

"Absolutely not," Carol said. "So much alien technology, and we can't figure out how to get this stupid scarab off of my sister's neck!"

Carol reared her hand back and prepared to punch something. Lightning quick reflexes on the part of Kara prevented her from hammering the wall. Carol released her breath in a sigh.

"I know you're upset, and I am too," Kara said. "Punching the equipment doesn't do anything to solve this. We're just going to have to….."

Alex's blood curdling screams cut Kara off. She thrashed against the restraints and it would not be too long. Lara doubted a sedative would work, especially give the scarab was making changes to Alex's body.

' _If only I had an unbonded one to take apart and work with, I might be closer to figuring out what makes these nasty little buggers tick.'_

* * *

A seemingly harmless warehouse on the north border of one farm town and the south border of another farm town was the last place anyone would have expected anything completely dangerous and world changing. They made farm equipment, at least on the official reports. And it was a story which no one discounted, given the fact it made way too much sense.

Deep underneath the warehouse, there was something else dangerous. Clark wanted to know what, wanted to bring the people who were behind Cadmus to justice. Clark dropped down onto the ground and he was not alone.

"Kara, are you in position?"

Kara In-Ze, better known by her alias Karen Starr these days, dropped down onto the ground. She put her hands on her hips and nodded while looking around.

"She's in position, and so am I."

Diana dropped down next to Clark and looked pretty much ready to go. And Clark appreciated the arrival of both girls, because they were stepping directly into the great unknown.

"And if the two of you are in position, than so I am," Chloe said. "Boy, I'll tell you, this place doesn't seem very threatening, but it makes the perfect Cadmus facility."

"Tess dug up the information."

"There are some weird shipping routes for a farm supply company as well," Chloe said. "There's nothing too out of the ordinary to people who would look into this, and really, who would look into it? Other than someone who was way too obsessive and had away too much free time on your hands."

"In other words, you."

Chloe just laughed. She couldn't deny being the type of person she had been accused to.

"Okay, there's no security, at least none we can see," Karen said. "How about you, Chloe, do you detect any security alarms on your end?"

"Well, no," Chloe said. "Which means either someone disabled them, or there are none, or someone has moved everything they need out of the facility before we can get in there."

"It's a possibility," Clark admitted. "We still should have a nice look around, just to make sure we haven't missed anything that could get us into trouble later on."

Karen already stood in front of the door. She touched it and the front doors blasted open without her really touching them. One look from the Kryptonian survivor made her be put on pins and needles.

"Okay, that was a bit too easy," Karen said.

Clark, Diana, and Karen already stepped inside. They made their way to the edge where there were two figures, one dressed in green and one dressed in black who waited for them.

"I see you're already here."

Batwoman and the Green Arrow both nodded.

"We have our own sources," Batwoman said. "We searched all of the top floor, and nothing other than boxes of seeds and bags of fertilizer."

"You've searched the top, but there's still the bottom," Clark said.

"No basement, at least not yet," Green Arrow responded.

Clark looked at the ground and realized there had been a certain panel underneath the ground which had been lined with lead. He could not see through it.

"Whoever did this didn't really take into account that I'm more likely to notice the lead and think something's up, than not," Clark said.

"Or maybe they're just baiting you into a trap," Batwoman said.

Clark thought about it and despite the cynical nature of Helena's words, she would have to agree. The Detective moved towards the panel of the floor. For all he knew, there could have been a large chunk of Kryptonite jammed underneath the floor, just waiting to be unleashed, and more importantly, just waiting to ruin his day. Clark had to keep himself rather calm, and collected.

Helena pried back the floor and there was lead lining there. She cut through the lining and she saw a set of stairs which lead to a room deep underneath the warehouse. The party made their way down the steps where a panel alongside a thumb print stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I'm on it!" three voices shouted in unison in three different communication links.

"I see we all brought our own hacker to the party today," Clark said Thea.

"Bet you anything Felicity can hack it faster than the other two," Thea said.

"Chloe," Clark said.

"Finished!" the voice in Batwoman's ear cried in triumph.

"Oracle," Batwoman said. "No need to pay up, the look on your faces are more than enough."

They entered the facility under ground. There was a computer which blinked at the end of a long hallway, and for a second, they all thought the computer had been blue screened. A closer look indicated this was not the case. Clark moved over and noticed something very particular lying on the ground, it was a Kryptonian power cell of some sort. It had been cracked, slightly damaged, but whoever ran this facility somehow made it worked.

"How did they get their hands on a Kryptonian power cell?" Karen asked.

"I smell a Luthor," Thea said.

"Can't be, both of them are locked up tightly," Karen said. "Unless this is a long plan, and….actually, I just answered my own question, didn't I?"

A nod from all of the parties involved indicated Karen just answered her own question, indeed. Helena made her way over to the computer and plugged into the system. The files scrolled down and many of them had been heavily encrypted and many of them had been recently modified.

"Project KR2?" Oracle asked. "What is Project KR2?"

The crystal burned out and the computer burned out along with it. The lights of the lab all burned out as well, leaving them all in darkness.

Clark switched on the ear piece.

"Daisy, are you there?" Clark asked.

"Yeah, I'm there…..what is it?" Daisy asked.

Clark frowned, he could hear Daisy's voice quake just a little bit under some kind of anxiety, and he wondered what was going wrong with her. Before Clark could ask, Chloe jumped in to give her all of the essential information.

"Project KR2," Chloe said. "We need you to look into it."

"I'll look into it, but…we have a problem," Daisy said. "Alex has been infected by alien technology….your mother is here, but she can't figure out anything, and I was…."

"I'll be there," Clark said. "It's Alex Danvers, she's been infected by the alien artifact."

Karen realized something, perhaps too late to help anyone. She really hoped though, the merger would not cause Alex to lose all sense of herself. Unfortunately, it went without saying that when the Reach merged with their victims, all sense had been often times lost.

* * *

Alex's eyes flashed open and a chill spread through her body. One moment, she was in the DEO, having a conversation. She had gone to take a look at that creepy alien artifact they dug up all of those months ago in Egypt. And it still unnerved her to even look at the thing. And now, she was out in the middle of everything. Alex closed her eyes, trying to reflect on what happened. Those thoughts crept into her mind and it took Alex some time to realize something very unsettling.

The artifact bonded with her somehow. She could hear, in the distance, the screams of her conscious body, while her unconscious mind had been trapped in this void. As far as the eye could see, Alex spotted strange and mysterious alien writing. Languages she did not recognize and she could only begin to hope to comprehend. Confusion followed, and there was plenty of fear going through her body.

Alex looked around from one side to the other. Her knees sunk to the ground and it took a lot of determination to physically will herself up to a position where she could stand up. She retreated further into the cave, which had weird alien writing. The scarcest part to Alex was the longer she stayed in the cave, the easier it was to comprehend the scrawling on the cave wall around her.

"You have been chosen, Alexandra Danvers."

She spun around and looked for the source of who had spoken. Alex's fingers grew progressively numb at clutching her first. "No, no, I don't…you don't understand. This has to be some kind of mistake."

"We don't make mistakes, we would not have bothered joining if you were not worthy. And you are very much worthy, Alexandra, even if you don't show much worth in yourself. You are worthy of holding the power of the Blue Beetle Scarab."

Alex reached out in one last ditch effort to gain control of everything around her. Unfortunately, the Blue Beetle scarab flickered away into the distance. Alex had no idea what to make of this. The beetle reappeared away from her and hovered closer towards her face.

"I have been created as one last ditch effort to stop one of the most dangerous groups of the universe, the Reach. They have conquered worlds, made the inhabitants of said words dependent on the Reach, and drained them all of the resources."

Somehow, Alex listened. If nothing else, she had to keep the Blue Beetle talking. She, and Alex somehow knew the scarab identified as female, seemed to relish talking to her. And Alex had to keep her talking, if she had any hope of breaking the hold the scarab had on her.

"I was created by a revolutionary scientist who did not approve out the actions of the Reach High Council, and what they were doing. How the wrecked worlds, just to become fatter and more arrogant on their power. She created me to be deployed as a champion to liberate each world from the Reach."

If possible, sadness entered the voice of the Blue Beetle. Alex watched something flicker through her eyes. Was it longing? Alex didn't know.

"An error stranded the suit's intended champion on Earth, which she perished. I remained alive, dormant, until a worthy one came across me."

"You think it's me," Alex said. "You think I'm the one who is worthy to hold this, don't you?"

Alex really had no idea what to make of this situation. Her nerves had been rocked something fierce. It had to be done, there was no question about it.

"Let me go!" Alex yelled. "Release me now, I never signed up for this."

"It's for the good of more than just your planet, and for your life," The Blue Beetle told her. "I suggest you don't struggle. The more you struggle, the harder you're going to make it on yourself. And I don't wish to harm you, for you're the perfect vessel."

"You're no better than the rest of them, you're no better than….ARGH!"

Alex screamed out in pain when several electrical sparks immobilized her body. Alex dropped down to her knees, the wind cut from her lungs. She struggled to breath as the Blue Beetle edged closer towards that moment of bonding.

* * *

Inside of the DEO facility, Alex's screams grew more feverish, just getting louder and louder by the moment. She remained restrained to the table, although Daisy, Kara, and Carol had to reinforce the straps. Lara tried to get as many scans as she could.

Learning technology, especially one from the Reach, in a few short hours, if that, was taxing on anyone. Lara was no exception to this very obvious rule. She bit down on her lip and just barely noticed out of the corner of her eye, Astra and Alura showing up.

"I really hate to pull you two away from Kandor."

"Faora and Raya are handling things on that front," Astra said. "And we have a problem."

Alura motioned for Lara to step back and she did. The scientist, one of the smartest minds Krypton ever known moved closer to Alex, to take a look at her. The Scarab looked far different than the illustrations Alura saw during her research. She wasn't going to discount it as being a threat though, because it could have just been the Reach had managed to change up their technology to further ramp up their deception.

"We should have taken a look at that scarab before it had a chance to infect her," Alura said.

"Too late now," Kara said.

"Yes, I understand," Alura said.

She smiled and placed a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Alura leaned in closer and studied Alex. She could have almost heard what Astra was going to say.

"You might as well get it out of the way, so I can shut you down, and move on with trying to find a non-lethal way of freeing this poor girl from the parasite."

Astra lifted her hands up into the air. "You weren't going to even consider it, so I'm not going to mention it. I know none of you are going to hear it. All I'm going to say is it's perfectly clear the Reach are nothing by parasites, and there's nothing other than annihilation which can stop them."

The decorated general stopped for a second and looked over at Alex. The misery on the girl's face made it kinder to put her out of her misery before the beetle completely took over all of her bodily functions, brain included.

"It's almost like she's struggling against it," Kara said. "You know, against the bonding process, she's struggling against it."

"There are people who will struggle," Astra concluded. "And it will just make the scarab double-down on everything. Once it's locked onto a target, there's really nothing stopping it."

"Unfortunately," Kara muttered underneath her breath.

"Yes, unfortunately," Astra said.

None of them were willing to say much of anything. Daisy turned back to Lara.

"Are you sure there's nothing in the Fortress database which tells us how to break the scarab's hold on a person?" Daisy asked. "There has to be something, shouldn't there?"

Lara continued her studies on the scarab, growing progressively more annoyed by the moment. It had been very rare her intelligence failed her, and now Lara grew very much annoyed by her failures. Her fist clutched together and she took a very deep breath. She let out the breath.

"If I knew of a way to stop it, I would," Lara said.

"I believe you," Daisy said.

"And The Fortress has nothing," Lara said. "The collective knowledge of every single known galaxy is not enough to break the hold one stupid little alien bug has over a human girl!"

Lara took in a deep breath. It had been a long time since any of them had seen Lara lose her composure like that. Astra backed away. It was always the gentle ones who had blown up the hardest when they had been frustrated.

"Aunt Lara, I'm upset too, but you shouldn't get mad, we need you to be focused," Kara said.

"Right, you're right and…"

Alex's eyes opened up and blue armor retracted over her body. Astra stepped back.

"Next stage," Astra said.

The restraints ripped off the table and everyone could agree there was no more restraining this girl. She looked at them, with the blue part closing in over her face. The only thing which was visible was her eyes and those eyes were glowing.

"Alex?" Kara asked. "You need to snap out of it, okay….."

Kara came face to face with an arm cannon which retracted out of the outfit. The cannon blasted Kara and sent her flying through the wall. Astra moved in to take out this attacker who struck her niece, but the ground exploded underneath them and more debris were sent fyling.

"Nothing will stop us from doing what's necessary!" Alex yelled. "Either stand out of my way, or my next shot won't be a warning shot."

One of the arm cannons pointed directly to the top of the roof and blew a hole through it. The Blue Beetle took off after it and left everyone in her wake.

Kara pulled herself up, her clothes ribbed, and scratches all over her body which slowly healed underneath the yellow sun. Half of the wing of the DEO had been destroyed by the Blue Beetle's attempt to get out of there.

"I'm fine," Kara said, answering the unasked question. "We've got a serious problem, Alex is out there, and we got to get her home and soon."

"Where is she going?" Daisy asked. She could not keep out the ringing in her ears, no matter how hard she tried. It was pretty much deafening in vibrations.

"A place where she can finish the bonding process," Astra said.

They had another problem, they had no idea if the Blue Beetle released any of the prisoners in her escape. The loud blaring sounds of sirens indicated there was a potential for a prison break, and they should stand by closely.

* * *

Clark dropped down at the DEO, with Karen following him closely behind. In an instant, they saw the chaos. They moved around and Clark pushed in the ear piece.

"Daisy, Daisy, can you hear me?" Clark asked.

Clark could have sworn he saw something move past him.

"Clark, Alex has been taken over by the Blue Beetle Scarab," Daisy informed him. "I need to clarify whether or not Alex has left the building."

Clark's eyes looked up and noticed something blue flying over his head. It had moved in a flash and then it was gone.

"I think that was her, wasn't it?" Karen asked.

Clark nodded without any words. Everything just turned around for the worse very quickly, and he moved his way over to the DEO, where Astra, Alura, and Lara helped shifted over the wreckage.

"I think Director Henshaw is down there!" one of the agents screamed.

"Everyone get back, we'll get him out!" Astra yelled.

They all felt into line, because that was the commanding voice she had. They moved around the base to secure the prisoners.

Clark took a step forward and tried to lift the debris off of Henshaw, even though he would have been lucky not to get crushed.

Something punched through one of the fallen walls. Clark had been taken aback at the look of Hank Henshaw who rose up from the ashes. Ashes rolled over his body. Clark took one look into the man's eyes, which started to glow red. He had been taken aback.

"She won't get very far."

Kara and Daisy looked at each other for a second. Lightly, Kara nudged Daisy on the shoulder.

"You didn't know your boss was a Martian, did you?" she whispered.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 15** **th** **, 2017.**


	62. Chapter 62

**Chapter Sixty-Two: Journey to the Center of the Mind**

* * *

Freaking out failed to adequately describe what Alex was feeling. She just took a shot at her sister while using this suit, and had blown up a government base. The taking a shot at her sister was a bad thing on a personal level, and on a professional level, the entire blowing up of the government base might as well have been career suicide. Alex's frustration bubbled over to the surface, to the point where she was having a fair amount of trouble keeping her head above the water.

She took a deep breath and flew from the government base. The only thing which could rule Alex, and the only thing which could calm her was instincts. Instinct, sweet, and glorious instinct, it guided Alex away. She could not cause any more damage. Kara might have been durable, but that did not matter. Alex feared she would have seriously hurt her sister in the crossfire.

Something slipped into her mind, and Alex realized, perhaps a bit too late, how this thing was trying to enter her mind again. The bonding process continued. Alex refused to allow it any deeper inside of her mind. She gained moderate control, before dropping down onto the field.

Alex's breathing increased, and she thought she was going to pass out, or maybe scream. Actually, screaming sounded a very good thing right now. Alex just needed to throw her arms back and let it all out, let everything all out. Alex closed her eyes, shaking her fist.

' _Let me out of here, please, for the love of, let me out of here,'_ Alex thought.

' _You need to calm down, you're just going to hurt yourself more.'_

The attempts of the scarab to sooth her had fallen completely on deaf ears. Alex grabbed onto her own face and tried to rip this new covering off. Unfortunately, she could not even get a tight enough grip. She would have much better luck ripping off her own face.

Alex's screams of frustration continued to escalate. All of her nerve endings hit a state where they felt like they were on fire. Alex struggled against the grip of the scarab when it continued to force its way into her very being. Her breathing increased, accelerating as fast as possible.

' _You need to let me out of here,'_ Alex thought. _'You need to let me out of here now.'_

' _I told you it's important to calm down, don't make this any harder than it needs to be.'_

Someone took her body, against her will, and they had the arrogance to tell her to calm down. Alex wished she would have stayed away from that alien artifact. It was nothing, but trouble, and it just further sunk into her skin, causing Alex's skin to burn. She doubted very much she would ever see the light of the day.

' _Think of Carol, think of Kara, think of Daisy, think of your parents, think of everything that matters,'_ Alex thought. _'Think of them, think of them….you're Alex Danvers, you're not this collective entity. You're not the Blue Beetle….you're Alex Danvers. Oh….'_

Images flashed in Alex's mind of war torn worlds. She closed her eyes and she almost collapsed down in frustration.

' _We got to keep moving before they find us,'_ the blue beetle thought to her. _'Disrupting the bonding process will not end well for either of us.'_

Alex not only begged to differ, no she demanded to differ. She wanted someone, anyone to catch up and stop this. The pain spreading through her body was the worst thing ever. All of the bumps, all of the bruises, fighting alien threats who could squash her like an insect if they chose to, nothing compared to this pain.

' _What are you showing me?'_ Alex asked.

On the one hand, she did not want to know what these images were. On the other hand, Alex's driving trait was curiosity. She always wanted to know everything that was going around her at all times, even though those image would end up being her doom.

' _It's what happens to a planet that the Reach invades,'_ the blue beetle thought. _'You need to relax…if they ever find Earth, they will leave it decimated.'_

' _What's the chances?'_ Alex asked.

' _Kryptonian technology, they may find that of value, and may find it worth enslaving humanity to acquire,'_ the blue beetle explained. _'It will increase their ability to seek out new worlds by a thousand times.'_

Despite the craziness of this situation, something about the scarab's words hit Alex hard. It made sense, and she could not put her finger on exactly how everything changed.

' _You need to calm down,'_ the scarab repeated.

' _Look, I'm finding it difficult to do so, given how you almost blasted my sister straight into the next life,'_ Alex thought.

' _The blast did not harm her, rather it was a warning shot,'_ the scarab told Alex, in what passed for a gentle tone, even though Alex was not appeased. _'We're almost joined, it will happen. The pain will only be over once we are assimilated.'_

Alex might have watched a few too science fiction movies with Carol back in the day, but even if she did not do that, she had a feeling assimilating with an alien artifact was not in her best interests. Her mind went a million miles a minute and not in a very good direction either.

* * *

Kara's words caused the man known as Hank Henshaw, or at least the man the world believed to be Hank Henshaw, to look around. He took a second to peer at everyone around them, and there was a few seconds where everything had gone.

"You're serious, right?" Daisy asked.

"Well, he either has to be a Martian or a cyborg," Carol admitted. "So, which one is it?"

"My name isn't Hank Henshaw, as you well know," the man in question responded. "My name is J'onn J'onzz, and I'm the last son of Mars. I was asked as a favor my old colleague, Jor-El, to keep an eye on his son, and if he needed any help, to give it to him."

Clark just nodded in response. He tried not to judge the actions of the physical Jor-El based on what his Artificial Intelligence copy was. Time and perspective healed a lot of wounds.

"I was sent here, to look after you, but there was a flaw in that plan," J'onn said. "For one, my planet was on the cusp of extinction around the same time of Krypton, and the White Martians bombarding my planet forced me to defend them. Once….once it was done, and both races were lost….."

J'onn took a deep breath, and sighed. It was a long trip down memory lane for him, the destruction of his people left some pretty deep and gaping wounds in him.

"It's been a long time, but yet, it feels like it was just moments ago," J'onn responded. "I knew Jor-El intended to send you to Kansas, to live with a family he picked out, one which he knew would take care of you. And there was a ninety five percent chance you would reach that destination."

The five percent chance something would happen to Clark on his way from Krypton was very worrying for a number of reasons. J'onn supposed there was nothing to worry about now, given they were all here and they were all talking to each other now.

"So, you made it to Kansas?" Daisy asked.

"Eventually, but not right away, as there were more complications," J'onn responded. "I landed in South America, still battered from the war, and my arrival had caught the attention of the DEO, along with their director, Hank Henshaw, and Jeremiah Danvers."

Carol and Kara looked very shocked at the news. They did not know what to really say, other than they had been taken off guard.

"Jeremiah showed compassion to my plight, Henshaw…well he was less than compassionate," J'onn answered a moment later. "The two of them got into an altercation on that evening….and they ended up falling. I was still not as strong as I could have been…they hit bottom."

J'onn's breath took, with Carol looking back at him a second later.

"None of this is your fault," Carol responded. "You couldn't have, you couldn't have saved him in time. It was out of your hands."

"Thank you," J'onn said.

"So, Henshaw and Jeremiah were both dead," Daisy answered. "And you took on Henshaw's identity….and you ran the DEO."

"They were working through some unethical matters, which I tried to back away from," J'onn said. "I hoped to fix everything, and I have….in some ways. But, there are still some in the DEO who tar aliens with the same brush."

J'onn would have liked nothing better than to get rid of those people. He recalled a saying the humans had, which he adopted one hundred percent of the way. One should keep your friends close by, but keep your enemies even closer. And J'onn made sure to keep these people close by. They followed orders, because they respected Henshaw, and in some cases owed him big time.

The moment any of them found out he was an alien, and more importantly, a Martian, all bets were off and there was going to be some big trouble. J'onn hoped to delay the day.

"Good to see you're around and….well, it's a good thing we didn't have the same misunderstanding we did in the past," Karen said.

"Time travel?" J'onn asked in a weary voice.

"Trust me, when I say, we wouldn't have done what we did, if it wasn't absolutely necessary," Karen said.

J'onn took a moment to survey Kryptonian before him. He knew whose daughter she really was, and while he was not completely happy, she had proven herself to be loyal to Clark and only to Clark. Therefore, J'onn had no choice other than to accept her presence.

"We're going to have to work together for a common cause," J'onn said. "Regardless of any differences we might have had in this, or any other timeline."

Karen nodded. Kara nodded as well, she figured they would all have to work together.

"You okay, kid?" Karen asked.

"Hey, a couple of bumps and bruises, little yellow sunlight, I'll be as good as new," Kara responded. "I'm really worried about Alex though. She's out there, in the middle of nowhere, with that alien scarab, and I don't know…."

A cackling of the ear piece in Clark's ear could be picked up by the super powerful Kryptonian hearing on the part of several of the occupants in the room.

"I found Alex," Diana said.

* * *

Diana stepped into the distance and kept a look on Alex when walking next to her. The woman did not see her straight away and Diana had to slowly walk behind her. She came closer behind Alex.

Alex spun around and one of the arms retracted into a cannon. The cannon pointed towards Diana. Her arm began to shake madly.

"Please go, please, Princess, I don't want to have to hurt you," Alex begged her. She kept her arm as steady as possible when pointing it at the Amazon Princess.

"Alex, take a deep breath, and calm down."

"I'M SICK OF EVERYONE TELLING ME TO CALM DOWN!" Alex snapped.

The sudden show of emotion took Diana aback, at least for moment. Having a younger sister though, Diana was more than used to her fair share of sudden, emotional outbursts. She looked straight into the eye of the woman across for her. The good news, was Alex did not attack.

"No matter what, remember who you are," Diana said. "That thing doesn't have control on you. You're the one in control. You can fight it. I know you can fight it."

"This is your last warning," Alex said, gasping for breath. She tried to struggle to hold herself back. "You need to get out of here."

The arm cannon shot forward and blasted Diana. The shot had been so jerky and not so refined, Diana could avoid the attack. Another blast from the arm cannon came inches away from nailing Diana in the side. She crouched down and ducked underneath the attack.

One precise strike to the back showed Diana how durable the armor was. The Amazon reared back and tried to do her best to hurt the armor, and not the person inside. Further support spread over Alex's body and blocked Diana's latest attempt to punch through the armor. Diana reared back and nailed her one more time.

The Princess of the Amazons dropped down to her knees and groaned in response. One of the blades retracted from the costume and plunged at Diana's throat. Diana blocked the blade with her hand and struggled with it. Diana flipped Alex down to the ground.

' _She is a threat, she should be eliminated,'_ the scarab said. _'She has offered aggression, allow me control, and take the necessary steps.'_

Alex closed her eyes and came close to a blade trying to slice into the chest plate of the armor. Diana was trying to cut her out of there and Alex just had to let her. Alex blocked the blade from connecting her with the one coming out of her costume.

' _She's a friend, she is just concerned, I'm in trouble….'_

Blue Beetle shot up into the air. The person in the armor was now along for the ride. She sent several razor sharp large staple like objects down towards Diana. Diana swung the sword and deflected the items back at her aggressor. Those staples shot through the air and connected with the Blue Beetle.

"Remember, your sisters, Alex, they don't want to see you hurt," Diana said.

The Blue Beetle dropped down and aimed two arm cannons at Diana. Before she could fire, a blur shot in front of Diana and sent a blast of heat vision at the Blue Beetle armor.

"I'm really sorry, Alex," Kara murmured underneath her breath.

She clapped her hands and the sonic vibrations coming from her hand clap knocked the Beetle armor back. The armor crashed down onto the ground. It was very durable. Kara looked over her shoulder just in time to watch J'onn drop down, along with Carol and Clark.

"Both of you grab my hands," J'onn said. "And Kara, you grab Clark's hands…I think we can reach her, but we don't have much time."

* * *

Everything took a side trip to the surreal and the very insane. Clark slipped into a clearing, and looked up towards a very large tower. Kara and Carol dropped down on either side of Clark. Both of the women looked like they had been water logged.

"So, we're in her mind, aren't we?" Kara asked. "Looks pretty orderly."

"Appearances can be deceiving," Carol said.

Clark looked around and hoped that they could reach the Blue Beetle scarab before something, anything could happen. It had worked its way into the outer resources of Alex's mind.

A scream in the distance caused the entire party to spin around. They most certainly located Alex, off in the distance at least. She was a long way away from them.

"Stick together," Carol said. "If we get separated in her mind, I don't know what will happen."

"What if we get trapped here forever?" Kara asked.

"You don't…we won't," Clark said.

' _Will we, J'onn?'_ Clark asked mentally. _'J'onn, are you there, with us?'_

' _Yes, Kal-El, I am with you, but you better find Alexandra, because we don't have much time before everything falls completely off of the rails.'_

Clark had no idea what he meant by that. He turned around three hundred and sixty degrees. He hovered off of the ground, as did Kara and Carol.

"At least we know we can fly in here, so that's something, right?" Carol asked. "I think in theory we could be able to cover more ground, but….I know better….well at least I should know better."

People tried to pierce the mysteries of the human mind for years. No one had even gotten within spitting distance of figuring out how the most complex and most vital organ truly worked. Carol knew Alex could be anywhere, and the Blue Beetle could be finding a way shield her presence.

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!" Alex yelled.

Kara, Carol, and Clark zoomed off to the side. They saw the rapidly fading mental representation of Alex Danvers, and she was being stalked by the Blue Beetle. Clark, Kara, and Carol formed a barrier between the two parties. The Blue Beetle looked through them, looking more bored, than annoyed, or angry.

"There's a Martian in here," the Blue Beetle said. "Very, very clever, but ultimately pointless. The universe needs a champion to defend itself against the Reach, and it's too late."

"I'll be that champion!" Kara piped up suddenly which caused everyone, Alex, Clark, Carol, and eve the Blue Beetle. "Please, let my sister go, and I'll be your vessel, I'll be the Blue Beetle. I just don't want to see Alex suffer any more, please, let me, take me instead."

Carol shoved her younger sister out of the side.

"Absolutely not, I'm not going to see either of my sisters be joined with this thing," Carol said. "I know…I know you mean well, but this is wrong. Alex is not who you want. I have powers, if the two of us can merge, than whatever threat you're fighting, we can stop them together."

"No," Clark said. "Neither of you can do it, I'll do it."

"You can't do it," Kara said.

"I'm going to do it," Clark said. "I've been put on this world to save it, for a purpose. Join with me, and I'll be the Blue Beetle. Let Alex go."

The Blue Beetle looked at all of them in the deepest contemplation. She was trying to figure out how to decide how to deal with their offers.

"As enticing as your offers may be, and as tempting as they may be, the bonding process has already begun," the Blue Beetle responded. "It will have fatal consequences now to remove me from your sister, even if I had been offered a more worthy champion."

"Are you saying we're not worthy?" Carol asked.

"You have power, but worthiness comes in many different ways," the Blue Beetle responded. "You need to allow this process to happen, or Alexandra Danvers will died."

"That's on you," Kara said. "This is all on you, you were the one who bonded with my sister, you killed her! She might as well already be dead."

"Our bodies are intertwined," the Blue Beetle said. "Once she stops fighting it, the joining process will be complete."

' _It's more then their bodies intertwining, it's also their minds,'_ J'onn thought. _'I couldn't rip them apart, without shredding Alex's mind, and even if she asked me, I would refuse to do so.'_

Alex opened her mouth and shut it at once. She was about to ask J'onn to do so. Everything hit her suddenly, acceptance at her lot in life. She needed to just relax, like the scarab said, and slowly the pain would fade away.

"You are everything my inventor wanted in a champion," the Blue Beetle scarab responded half of a second later. "You are strong, you're brave, and you're resilient, very resilient given you were able to fight this for so long, even though it was not in your best interests."

"Fine, you win," Alex said. "You win, but you only win under one condition. If we become one, we consult on everything, you don't take control like you did before, unless I'm an inch away from death. And you don't fire any more shots at my friends or my family."

"We always were intended to work together, that was my intention," the Blue Beetle said.

"You….you were going to let me have a say, this entire time?" Alex asked. "You mean, you let me believe you were going to take over my body and my mind completely, and we went through all of this….when you could have been more upfront with me from the beginning."

"You didn't ask," the Blue Beetle scarab said.

"Well, you really need to work on your communication skills," Alex said.

"I'm unfamiliar with that term."

Somehow, Alex didn't disagree with it. She reached in and locked hands with the Blue Beetle scarab. All of the pain decreased, and she faded off into the distance, along with the images in her mind.

* * *

A moment passed and Alex slowly woke up. Her temples throbbed, and she thought she had a hell of a dream. She woke up in the middle of the Hospital Wing of the DEO. Aches, pains, bumps, bruises, actually not as bad as they had been in the past. They could have been much better, but all things considered, they could have gone a lot worse.

' _It's done.'_

The voice of the Blue Beetle came in through Alex's head and nearly threw her completely off. The dream she thought she had, it was real. She had been dressed in a hospital gown. She reached around and noticed a small locket around her neck which looked like a Beetle.

' _Did you have to make it look like a choker collar?'_ Alex asked.

' _Sorry, within your memories, I thought you were into that sort of thing,'_ the Blue Beetle responded.

Alex took a moment to breathe deeply and breath completely out. She did not have the strength or the energy to fight the scarab, or argue with it. She just had to deal with her new life.

"Oh, hey, Daisy."

"So, I was wondering if you would ever notice me."

Daisy smiled when looking down at Alex. Kara and Carol were waiting outside, to visit with her. And there was another one, Hank Henshaw stepped inside.

"Agent Danvers, how are you feeling?" Henshaw asked.

"Well, my mind is a lot more crowded," Alex said. "I really feel bad about the damage I caused though."

"No worries, I'll just take it out of your salary."

Alex blinked a second later, and Henshaw offered her a nod.

"We do have insurance, we would be ignorant not to, given all of the highly dangoerous alien prisoners we have locked up under out custody," Henshaw responded. "Once you have a chance, I need you to report to Lab Nineteen for tests. Astra, Alura, and Lara will be helping."

A very sardonic smile popped over the face of Alex Danvers.

"I'm going to take a wild guess, and say that Astra wanted to kill me to get rid of the scarab," Alex said. "And she had to be talked down."

"Right on the nose," Daisy answered with a brief smile.

' _This General Astra had faulty information,'_ the scarab responded. _'The Reach are all about conformity, and I'm different as could be.'_

' _Could they have changed them?'_

' _The Reach detests change,'_ the scarab responded.

' _I still think you need to work on your communication skills,'_ Alex thought. _'Because the way you were talking, you really freaked me out. And also, boundaries, you're going to have to learn about those as well…but I guess we're going to have to work on that.'_

' _You're going to have to educate me on those two terms.'_

Alex shook her head, there were a lot of human nuance things she would have to bring the Blue Beetle up to speed on. She walked out in the middle of the hallway, moving side by side with Alex as they left.

"At least you're better now," Daisy said. "Of course, if you start referring to yourself as we and craving chocolate, we have a very serious problem."

"The entire power thing though….."

"Hey, and takes some getting used to," Daisy responded. "When I first got my powers, it took me a long time to come to terms with who I was."

Alex smiled, she slowly had to come to terms. Now she walked towards Carol and Kara. Both of her sisters moved over to hug her.

"You…you didn't have to do what you did," Alex said.

"Well, it turns out all of that drama was all for nothing," Carol said. "Maybe you should have a chat with your other about proper communication skills."

"I'll get on that," Alex said. "Well, I better not keep everyone waiting, tests….guess I have abilities now."

"Hey, join the club, we have cookies," Kara joked.

Alex smiled.

"So, any other big world changing things I missed out on when I was out?" Alex asked.

"Nothing that can't wait until after tests," Daisy informed her.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 22** **nd** **, 2017.**


	63. Chapter 63

**Chapter Sixty-Three: Preparation:**

* * *

One tiny step got anyone into the swing of things. Alicia Baker adjusted to the very fact her life ended and had been started back up. Some people considered resurrection to be one of the most abnormal things possible and hell, Alicia would be the first to agree about that. The meteor mutant felt a little bit more clearer after being stabilized.

Every now and then, a flash, a flicker, entered the girl's mind. Alicia had many regrets about the life lived before. More regrets than any sane person could have. Alicia took a few seconds to do those deep breathing exercises which calmed people down. They worked, very slightly, in calming Alicia down. The girl had been hooked up to several machines. All of her vital signs were on point.

Vital signs were not the problem. What Alicia went through went far behind vital signs. Mentally speaking, Alicia had no doubts of her health. The doubts only rose from Alicia wondering whether or not something would decay. Mentally or physically, and yes, Alicia understood the reports made from the Fortress, from Lara and Alura, which indicated she was fine.

' _Yeah, they can tell me everything is fine all they want. They were not the ones who got resurrected and brought back to life. It's a very awful spot to be in, I don't even know where to begin.'_

The first blonde looked up to see another blonde walking around the corner. Alicia stepped up almost as quickly.

"Whoa, Alicia, it's me," Chloe said.

"Yeah, sorry," Alicia said. Another deep breath did wonders in calming Alicia down just enough to look Chloe directly in the eye. "There's just something about this entire mess which makes me nervous. I don't know how to describe it. Guess, I'm just jumpier than a cat in a room of rocking chairs."

Chloe leaned in and grabbed the other girl's hand. Alicia took in a deep breath and found the gesture to be very relaxing, which surprised her. Given the problems Alicia had with both Chloe and Lana, both of them helping out shocked Alicia. Expectations could be turned around in a blink of an eye.

"I'm just one big mess," Alicia said. "I wouldn't have blamed you if…"

A tighter squeeze of Alicia's hand forced the meteor mutant to look Chloe directly in the eye. "No one says you would have blamed us. I know in your position, I might have felt lost, scared, broken, and unable to see what's right and what's wrong. None of us are debating that."

Alicia nodded and sensed a but at the end of the tunnel. It was just one of those things which Alicia figured something was going to happen, one way or another.

"Clark would have never forgive himself is something happened to you."

Everything which happened came around to Clark Kent. Alicia did not necessarily disapprove even though Clark's role in everything resulted in one of the greatest enigmas in Smallville. Appearances deceived the best of them, and Alicia almost had been tricked at first. Years later, Alicia found there was something more about Clark Kent, and the very thought just made the meteor mutant smile.

"I'm not just here for a pep talk," Chloe said. "I'm trying to piece together as much information about Cadmus as I can."

"I don't really know what to think about them," Alicia said.

"Understandable," Chloe said. "On the one hand, they brought you back to life. That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Maybe," Alicia answered a few seconds later. "They brought me back to a state of living. It was Clark and Lana…"

Alicia paused and never in the meteor mutant's wildest dreams did she ever think thanking Lana Lang would be the order of the day. Everything changed, maybe for the better, Alicia could not really tell right now.

"It was Clark and Lana who gave me true life, and true purpose one more time," Alicia said. "A second chance, to hopefully make something better out of my life."

Alicia's breath came out at those words. Admitting wrongs could be one the harshest pills to swallow. Alicia hated to admit it, but there were many times where she was more than wrong. One of these times was right now. Alicia took in a deep breath and swallowed the very bitter pill.

"Not to distract you or anything….."

One hand rose up to stop Chloe's words. Alicia took in a couple of deep breaths and looked Chloe straight on in the end.

"I remember a lot of darkness, being bombarded by radiation in an attempt to bring me back to life," Alicia said. "I don't remember any places, any names….they just released me into Smallville. I think they wanted to see how I reacted to the world around me."

Chloe patted Alicia on the shoulder. Despite Alicia's despondent nature, her testimonial was very much needed to make sure she drew a picture of what Cadmus intended to do. Chloe did not want to put anyone down especially after the ordeal they had been through.

"You've helped me more than you could ever know," Chloe said.

"Oh, I don't know how that's helpful," Alicia said.

* * *

Alex Danvers adjusted to the new situation with the blue beetle scarab. The DEO agent thought at first there were going to be some problems, but other than the bonding process, everything was pretty smooth sailing. Alex could not have been more pleased with how everything had gone, and perhaps there was something to this entire scarab thing. Perhaps, she could make the arrangement between human and scarab work.

Then again, another potential frustrating though burst Alex's bubble. No matter how much Alex hated to admit it, the blue beetle scarab had not been battle tested for combat. No idea how the scarab reacted to a combat situation put Alex on an edge.

' _I don't understand the point of these tests, I can tell you my systems are one hundred percent functional,'_ the scarab said.

While Alex agreed about the scarab's words in principle, the agent also lived by one edict. Best to be safe than sorry, and when dealing with alien artifacts, Alex wished to be safe, rather than sorry, to be perfectly honest. The two of them had gotten off on the wrong foot with each other.

' _The sooner we get through this one, the better off we'll all be,'_ Alex thought a few seconds later.

Alex took a deep breath and ran through the obstacle course. Henshaw, Kara, and Daisy all watched her move through the course. Working with the DEO as unofficial consultants were Tess and Indy, both of them watching how she had worked with the scarab.

"It is my assessment the scarab is not like the others from the Reach," Indy said. "Of course, whether or not it fully comprehends the purpose it has been commissioned for, that remains to be seen."

"How so?" Daisy asked.

"The Reach may have ordered the commission of a powerful weapon, but something happened, with the scientist having an attack of her conscience," Indy said. "Do keep in mind this is just mere speculation based off of several similar events. It is curious how this artifact remained un-dectected on Earth for so long. And what ended up happening to the original occupant."

"I suspect we will never know," Henshaw said.

A part of him could not wait to get Agent Danvers out on the field to see what the scarab could do. A part of the disguised Martian felt a bit anxious about how the DEO agent was going through the motion.

"The two of them seem to have come to an understanding," Tess said.

"For now," Kara said.

Kara still was not too fond about her adoptive sister being the host of one of the Reach scarabs. Despite several tests being done, including by Kara's own mother, Kara still regarded the scarab with some suspicion, and perhaps for good reason.

"She broke the record, I can't believe it!" Daisy yelled. She almost pumped a fist in celebration, at least until Henshaw gave the DEO agent a side long look. "No one is able to beat that record, well not without Kryptonian super speed anything, or I guess, they don't have to be Kryptonian."

The numbers flashing up on the screen made Alex look very impressive. Kara kept a firm lock on the vital signs. Alex and the scarab's, they both worked in harmony. Both parties were one with each other. Kara began to slowly accept maybe she had been wrong, but you never really knew.

' _We will see when they get out on the field,'_ Kara thought.

Alex stepped out of the training room and walked with a lot of energy towards the people who were viewing them.

"Well, that's encouraging," Daisy said. "Most of the people who run through this training simulation the first time, end up dropping down to the ground. And for good reason, it's challenging."

"I didn't drop to the ground," Alex said. A smile shifted across the newly empowered women's face. "And didn't throw up either."

Daisy glared at Alex, but a small smile threatened to break out. "I thought we agreed to never bring that one up."

"I'm impressed," Tess said. "The Blue Beetle is going to be a very valuable person to have out on the field, and we're going to need all of the help we can get out there these days."

"Hey, I'm just happen to be part of the team," Alex said. "We had some stumbling blocks, because someone doesn't know how to communicate properly."

' _I'm willing to accept only part of the blame,'_ the scarab thought. _'There would not have been as much damage if you had just not fought against the bonding process.'_

' _Well, I might not have fought against the bonding process, if you had been more upfront with what you were doing,'_ Alex countered the Beetle.

Henshaw looked towards several notes on a pad of paper. A smile popped over the face of the DEO director. He always had been proud of the agents and the work they did. Then again, the DEO had one of the most important jobs in the world. Being an alien, in disguise, gave Henshaw, or J'onn rather, an interesting perspective. There were alien threats out there, and there were good aliens, who would be valuable allies.

"So, anything on KR2?" Alex asked.

"Not a thing," Daisy said. "Cadmus facilities are like weeds, you keep taking care of them, and they keep popping up somewhere else. There's someone very connected who is keeping one step ahead of us."

Daisy intended fully to get to the bottom of the entire Cadmus mess. She would not have been stopped any means. There was something, one piece of information.

"They found another one," Tess said.

Perhaps Clark and the others located the break they needed to tie everything together. Cadmus's goals were not completely clear yet, and until they had a clearer picture, the entire DEO, the Kryptonians, and everyone else just groped around the dark.

Also, the looming crisis, potentially with a Thangarian invasion, brought them a great deal of frustration. There had been many irons in the fire, and something was going to happen where they were going to get burned something fierce.

"So am I finally field ready?" Alex asked.

"We have more tests," Henshaw said.

' _Humans and their tests,'_ the blue beetle thought.

' _He's not a human,'_ Alex reminded the scarab.

' _Martians and their tests,'_ the scarab corrected herself.

* * *

Clark circled around three times to check for any obvious security traps. He dropped down to the ground and clicked on an ear piece. A moment passed before Clark jumped in and told them what they were up again.

"Locked gates are the only problem," Clark said. "They might have already cleared out this facility."

Every fiber of self-control in Clark Kent's being struggled for him to add the very frustrated grunt of, again, it as happening again, Clark could not believe it was happening again. Someone stayed several steps ahead of the entire group and the frustration mounted. Cadmus, they knew this, whoever ran Cadmus knew this. They intended to do what they could to get into the heads of everyone involved.

"I'm coming in underground," Helena said.

"Of course, I know you wouldn't have it any other way."

Karen and Diana dropped on either side of Clark.

"Kara, I'm not wrong, there are no defenses, right?"

The older Kara scanned the area around. No defenses, not even any hot spots which lead lined panels, which would have been a telltale sign the people involved at the facility hid something from Kryptonians. Perhaps they had been more savvy then.

' _Just what we need,'_ The Kryptonian thought in frustration. _'The bad guys learning their lessons. As if we didn't have enough to worry about, we have that on our heads.'_

'Nothing," Karen said. "Diana, would you do the honors."

The Amazon moved over and ripped the gate open. The lock and the deadbolts would normally keep anyone out. Clark figured something about it was very suspicious they would just leave the gates open for them to walk inside. Hanging around certain people made Clark a bit uneasy, and slightly nervous.

"Keep your eyes open," Clark answered a few seconds later.

"Yeah, no need to repeat yourself."

The trio of heroes stepped into the facility, not quite knowing what to find when moving inside. The sound of a heart beat coming from one of the labs put them all on edge. A door opened and Clark turned around to grab the figure coming up the stairs.

Helena looked Clark straight in the eyes and smiled.

"Perfect reflexes."

The Wayne Heiress scanned for something in the air. Some particles caused a blip on the radar to bring the trio forward. They made their way to the lab. There was no bio-metric lock, just a good old fashioned lock which had been bolted shut.

"They're being sloppy on purpose," Helena said. "Stand back, both of you."

Helena took a tool out of her utility belt and slowly worked the door open. The door creaked open, and the moment Helena stepped inside, she walked in front of a scanner. The scanner blinked, but did not react when it registered her as human.

On the ceiling, several shards of Kryptonite hung, ready to drop down on any Kryptonian. Karen and Clark had been shielded, unless of course the Kryptonite broke their skin and got into their blood stream somehow. Then they were vulnerable as anyone else.

Helena moved over and disabled the scanner. She turned around and motioned for Karen, Clark, and Diana to all take their first steps into the room. Diana moved around and recoiled for a few seconds. Everything around them was overpowering.

Clark understood why Diana reacted the way she did when entering the room. A very overpowering stench almost knocked Clark over went stepping into the room. He turned over towards a pod which contained a pile of sludge himself.

"It's an attempt to clone a Kryptonian," Karen muttered underneath their breath.

"Chloe, we found something interesting," Clark said. "Cadmus is planning to clone Kryptonians. Only they haven't quite figured out how to do anything."

Chloe's surprised and exasperated breath from the other side of the line told Clark pretty much all he needed to know. They were in agreement something rotten was about ready to go down, although it was hard to say what at this particular point in time.

"Well, it makes sense, I guess, in some kind of really twisted way," Chloe said. "There are a growing number of Kryptonians on the planet. A whole lot for a supposed nearly extinct race. Therefore, it makes sense Cadmus was going to make one of them one."

Clark moved into the pod to grab a sample from the sludge. Cadmus had tried to work with science they had no idea how to deal with. Clark feared they would end up creating some kind of Frankenstein's monster level atrocitiy with their meddling of science.

Bringing meteor mutants back from the grave, it was playing God in a way which chilled Clark. Creating Kryptonians from nothing, it was an entirely different thing whatsoever. Clark wondered who would do such a thing and what did they have planned.

"Tess may have found another facility, but…. someone I don't think it's going to give you much more love than this one," Chloe said.

"Why do you say that?" Clark asked.

"Oh, maybe because the facility is about ready to burn to the ground."

* * *

Some people called Hugo Strange a mad scientist. Surely, the line between genius and insanity could only be defined depending on how much imagination a person had. Hugo Strange saw himself having a lot of imagination to think beyond the bounds established as normal or natural. Strange did not box himself into what many people would call normality.

Everything around Strange though, he had been seriously baffled, and for good reason. His beautiful creation could be even more beautiful if somehow the cells could be stabilized. Strange's bosses wanted results, and so did the brilliant mind of Hugo Strange.

' _There is no failure,'_ Strange reminded himself. _'There is only success which has yet to be attained.'_

Strange's thoughts had been delayed by a glowing of the console halfway across the facility. The head of Cadmus checked in on his work, as they often had. Strange only had the slightest idea who might be running the show. The only point which could be verified beyond any reasonable doubt was the person running the show had been of significant means.

' _Best to discuss this now.'_

"Yes, Director, what can I do for you?" Strange asked in a very polite tone of voice.

"I'm offering you additional help," the Director said. "Unfortunately, you have not been able to figure out the proper matrix to prevent the Kryptonian DNA from degrading once it is exposed to Earth's atmosphere."

"Please, Director, give me time, these take time…"

"I'm not calling you out on your failings, Hugo," the Director said. "I've given you an impossible task and I realize that someone even of your brilliance, you're not a genetics expert, no matter how much you've dabbled in it. And alien DNA, that could be out of the thoughts of all, but the most brilliant. Wouldn't you agree?"

Strange would have been very foolish to disagree with this particular woman. He took in a very deep breath and let it out in response.

"The Matrix still remains unstable, there's something missing," Strange commented.

"Yes, and I'm bringing in some help, someone who was very interested in this project," the Director responded. "He wants to change the world, and you're going to help bring about that change."

Strange only could nod. The Director obviously made plans to bring in this person right away, and there was little more that Hugo Strange could do was go along with it. The doors slid open and a middle aged man with dark hair and a very neatly trimmed mustache stepped in. He did not look like the crazed type. The gentleman resembled a college professor, someone no one would expect working at a covert operation like Cadmus.

"Hugo Strange, it's an honor," he said. "My name is…"

"Miles Warren, I know, and I'm glad to have you as part of my team," Strange said. "Now, the Director said you might have some ideas of what to do with the Kryptonian DNA to stabilize it, to prevent it from breaking around at an accelerated level?"

Warren responded with a nod and a smile.

"It's actually quite simple, really," Warren responded. "The Kryptonian DNA involved is breaking down because our scientific methods are primitive, and cannot process it."

"Are you saying that we cannot clone Kryptonians then, and this entire project is a failure?" Strange asked.

Warren responded with a head shake. "No, nothing of the sort. Nothing of the sort, anything is very possible with science. You only need to find the right workaround and everything will be solved just like that."

Strange put a hand underneath his chin and just gave a solid hmm. Warren offered an interesting theory and would not have come to the lab without some clearer ideas in mind. Strange looked around at Warren.

"We need compatible human DNA to be fit into the matrix," Warren said. "What we need is a human specimen with an above average count of white blood cells."

* * *

Kara could not have been more flustered when coming eye to eye with the Princess of the Amazons herself. Diana stared down at Kara, dressed in a pair of tight spandex shorts and a black sport's bra in the training room. Kara wore a similar attire, only the shorts were red and the sports bra were blue. Both of them moved around in bare feet.

"So, what do you want me to do?" Kara asked.

"Attack me, and don't get distracted," Diana said. "You attack, and I'll block. Don't worry about holding back. I can take a punch."

Kara nodded in response and moved in at a blink of an eye. Diana blocked Kara's arm even quicker. The momentum of the punch being turned back made a fool out of the Girl of Steel. Kara flipped down onto the ground with the impact knocking the wind from the girl's lungs.

Frustration did not even begin to describe what Kara felt. Then again, the distraction of Diana standing before Kara in a pair of tight shorts did not help Kara's focusing issues. The Girl of Steel charged Diana and went for a huge punch. Diana blocked the punch and turned Kara around.

"You have to be quicker, and telegraph your moves less."

Kara flipped out of Diana's grasp and stuck the perfect landing beyond the Amazon. Diana spun around and grabbed Kara around the waist. The Girl of Steel struggled and the two women ended up on the mats. Diana pressed Kara down onto the mats.

"So, that facility burning down in a fire," Clark said. "You're not buying it to be an accident."

"No, not for a second," Tess said. "I'm trying to uncover as much information I can about the people running the show. When I know something, you're going to be the first to know."

"Good, I'm glad," Clark responded.

Again, Kara tried to grab onto Diana's leg. Diana kicked Kara away onto the ground, and wrapped her arms around Kara's neck. Kara struggled out, with Diana flipping Kara onto her stomach and onto the mats. Diana grabbed Kara's arm and extended it back.

"There are three different ways I can snap an arm from here," Diana said.

"Noted," Kara managed.

Diana pulled away from Kara and allowed her to stand up straight.

"Same time tomorrow?" Kara asked. "I'll be more prepared next time."

"Just remember, powers are nice and all," Diana told her. "But when going up against a stronger opponent, skill wins the day. And you're going to have to sharpen your skills. You have the idea in your head, it's just a matter of you finding a way to get them out."

"I know," Kara said. "I'll see you later, Carol and Alex are meeting me for dinner…and I don't want to keep them later."

"Then we won't keep let you," Clark said. "Don't get too frustrated, Diana still knocks me around on the mats when she wants to."

"Oh, you're much better than you were a couple of years ago," Diana said. "I've just had the benefit of some of the best trainers my entire life. If you survive Artemis, you're in pretty good hands."

Kara smiled and moved off to take a shower real quickly, get changed, and head out to meet her sisters. The moment the Girl of Steel disappeared, Diana grabbed Clark by the wrist and pulled him up to his feet.

"Why don't you say we hit the mats in a different way?" Diana whispered.

Nibbling on Clark's ear gave Diana a pretty persuasive argument towards having some after hours fun in the DEO facility. Clark reached behind Diana and grabbed her ass.

"I swear, you and your cousin have the same tastes," Diana said with a smile. "Both of them actually, both Kara and Kara….speaking of which…"

"Soon enough," Clark told her. "It's been a long day, and I think we can both burn off some frustrations here."

Clark cupped Diana's ass and gave the Amazon a kiss. The Amazon responded with a lip bruising kiss and ran her hands over Clark. The Princess made some short work of Clark's clothing, stripping him completely naked.

* * *

Diana removed Clark's rock hard rod from its confinement. Twelve swelling inches of cock, thick and juicy, stood up, waiting for Diana to play with and to worship. The Amazon slid down to the base and then all the way up to the head. Diana stroked Clark's cock.

"I can't wait to have those beautiful lips wrapped around it," Clark said.

"Well, you won't have to wait long for both."

The beautiful sight of the Amazon Princess descending before him made Clark's cock throb. Diana looked at the phallus before her with love and it twitched. One firm tug made Clark's cock get harder than ever. Diana leaned in and kissed the tip of the mating rod.

Seconds passed and pure heaven engulfed Clark's cock. The amazing sensation of Diana's perfect mouth wrapping around Clark's hard tool felt beyond amazing. Diana rested her hands on Clark's back and pushed more of the throbbing hard organ deep inside.

"Good, really good."

Clark threaded the back of Diana's hair through his fingers. The beautiful sucking before Clark only spurred the Kryptonian on to greater amounts of lust. The feeling of Clark's balls swelling, ready to give Diana their gift once earned, only spurred the Last Son of Kryptonian on to shove twelve inches of throbbing man meat down the throat of the beautiful Amazon Princess.

Several more pumps caused Clark's cock to ram deep inside of Diana's throat. The warm pleasure with Diana's mouth wrapping around Clark made the Kryptonian only want to shove deeper and deeper. Cum discharged into Diana's mouth and the sweet pleasure of release filled Diana's mouth.

Diana sucked Clark hard, and hummed when drinking his cum. One firm grasp of Clark's balls further milked the extreme volume of cum deep into Diana's mouth.

The moment the Princess finished sucking Clark off, she rose up to a standing position. Clark grabbed her top and removed it. Diana's round breasts, without any tan-lines on it, appeared before Clark's eyes. Clark reached in and cupped Diana's breasts and gave them a squeeze. Diana threw her head back and gave an appreciative moan with Clark cupping her.

"Please, take me."

Clark kissed the side of Diana's neck and came down. A frim grip took Diana's shorts down and exposed the warm pussy of the Amazon Princess. Those wet lips caused Clark to become wild with desire. Clark slowly slipped Diana back against the padded wall.

"Oh, Kal!" Diana screamed.

A furious assault brought Diana pleasure. Clark sucked Diana's nipples hard and lightly rubbed the Amazon's sides, and came down further. The Amazon ground down against Diana's wet core, and slowly teased her. Diana wrapped her legs around Clark and pulled him in closer.

"Please, fuck me."

Clark teased the dripping slit for another moment. Glorious friction appeared between the two of them. Diana gripped Clark and tried to push the Kryptonian. The gates of the Amazon Princess threatened to be stormed. Diana breathed heavily before Clark moved in and slipped inside of Diana.

"Oh, yes!" Diana breathed.

A dancing of fingers rubbed Diana's leg when Clark further slipped inside of the tight Amazon. The feeling of Diana's legs wrapped around Clark's waist only caused him to want to bury himself deeper into the tight chambers the Amazon offered. Clark groaned at the lovely feeling of Diana clamping down and releasing him in a few solid thrusts. Pulling back allowed Clark to push deeper into Diana.

"Further, please!"

Diana begged for a deeper penetration. Clark pleasured every glorious inch of her body. Tingles spread down Diana's spine when the fucking got further. Their hips clashed together in a passionate exchange. Diana locked onto Clark and slowly dragged him deep inside. The Amazon's wet pussy tightened around Clark and squeezed down and then released the Last Son of Krypton.

"Fuck, I want you, so badly!" Diana yelled.

"You get everything you wanted, and then more."

The hard thrusting brought Diana closer to the edge of an orgasm. Her wet walls clamped down onto Clark and released the penetrating rod. Diana milked Clark when the forward movement continued. Flesh slapped together and hands roamed eagerly. Diana returned the favor, both powerful lovers indulging in each others body. One of the best orgasms possible.

"Make me cum all over your giant cock," Diana said. "Oh, you really are super!"

The penetration caused Diana to hit the highest notes of pleasure. Diana registered this point by digging her nails into Clark's back in a force few woman could manage. The deeper penetration continued with Clark going all the way inside.

Clark rode out Diana's orgasm and pure heaven clamped down around him. Clark almost pulled all the way out of Diana and pushed back inside. Each thrust caused Diana to shiver underneath Clark's very beign.

Suddenly, Clark slipped out of Diana. The Amazon whimpered at the loss of Clark's generous phallus. Until at least, Clark positioned Diana where she had been bent over of the bench. Clark grabbed onto Diana's perfect ass and gave it a few smacks.

Juices dripped down to the ground from Clark playing with Diana's ample rear end. Clark slowly, but surely worked a finger into Diana from behind.

"I'm going to fuck your lights out," Clark said. "I know how much you like that."

Diana looked up with a smile. Clark spread Diana's thighs and was ready to shove himself into her from behind. Clark's hard cock slapped against Diana's asshole and just the smallest tease caused Diana a shiver. Clark's super powerful fingers grinded down upon Diana's clit, and stiffened the Amazon's nipples.

Inside, finally, and it felt so good. Clark plowed Diana when bending the Amazon over a bench. One firm smack of Diana's shapeless ass lead to an erotic appeal of the situation. Clark pulled almost completely out of Diana and then back into her again.

"Clark, make me yours all over again!" Diana begged him.

"Oh, I will, trust me," Clark breathed in Diana's ear.

Clark reached in and grabbed Diana's nipple for a nice little squeeze. The Amazon whimpered with a delightful feeling. Clark almost pulled all the way out of Diana and shoved his rod inside of her with more amazing trust. The feeling of drilling Diana from behind accelerated Clark's desire of working his way inside of her from behind. Clark stretched out Diana and pulled all the way out of her.

"Cum for me again," Clark told her.

Diana came, not resisting Clark. The Last Son of Krypton pushed deep into the core of the Princess of the Amazons. He stretched her out with a nice hearty fucking. Those balls kept slapping against Diana's.

The moments grinded by with both lovers indulging themselves. Each orgasm made Clark just want Diana even more. In turn, Diana wanted Clark, as Clark could tell by the slick moisture coming from Diana's pussy. Diana grabbed onto Clark and pushed him deep inside of her body.

"Want this, so badly," Diana begged him. "More, please, I want more."

"Hold tight, you'll get everything you've ever wanted," Clark informed her.

The Amazon's latest orgasm brought immense joy. Clark planted himself deeper inside of Diana's body and almost pulled all the way out before planting his rod back inside. Clark pushed further into Diana's moist canal and allowed her warmness to squeeze him.

All good things came to a close. Clark hung on to push deep into Diana's body and indulged himself into her one more time. Super powerful fingers drummed down Diana's body.

"Get ready for the big one," Clark whispered.

"Yes!" Diana yelled at the top of her lungs. "Cum for me, Kal!"

"After you, Princess."

Diana tensed around Clark and let the pleasure out in one fluid motion. The Amazon's moist cunt grabbed Clark's tool and released it with several fluid motions. Clark rammed deep into Diana's depths and brought his huge cock inside of her warm canal.

"Fuck me, Kal, fuck me tender!" Diana begged him.

Clark decided to finish up and ride out Diana's pussy all the way to the end. The feeling of her moist walls tightening around and milking Clark's spent cock felt like nothing else before. Clark planted himself cock first into Diana's wet pussy and pulled out of her with a few more fluid pumps.

Eventually, something had to give. Clark released a steady stream of cum inside of Diana's waiting, wet walls. The Amazon tightened the hold on Clark the deeper Clark pushed inside of her. Diana came three more times before Clark finished up.

A contented smile flashed over Diana's face when her lover came deep inside and filled her pussy. Diana breathed heavily and smiled, thanking herself for Aphrodite's gifts. Children would be in the future, but it was just that, in the future.

Clark pulled out and Diana crawled on top of him, breasts pressing in Clark's chest. She looked primed and ready to ride Clark like a stallion, and Clark wasn't going to complain.

"Ready for more," Clark said.

Diana smiled. "What do you think?"

The Amazon Princess looked over towards a pair of eyes and winked. Someone rushed out at super speed. Diana proceeded to bury Clark inside her.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on October 29** **th** **, 2017.**


	64. Chapter 64

**Chapter Sixty-Four: The Visitors**

* * *

Chloe parked in front of a computer and started to look into several very important things at the files in Cadmus. There was not anything tangible. The fact they were studying meteor mutants was not a big surprise to Chloe, but the extent and scope of which they were studying them.

They drew some very interesting conclusions about how some people became meteor mutants, while other people just had been destroyed by the meteors. Chloe had been given a lot to think about. There were some hints they were tracking down more people with the meta-gene, going through countless medical reports. The means of which they acquired these medical reports were very illegal, but Chloe doubted very much it mattered as far as Cadmus was concerned.

' _These people aren't above breaking the law,'_ Chloe remarked when flipping through the files. _'Tampering, genetic manipulation, grave robbing, I'd imagine there's some blackmail. All sorts of fun and games'_

Several of the files had been blocked off, or otherwise deleted. Chloe worked her magic to pull up that particular information, and try and fill in the blanks as best as possible. The brainy blonde ran into several obvious dead ends, unfortunately. She enjoyed a challenge, but there were times where frustration could build through the greatest challenge. And Chloe kept plugging away at the computer, in an attempt to dig up the information.

' _Well, this is interesting.'_

Chloe resolved to dig somewhat deeper before she started to jump to all kinds of conclusions. It was not really a shock to be honest. The name Luthor was only inevitable. Several documents with the initials LL had been signed, and she most certainly saw the address of at least one known LuthorCorp facility, which had been banned.

' _Very interesting,'_ Chloe thought. _'Not too shocking but very….hello.'_

Chloe would have spat out a drink if she would have seen in. The date on the document which had been signed, was dated about six months ago. There should have been no way either Lex or Lionel could have signed up the matter. They were both indisposed, weren't they?

It was time for Chloe to double check and make sure the Luthors were still snug and secure in their cell. The blonde bit down on her lip and started to dial on the phone. Chloe waited for a minute until it picked up.

"You've reached the office of Tess Mercer," Indy's voice said on the other end of the phone.

"Hello, Indy, it's me, Chloe," Chloe said.

"Hello, Chloe, is there something I can help you with?" Indy asked.

"I need to speak with Tess, is she available.?"

"Just one moment please."

Chloe waited for a few seconds, to the sweet and soothing sounds of elevator music. She tapped on the table lightly to wait to see what kind of answer Tess would give. Chloe didn't really know what to expect on the other end of the phone. Her guess was to expect anything.

"So, what can I do for you?" Tess asked.

"Well," Chloe said, letting out her breath. "I've been looking into some of the operations Cadmus had been up to, and there's something interesting. I have to ask you one question. Are Lex and Lionel still secure in their cells?"

"I'll check, but last time I looked they were."

A long pause followed and Chloe could hear the sound of clicking in the background. The blonde lightly drummed her fingers up against the desk and waited for Tess to come back to the phone. It was only a couple of minutes, and Chloe waited for the potential bomb, whether good or bad to drop.

"Well, they're still in their cells, still being sedated," Tess aid. "There has to be a reason why you asked me whether or not they're in their cells, though?"

"Yes," Chloe answered and took in a deep breath. "As you know, I've been going through some of the records we've pulled up from Cadmus. I've been trying to fill in the blanks."

"Did you find anything?" Tess asked.

"I'm not going to shock you when I tell you that LuthorCorp is involved in Cadmus, am I?" Chloe asked.

The long and pressing sigh on the other end of the phone showed Chloe that there was one thing that Tess did not feel and that was shock. Another moment's pause followed before Tess confirmed what Chloe was thinking, pretty much straight away.

"You're not going to surprise me," Tess said responded a moment later. "They were funding Cadmus Labs over in Metropolis, which I guess is where Cadmus in their current form is derived from….why did you ask me if Lex and Lionel were both snug in their cells?"

"There's someone using resources to fund Cadmus," Chloe said. "Have you noticed any irregularities in the books?"

"No, but there were several shell corporations that weren't tied to LuthorCorp for tax purposes," Tess said. "I haven't been able to wrangle in all of the information I needed, or anything like that."

One could hear the frustration bubbling in Tess's voices. Taking control of the company was not precisely the easiest thing in the world, if Tess would be perfectly blunt and honest, and honestly speaking, she was always perfectly blunt and honest.

"There are documents which are initialed with the letters, LL," Chloe said. "And unless Lana or Lois or Lucy have secrets they're not telling us about, I figured it could only pertain to one or two gentlemen."

Tess responded with a sigh. "Maybe, I'll see what I can find…..I have a pretty good idea though where we might be able to find some more answers."

"Meaning?" Chloe asked.

"Meaning, the Cadmus facility we have been searching for, could have been underneath our noses this entire time," Tess said. "We've been focusing on the facilities elsewhere….what better place to hide a facility which studies aliens in one of the places where you least expected."

* * *

Lucy Lane took a deep breath and just enjoyed the surroundings. The serene and beautiful nature of Smallville did the girl a whole lot of good.

"I should have stayed here more often, it might have done me so good," Lucy said. "It's really a nice place to live, isn't it?"

"It's alright," Lois responded a moment later, shrugging in response.

"Can't you smell that fresh country air?" Lucy asked.

"Actually, that's manure," Lois responded in her usual deadpan tone of voice. "But, yeah, I guess you have a point, and you…..Smallville can be a pretty nice place to live."

And there were many reasons for being in Smallville, as Lois recalled to be honest. She and Lucy could agree on one thing to be particular. Lois decided to soak in the air, the sounds of childhood at play, the sounds of birds chirping, the sounds of the truck going down the road. The sounds of an engine failing in an explosion several feet above her head…wait, what?

Lois Lane looked high into the air and saw what appeared to be plane and it hurled right down to the ground. She grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her all the way across the field.

Both Lane sisters watched in eye as a miniature plane, or at least an aircraft of some sort went supernova about three feet above their heads. Then, without another world, the plane crashed down onto Earth, being ripped into flaming wreckage.

"Oh my God!" Lucy yelled. "I think there's someone moving around in there."

Lois would not have believed it, unless she laid sight on it with her own two eyes. If Lois Lane would have said there was no way anyone could have survived a vicious crash like that, she would have been made a fool. The two Lane sisters took a step forward.

"Maybe it's some kind of government experiment, or something," Lucy suggested. "Maybe, we should call Dad….."

Lois raised up a hand and got a closer look. She had a feeling it might be a government experiment alright, but maybe not from any government on Earth. The flaming debris melted and contorted the closer Lois moved. The immense heat almost doubled over Lois.

"Hello, can you hear me?"

The brunette felt very stupid for even trying, but to be honest, it was the right thing to do, on the off chance there were survives. As insane as it might have seemed, Lois had to walk closer to the edge of the wreckage and check for anyone, to see if they survived. Smoke watered the eyes of Lois Lane when she moved closer.

"Anyone in there?"

Lois blinked and gasped in surprised when someone, something, moved. The man looked badly burned to be honest, was he a man? He looked very alien, dressed in a green uniform. The man's breathing became very ragged.

"Just hang on, we'll get you the help."

"Beyond help!" the alien gasped in response. "Earth….needs…warning…they're coming!"

Lucy stepped closer, and Lois spun to her sister to try and get her to back off. The curiosity of the younger Lane sister could have been matched only be the reckless nature of the girl. Both of the sisters had this much in common at the very least.

"Who is coming?" Lucy asked.

"The Thangarians are coming," the man breathed, almost shuddering. "Earth doomed…warn…need warning."

The man's body shook and Lois already dialed on Chloe, using her phone to show an image of the man who had been glowing brightly. The bright green light almost blinded Lois when holding the phone.

"Chloe, you're not going to believe this, you're….."

The green light got even brighter and a glowing green ring slipped off of the finger of the alien guest. The ring shot forward and out of sheer instinct, Lois held out her hand. The ring slipped onto her finger, morphing to fit it.

Lois screamed when it felt like her entire body was being turned inside out. A bright light engulfed her and Lucy screamed, as Lois's cell phone dropped down to the ground.

"OH, MY GOD, LOIS!"

Lucy often wished her sister would just disappear when they were both little, but never in the younger Lane sisters wildest dreams did she expect this to happen. Lois disappeared in a flash of light, and Lucy dropped to her knees, almost shaking with terror.

Angrily, Lucy snapped around to try and get some answers from the alien. Only to realize the alien in question juts vanished without a trace as well, leaving Lucy standing along amongst the wreckage.

"Hello, Lois?"

Lucy shakily picked up the cell phone. "Chloe…oh, my god, Chloe, you're not going…you're not going to believe what just happened!"

* * *

"Well, this place is the shits."

Alex turned to Daisy with one of those looks. Kara just hid her head, laughing, and Carol looked very amused as well. Daisy just offered a casually apologetic shrug and a nod. "I know, I know, but it had to be said."

They made their way outside of the old LuthorCorp Fertilizer plant, or the shithouse as several former workers charmingly referred to it as. The three Danvers sisters made their way inside, joined by Daisy, and they waited for the other three people.

"Still smells like you'd expect it to," Carol said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Kara said.

Having super powered senses really sucked a lot of time, and this was one of the times where it really did suck. Kara looked around and waited, perhaps impatiently. There seemed to be an overwhelming stench coming through. Perhaps Kara was being paranoid for no good reason, but it was almost like someone was trying to cover up something else, with the stench of…well, everyone knew what the stench was. Kara closed her eyes and tried to block the overpowering stench before it became a problem.

Two more figures joined them, in the form of Clark and Karen. The two of them looked around and joined the other four.

"So, anything?" Clark asked. "Because we encountered no resistance outside, there isn't even a security drone or two outside."

"That's very suspicious," Carol answered for a second. The other members of the group were in agreement with each other, it seemed very suspicious for numerous reasons, far too many to answer. "Cadmus is either trying to double-bluff us, or they've already moved everything out of this place."

"It's very odd," Daisy said in response. "They're hiding something though…we might as well head knee deep in shit and figure out what they're hiding."

Everyone just decided to take a deep breath, but not too deep, given the place they just slipped inside. Everything caused their heads to spin in the worst possible way. Karen leaned in and listened for something, anything. Every now and then, she heard a small scratching sound underneath the wall. Not exactly mice, but it sounded enough to cause her some concern.

"Right, you're now inside," Chloe said. "I have something to take care of, and I'll switch things over to Tess…who will explain what we need to do now."

Clark frowned, he heard a small amount of shakiness in Chloe's tone of voice. He knew now was not the time or the place to ask her whether or not something was wrong. He would find out sooner rather than later if Chloe had something wrong.

"Right, can you hear me now?" Tess asked.

"Loud and clear," Clark said.

"Excellent," Tess said. She briefly shuffled through some papers. "The last floor plan of the Fertilizer Plant is from about five years ago, when it was officially taken off of the LuthorCorp books. Well, officially, but you know how it goes. It's officially off, but unofficially, not so much."

Tess drew in a deep breath.

"Now, there aren't too many places where a secret lab could be held," Tess said. "Especially not without taking down the entire plant and rebuilding it from the surface."

"I hear a scratching underneath the ground," Karen said. "Do either of you two hear that?"

Kara frowned and listened very closely. She heard the scratching and it grew in greater prominence underneath the ground. It was a very subtle sound, but once you heard it, it was not like a person could unhear it. Kara nodded in response, and Clark did the same thing.

"A scratching sound?" Tess asked. "Is it coming from the Northwest Wing of the Facility?"

Karen tried to lock onto the sound of scratching to pinpoint a more general spot of where it was coming in. The scratching stopped a moment or so later, but Karen still had the general point of where it was coming from.

"Yes, it's on the Northwest Wing, right to the side of the wall," Karen said. "The paneling looks like it's been redone, and there's a small lead lining…"

"We'll head in to check first," Daisy said. "So, is there a secret entrance, or something?"

"Yes, there should be a switch behind one of the grates in the wall," Tess said. "You might have to slip into a the vent a little bit to find it, but it's there. You might want to get out as soon as you can without activating it."

Daisy smiled, slipping though grates, that was just one of the best parts of being a super-secret government agent type person. Well, in a sense at the very least. She brimmed with excitement and moved over towards the grate. The closer Daisy moved, the more she heard the scratching behind the wall. She lifted a hand and slowly vibrated the vent off of the wall, to allow her entry into the grate.

* * *

"I should really tell Clark about this," Chloe said taking a deep breath. "He would want to know, but….I think the Cadmus mission is very important…and I wouldn't want to distract him from that important thing."

Lara leaned back in the chair of the Fortress. Withholding information from her son, no matter how temporary it was, did not suit as a very ideal situation for Lara. Still, she reconciled with the fact Kal would have to be told soon, maybe as soon as he managed to maneuver towards the facility.

"I didn't want to worry him when he was knee deep in shit….literally and figuratively," Chloe responded with a sigh. "So, anyway, I figure if anyone could track down Lois, it would be the Fortress, right?"

"So, explain to me everything, and we can figure," Lara said.

"Well, Lucy and Lois were talking, civil for once," Chloe answered a moment or so later. "And there was a plane crash and a man, dressed in green. Lucy claimed he didn't look human….but he talked a lot of nonsense, about the Thangarians coming to Earth."

Lara's blood ran cold at the very thought of the Thangarians showing up and invading Earth. The woman's deep breath came in and came out before turning to Raya. Raya already tried to monitor the field where the alien ship crashed. Already, the military crowded around.

"Lucy must have called her father," Chloe said a moment later, after the images had been sent to her. "Just what we need, General Sam Lane on the war path."

"Understandable, he would be upset," Lara said. "But, unfortunately, the matter is out of our hands…you said he had a green uniform…is there anything else Lucy told you?"

"Well, yeah," Chloe continued a few seconds later. She picked up about as much steam as possible, drawing in a depe breath and bringing it out. "The guy had a glowing green ring which slipped off of his hand and onto Lois. She screamed and disappeared. The moment Lucy turned around to question the guy, he vaporized."

Lara tracked the energy coming through the field. The Fortress followed the energy trail to a certain point of the solar system, which was obvious.

"Oa, of course," Lara said.

"The Green Lantern Corps?" Raya asked.

Lara noticed a certain amount of disapproval from Raya's voice, although she figured the disapproval did not come from the Green Lantern Corps members, but rather their bosses, the Guardians of Oa, who had been notorious about only acting when the danger had passed.

Most of the help people got from Green Lanterns came from the Green Lanterns breaking protocol.

"The Green Lantern Corps?" Chloe asked. "The intergalactic space force of green ring power…oh of course, Chloe, you're such an idiot."

"No, you were just worried," Lara said. "Again, it's understandable. Lois has been snagged by the Green Lantern Corps, and she's been sent to Oa. It's a shock…it will be even more of a shock when they realize one of the rings have chosen an Earth woman."

"What's wrong with that?" Chloe asked.

"Well, the Guardians have a very low opinion on humans," Lara said. "Some of it is well earned, and some of it is unfair. All I'm going to say is Lois is going to have a tough time proving themselves."

"Maybe they'll just strip her of the ring, and return her home?" Chloe asked.

"I'm afraid that's not possible, as much as they would like to," Lara said. "The ring leaves a Lantern when he or she is unworthy, or upon death, or upon agreement to mutually be released from the ring. It feeds off of will power, which I think we can both agree, makes Lois the perfect candidate to hold the Green Lantern ring."

"Yeah, she's a stubborn bitch," Chloe said. "Sorry, it's….."

"It's an accurate assessment," Lara said. "I'm going to try and get in contact with the Guardians. You back up my son and the moment he's out of there, tell him, but also warn him there's nothing he could really do."

"Right, thank you, thank for confirming this for me," Chloe said, taking in a deep breath.

"It's not a problem," Lara said. "And I'll get in touch with the Guardians. I need to speak about what they know about the Thangarian situation regardless."

The communication to the Fortress had been cut completely off. Lara thought when it rained it poured. It was one of the many expressions she picked up on Earth, and it was an unfortunate description of all of the drama they were going to have to deal with in the not so distant future.

"So, should I tell Astra?"

Raya's question had hung in the air. A long moment passed and Lara's frown deepened when considering what to do next. A second later, Lara responded with a nod.

"She won't be too happy about what's going on, but at the same time, she has to know," Lara said. "The Thangarians are coming."

Raya thought Lara meant Astra might not have been happy with the potential of having to deal with the Guardians of Oa again. To be perfectly honest, Raya would have sooner dealt with the Kryptonian Council than deal with the Guardians of Oa.

"Let's see if I can get in touch with those glorified Space Smurfs," Lara said. "Those were Indigo's words, not mine."

"I don't know why, but for some reason, it just seems like a fitting statement," Raya said.

Both women would have to agree, even though they did not quite know the meaning behind why Indigo called the Guardians of Oa glorified Space Smurfs. Regardless though, Lara tracked Lois to the further reaches. They had to deal with a General who was on the war path, and trying to explain to General Lane that his daughter was drafted into the intergalactic Corp was not going to be fun at all.

* * *

Clark realized the moment they stepped into the lab, why the bags and bags of fertilizer were here. It was cover up a stench, a different stench. And the manure was not the only thing Clark smelled when stepping into the factory. The very obvious and unfortunately prominent stench of decay filled the nostrils of Clark Kent when walking further into the picture. His stomach turned something fierce when looking around.

"Ugh," Kara said.

Kara was a second away from asking what died, but stopped completely short of doing that. That might not have been the best possible question to ask in this current situation.

A piercing scream came through the air. Another piercing scream caught Clark off guard and made his blood run completely cold.

It was essentially a child and each one of those screams were jarring. Daisy, Alex, Carol, Karen, and Kara looked all jarred as well. Clark moved in closer towards the edge of the lab and saw one of the pods. A steaming, decaying pile of goop looked almost splattered against the pod walls. Clark turned around to another pod and saw a child, screaming in distress.

"Help me!" the child yelled.

Clark watched when the child in the pod vaporized before his very eyes. No matter if Clark could have ripped the pod open or not, there was no way to save the child. The images haunted him, along with the scream.

"This is….what the hell are these bastard doing?" Alex asked.

' _They are trying to create the perfect solider,'_ the scarab said. _'They have such a disregard for human life, or any life for that matter, I would suggest terminating the people behind this with extreme prejudice.'_

For a brief moment, Alex would have to agree to be honest. Clark walked forward hands shaking. Whoever was behind his, Clark would find them, and make them pay. Some of the pods were empty, but others, others were occupied. One of the child clones looked at Clark, with a pleading eye, face half melted.

Clark Kent tried to think the best of people and tried not to give into his base instincts, but these Cadmus people really tried his patience.

The metal doors on the other side slammed shut. Clark realized a second later, he had been separated from the rest of the group. A revolving metal eye in the wall showed Clark that he was being watched, but by who.

"Hold tight!" Alex yelled through the communicator. "We'll be through there as soon as possible….find another way on through the lab."

Another one of the pods ripped open, and a blur caught Clark in the chest, knocking him onto his back. A feral looking teenager moved back, eyes glowing in the darkness with animalistic fury.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 5** **th** **, 2017.**


	65. Chapter 65

**Chapter Sixty-Five: Project KR2**

* * *

While Hugo Strange did not intend to break out the champagne just yet, he had been more than pleased with the latest creation. For months, Cadmus tasked him to recreate the DNA of the Traveler, but there had been his fair share of missed opportunities. Strange enjoyed a challenge, and enjoyed the other tasks which Cadmus gave him opportunities to do. He would reshape the minds of everyone involved, and bringing life back to death.

"Well, you should be pretty pleased with yourself."

Strange turned around to see the smiling face of Miles Warren. Warren surveyed the monitor leading to the room, looking like a hungry jackal. He had been very pleased with the result as well, even though the smile Warren wore leaned to the more reserved side than the smile going across the face of one Hugo Strange.

"We should both be pleased with our accomplishments," Strange said a short moment later. "We could not have accomplished this without working together. It was your ideas to stabilize the clone. Creating a male replication was the wrong thing as well, as the clones degenerated too fast."

"Yes, that was a problem," Warren agreed. "Now, we are going to put them out to see how the handle the stress test in the open. One way or another, we're going to achieve our goals. I can hardly wait, can you?"

Strange shook his head in negative and smiled. It was amazing how all it took was the right combination of human and alien DNA to create the perfect weapon. The benefactors were going to be very happy to be honest, but they would need to run a few more tests.

"The perfect man to test the capabilities of our newest creation has just walked in through the front door," Strange said a moment later. "We will see how long lasting and durable my new creation is. How much she can stand to fight him? And maybe, she can beat him."

"And replace him," Warren said. "She will be the perfect weapon to discourage further alien invasion. All of his abilities, and none of his inhibitions…all under my control…..or rather, the control of Cadmus."

A few seconds passed, and Strange just smiled. He understood how excited Warren got in a situation like this. Strange would have been lying if he would not have gotten excited as well.

'It's like a wolf corning a confused sheep," Strange said. "He doesn't know what to do. And he won't do what is necessary to defeat her."

"You really think so?" Warren asked.

Strange looked on with a smile. "Professor Warren, it's just elementary. I've talked with many of the meteor mutants, both living and dead, and studied their files. Clark would never kill, unless it was an accident. And there will be no accidents. He will want to help her."

"What if he does?"

"We'll correct the flaws in the next prototype," Strange said. "We cannot accomplish much without experimentation. Failure teaches us much, and we need to learn a whole lot to accomplish our goals. Just watch, watch the battle as it happens."

No sooner did Strange finish talking, the phone line started to go off. Strange wore an even more prominent smile on his face. His benefactors would be calling soon, and there was no doubt in Strange's mind they would have been pleased with the role they played in creating this new clone.

' _The perfect combination,'_ Strange thought.

Strange pushed a button and caused a blinking light to appear. The distorted face of one of the benefactors of Cadmus appeared.

"The Traveler is here, and he's fighting KR2," Strange said. "Or as you call her, Supergirl-Prime."

"You need to leave the facility now," the woman on the other end of the line said. "The facility is hot."

Strange resembled a child who looked like he had been told after dinner sweets were not a good idea. He recovered quickly, perhaps a bit too quickly.

"I'm afraid you don't understand…"

"I understand everything perfectly," the benefactor said a long moment later. "And I'm telling you, the facility is getting hot. You need to leave right now….you, Warren, and take as much research. You should be able to replicate a new copy of the clone, or recall her. You have implanted a recall switch in her?"

"Yes," Warren said. "Along with a self destruct switch…do you want me to press it?"

Strange noticed Warren showed a bit too much glee in pressing a button which would cause the head of what was pretty much a teenager to explode. A bit much, even for Strange, but regardless he said nothing. The professor new how to pick his battles, and picking a battle in this particular instance was not wise.

"No," the Benefactor said. "Leave it in tact, only destroy if absolutely necessary. Get out of the facility, and move to the transport truck out back. You'll be able to carefully monitor the situation from the mobile lab from there."

"At once."

Strange would have liked to be present should the creation defeat the Traveler, but he understood the concerns of the benefactor, and had no choice other than to comply. It was time to pack up and find a way out of there, for better or for worse. And Strange understood they would need to get out of here before it was too late.

* * *

Clark peered up. One second, the figure zipped back from around him, and the other second, the figure came back around. Clark's eyes followed the progress of the mysterious attack, not liking the looks of the feral person.

"I don't want to hurt you."

A blast of white hot heat came out of nowhere and forced Clark to step back. The Kryptonian Survivor landed to one knee, the breath being knocked out from the impact of the attack. Clark's breathing continued to increase when looking up to face the person in question.

' _I don't want to hurt you,'_ Clark mentally repeated. _'But, you don't seem to have the same problem, do you?'_

The Kryptonian hero in training looked around and noticed a figure rushing at the speed of light. A blocked attack only served to deter the figure for a few seconds. Clark took a second to rock the figure's arm back and keep punching away at the figure.

Only, Clark found himself smacking away at the air. The figure kept moving around, dodging from the left, to the right, and then coming back around. A jab to the side of the neck knocked Clark on his knees.

"ARGH!"

That hideous primal scream came out, and Clark blocked the hand of the figure. The two struggled for positioning with Clark flipping the figure back a few feet. The figure bounced off of the wall and came at Clark .Clark caught the figure in mid-air for a few seconds and dropped the figure down onto the ground.

Dropped down to one knee, the figure looked at Clark, and Clark could see the figure's face, her face properly in life. The wild black hair, the wild blue eyes, and the torn clothes. She looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years of age, resembling a young Clark Kent in many ways. Facially, she looked a bit like Tess to be honest, and Clark wondered what the hell was going on.

"ARGH!"

The primal scream came out one more time, and the mysterious duplicate tried to impale Clark at the end of a cable. Clark blocked the attack and nailed the figure to the side of the neck. Clark forced the figure down onto the ground.

"You're just a victim, you don't have to attack me, "Clark said, trying to forcefully restrain the young girl. The girl struggled against Clark's grip. "Listen, you're just a pawn, a pawn for Cadmus. Whatever control they have on you, I know you can fight it."

The duplicate fought alright, she fought out of Clark's grasp. The figure came this close to knocking the wind out of Clark with a punch. A second punch rocked Clark and lifted him high up off of the ground. The Kryptonian Survivor flipped head over heels and landed down onto the ground.

The figure jumped up and drove the foot inches away from Clark's skull. Clark avoided having his head stomped something fierce. He blocked the foot and pushed the woman out of the way. The woman flipped up into the air and stuck a landing. Heat vision rippled through the air and came close to connecting with Clark. Clark breathed heavily the second the heat vision came out.

Two beams met in mid-air, and both had a heat vision battle. Clark shoved himself forward, gaining more control. The duplicate dropped to one knee and screamed, grabbing the side of her head. Burn marks appeared on the side of the face of the figure. They slowly healed up, causing agony to spread through the woman.

The crazed clone ripped one of the tanks out of the wall and hoisted it up. Clark avoided the tank from smashing down onto his head. It almost, but not quite, knocked the wind out of Clark. Clark fell back onto the ground, when his doppleganger jumped up and almost put her fist through Clark's chest.

The doors opened up and Daisy stepped into the air. Daisy lifted her hand and took the clone down to the ground with one of her attacks. Alex and Karen stepped in, as Daisy brought the clone to her knees.

"Yeah, I got this….."

The clone ripped one of the operating tables off of the floor and flung it at Daisy. Daisy just avoided the attack from the table being smashed down onto the ground above her head. Several pieces of broken glass flung towards Daisy. Daisy had to turn and smash the glass with the Quake attack one at a time.

"She has telekinesis?"

Daisy had been completely shocked. Alex turned to Karen, and looked about as shocked.

"Kryptonians…they're not supposed to have telekinesis, are they?"

Karen just responded with a shrug, but sighed. "No, not normally."

The clone, the crazed, and scared girl turned around and zipped out of the other direction. The good news was, she could not have gone far.

"No matter what, we can't let her escape the lab," Clark said. "Imagine how much damage she would cause in the world."

Daisy did not have to image. The wreckage in the lab pretty much showed the type of chaos the clone could cause. The superheroine took a sigh, and resolved to deal with the situation, and the very long and frustrating night she was sure was going to follow. It was going to be one of those days, Daisy could just feel it deep in her very being. Frustration, but also excitement, that was a deadly combination to be certain.

* * *

Tess continued to burn away at the research. There was a papertrail left behind to follow, even though the person involved did an admirable job of keeping the papertrail from being too obvious. Tess knew there were always traces to something.

' _All it is…all I need, is one smoking gun to blow this entire thing out.'_

Tess took a moment to look it over. She kept going back to the paper, the letters "LL" signed up the paper.

"Search for handwriting record match," Tess said.

The dates on the paper caused Tess to frown. They had been long after Lex and Lionel had both been taken to their cells. Tess looked back at the cells, and both of the male Luthors were snug in their cells, no doubt dreams of dominating their enemies dancing in their heads.

Lionel's brain patterns had been erratic, and she just had Lex on more drugs to sedate an entire army of rock stars at this point to be honest. After the last time Lex broke out, it was much better.

' _Maybe there's another Luthor who is pulling the strings?'_ Tess asked. _'Lionel has been known to…he's had a few bastard spawn. At least, I assume, I'm not the only one. But why, why would they target aliens….unless they want to destroy Lionel's plans, by taking the Traveler away from him.'_

Tess was beginning to see one potential person with the motivation to do so. She waited for the handwriting analysis to be confirmed before those suspicions could be confirmed. If, Tess was correct, and she thought there was a pretty good chance of it, well there would be even more questions raised, than answers. Tess took in a deep breath and let out a sigh of relief.

Another problem presented itself, although it had been one that has been less obvious at the first time. Tess pressed in the ear piece, making sure briefly it was not malfunctioning because it would just be her luck right about now that there were some problems.

"Hello?" Tess asked. "Clark?" Alex? Daisy? Karen? Anyone…anyone, report in?"

Tess waited a couple of minutes for the answer, and she would only get concerned, if the answers had been given. She took a deep breath.

"Chloe, I've got a serious problem."

"Is it the fact that someone has disabled the communications coming out of the LuthorCorp Fertilizer Plant?" Chloe asked. "Because, I'm getting the same problems. I can't reach Clark or anyone else…and I'm starting to get worried. Do you think I should send in for backup?"

"Give it about five more minutes," Tess said. "Indy's currently running a handwriting sample test, to see who the LL is. Either we're going to have some light shed on the situation, or we're going to be completely baffled. And I have no idea what one is more likely."

"Oh, well…there's that happening," Chloe responded a moment or so later, drawing in a breath and sighing in response. "I'm going to try and find another way in."

Tess wondered if someone cloned either Lex or Lionel, and the clone had been working at Cadmus. That opened up an entirely different can of worms as far as Tess could be concerned. She drew in a deep breath and waited for Indy to finish.

"Handwrite sample located," Indy said. "There is a ninety nine point nine chance probability that the hand writing matches to Lillian Luthor….formally Lillian Edwards."

' _Son of a bitch,'_ Tess thought.

"Lillian Luthor?" Tess asked. "She died, years ago."

"Yes, and when has that stopped anyone from coming back to life in the field of work we're in?" Indigo asked. "There could have been other explanations to be granted. There is still a point one percent chance this is a false positive. A forgery would have been detected. She could have been cloned…"

"Or she could have faked her own death, and laid low," Tess said. "She blames Lionel….she never shared his interest or his obsession with the Traveler….I never met her, but I figured about as much. And she must have faked her own death and lied low for all of this time. But why now?"

"Perhaps she needed to amass the proper amount of resources to launch a full scale strike," Indy suggested.

"Chloe, you're not going to believe this."

"I've lived in Smallville for almost ten years," Chloe said. "There's a pretty high threshold on what I'm going to believe."

"Well, Lillian Luthor is the brains behind Cadmus."

"You're fucking kidding me, right?" Chloe asked. "She's….."

"Dead, I know," Tess said. "At least we think there is….but people come back to life all of the time."

"Yeah, that's true," Chloe said. "So, we can't really hold anyone by the same standards, of life and death that's out there anyway…it's just very confusing."

"I just have a feeling things are going to get worse before they get better," Tess responded a moment or so later. "I have a feeling Lillian is just scratching the surface."

She could not explain why she felt this, only Tess had a sinking feeling something was going down, and they were not going to like it.

* * *

Months of hard work could not be undermined by just one minute of carelessness. Alura looked over tank where the Phantom Zone duplicate who took both Clark and Kara's DNA had been placed. She had been twisted into something which had been beautiful or eerie.

"Not my ideal first grandchild," Astra said. "Especially since I'm much too young to have an adult grandchild….is that going to be done soon?"

"You can't rush these things, my dear sister," Alura said with a sigh. "She'll be ready, when she's ready, and not a second before."

Alura needed to prepare the tank just in case it was needed for something else. She ran several tests, to make sure every single last vital sign was on point. She could not afford to have any mix ups. Months of hard work, working with Raya, working with Lara, and to an extent Astra, to get the duplicate perfect and stable. Alura was not going to say this was her greatest creation.

"The last message we received before it went dead was that there's a younger clone of Kal-El," Astra said. "Female as well….that raises some very interesting points, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does," Alura said in an absent minded voice. "If she can get here, without decomposing, we should be able to stabilize her in the process."

There had been a second where Alura just breathed in and out. It was now or never, and Alura could only begin to guess the consequences of one wrong move.

"Raya?" Alura asked.

"Yes, Alura," Raya said.

"Prepare to operate the neural interface reconstruction," Alura said.

Raya moved over and adjusted one of the crystals. A bright orange light bombarded the tank, and was giving the figure in the tank life. Slowly, Alura moved over and began to drain the stasis fluid from around the tank. The trick was not to wake her up too soon, because she would suffer an unfortunate shock. Regardless, she needed to be brought back into the picture.

"I'm still wondering if this is the best idea," Raya said.

"Are you doubting my sister and her calculations?" Astra asked.

Lara stepped in. Worried about Kal as she was, they needed to focus on the task at hand, and task was getting one of the most powerful weapons they could against the upcoming Thangarian invasion. Lara hated thinking of a sentient person as a weapon, but she was unfortunately created for that person.

"No one doubts, Alura, but that doesn't mean we should not be careful," Lara said.

"Right," Alura said. "I'm seeing some brain patterns…she's slowly coming back to life. We're just going to have to make sure….."

Neural processes jumped back to eighty-five percent, and they needed to be back to one hundred percent before Alura even thought about dragging the person out of the tank.

"Vitals are stable," Raya reported.

"Good, and the brain activity is jumping up."

The tank slowly began to open. A dark haired figure slowly opened blue eyes. Astra looked over the curvy woman in the tank, who was not wearing a stitch of clothes. As much as Astra enjoyed the show, they had to be practical. Thankfully, Faora and Astra prepared a battle suit.

The combined version of Karen and Clark stepped out of the tank, and dripped with green water. The wet, sensual body moved forward towards the tank and looked very confused by her surroundings. The woman opened her eyes.

"Relax, you're among friends."

The former Phantom remembered the process and the confusion, the memories twisting her mind, battling with the instincts to destroy. Yet, a stronger instinct of wanting to help burned in her mind. The woman did not really know what to do.

Everything grew clear as day. The woman's breath escalated when looking at the figures watching her. Smiles moved across the face of everyone involved. The woman responded with a smile of her own.

"Thank you."

For the first time, ever, the woman's mind cleared up.

"So, how does she look?" Raya asked.

"Divine," Alura said a moment later. "Absolutely, divine."

* * *

Clark found himself moving around in circles throughout the facility. The good news was, he was pretty sure the clone could not have gotten far. But, she could have been elsewhere in the facility. They made their way towards the next room.

"Let me open that open," Daisy said. "You never know what might be in there."

Daisy raised a hand and slowly rocked the locks of the door open. The door swung open to allow the group access to a room. And it was not just any room, it was a room of different colors of Kryptonite. Half of the planet of Krypton was stored inside of this room, with green Kryptonite being the most prominent, but also some Red Kryptonite, some Blue Kryptonite, Black Kryptonite, and a couple of pieces of White, Purple, and Orange Kryptonite, which Clark had no idea what they did, but knew enough not to try and find out.

Despite the fact Clark had been shielded by the harmful effects of Kryptonite radiation, it was still bad. Alex and Daisy joined Clark, while Karen, Kara, and Carol looked elsewhere in the facility for the duplicate.

"Well, we found the missing LuthorCorp stock," Alex said. "Always thought it was more when the DEO confiscated that lab."

Tess cooperated with them, but someone already moved a good amount of Kryptonite. It was almost like they were preparing for war against an army of Kryptonians. And there was technically an army of Kryptonians, training, but for a good cause. The Kandorians were elsewhere.

"Can you hear me?" Tess asked.

"You're a little fuzzy," Clark said. "But, yeah, I can hear you."

"Indy found a way to bypass the communication jammer Cadmus is using, but I'm not sure how much time I've got before the work around stops working," Tess said. "I found out who is involved, and yes, it is a Luthor."

"Oh, of course," Alex said. "Why am I not surprised?"

"Yeah, well, it's Lillian Luthor."

"Lillian Luthor?" Clark asked. "You mean Lex's mother? I thought she was dead."

"Well," Tess said. "Haven't quite had the time to exhume her casket to DNA test yet, but Indigo matched the handwriting sample. If it's her, and there's a ninety nine point nine percent chance probability it is, years of being married to Lionel have caused her to pick up some of his worst tendencies."

"Are you sure?" Clark asked. "Would you put it past Lionel to clone his own wife?"

"You know, I thought about it, and it's possible," Tess said. "Or Lex to create a clone of his mother, because he is Oedipial enough to do such a thing. But Lillian would have the motivation."

"She got tired of Lionel's obsessions…..and he could get very obsessed," Clark said a moment or so later.

"Mmm hmm," Tess said. "Never talked to the woman in either time line, because she was long dead. I'm wondering though if my temporal manipulations could have changed it. Time travel has some strange ripple effects."

Tess took in a deep breath in response.

"And there are a lot of LuthorCorp resources which mysteriously went missing. Lillian would know where a lot of that is, or knew enough to know someone who could get her what she needed. This was taken before I took control of the company, so she's playing the long term plan."

Daisy stopped suddenly. Perhaps she was losing it, but there was something coming around the corner. Daisy took a deep breath and something thumped Daisy across the back of the head.

Alex withdrew a weapon and pointed it. The clone was there, she was there, and Alex did not know what to do.

"She might have already gotten Karen, Kara, and Carol," Alex said.

Daisy groaned, when trying to pull herself up. Clark stepped around and could hear the frantic heart beating coming from elsewhere.

"I don't want to hurt you," Clark said. "But if you hurt my friends, you'll leave me no choice."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on 11/12/2017.**


	66. Chapter 66

**Chapter Sixty-Six: Divine Intervention**

* * *

Agent Daisy Johnson of the DEO wanted to know the number of the truck which struck her. She suffered some very rough hits back in the day, but there had been not a hit much rougher than the one she experienced. The crazed attacker knocked her down and caused Daisy to see stars.

Normally, Daisy would have been more than thrilled to see three of Alex in front of her. Something told Daisy it was not the good thing she painted it as for this very moment. The girl's head rattled about when trying to take a deep breath. Daisy's heart skipped a couple of beats when holding herself up off of the ground.

"Daisy, are you still there?"

Clark and Karen looked towards Alex, the very second the clone disappeared down the tunnel. It was very weird, there was something eractic about the dopplegangers movements, and at the same time, it was a very calculating at the same time. This strange combination resulted in more questions than answers as far as both of the Kryptonians had been concerned.

"I'm…oh my head hurts like hell."

Daisy fell back against the wall, taking a deep breath. Alex leaned in to try and help Daisy out. Medical attention might have been needed for Daisy, at least sooner rather than later.

"We'll get you out of here," Alex said.

"I….I'm fine, really, I am."

Daisy's legs slumped out from underneath her. Alex did not really have the time or the energy to argue to be honest, because Daisy was the type who would argue with her in the middle of a mission because of the matter of well-being. Alex retracted the arm cannon out and looked around a few seconds later. So far, there had been nothing of value coming around the corner, but that seldom meant anything. It did put Alex on the edge of nervousness, however.

"You're not fine," Alex muttered to Daisy.

Daisy did not really have it within herself to argue for too long. There was a second where time passed and the cool air coming down the hallway indicated someone had broken a window in a fit of rage. Clark stepped over and carefully examined the broken glass. There were no hints of blood on it, which meant someone with super strength busted the glass, at least as far as Clark could determine.

' _We're getting close,'_ Clark thought to himself.

Exactly how close were they, well that was a pretty good question as far as Clark was concerned. The Young Kryptonian peered around the edge of the area around him, turning his head around three hundred and sixty degrees to take a very good look at everything around.

"She's close," Karen said.

"I don't see anything on my end," Carol said.

"Come out," Clark said. "You have to face us sooner or later. I get that you're scared. You don't know what your purpose is in life. And you have memories are conflicting. I know it's hard to imagine, but I really feel your pain. So, come out and face me."

The sound of something crashing in the distance echoed, and a blur shot out of the shadows. Clark lifted a hand to block the punch before it nailed him in the face. Clark flipped the attacker over onto her back and she landed down onto the ground.

The Feral Clone rose up to a standing position and grabbed Clark around the neck. Both of them struggled with each other on the ground. Clark turned the attack around the best he could, flipping the attacker up and over onto the ground, causing her to crash down onto the ground.

The attacker's scream of rage followed, and the clone rushed towards Clark one more time. The punch had been dodged by Clark. Another punch had been dodged, and the attack closed her eyes, to cause a large chunk of metal to fly off of the wall.

The confused emotions made the attackers efforts even more prominent. Clark adopted a defensive approach. The attacker was not too interested in fighting defense and the heat vision had been unleashed. Clark and the doppleganger met in the center with immense heat vision blasts. Sweat started to roll down the face of the doppleganger when her breathing continued.

"NO!"

These were the first words, coherent or otherwise, Clark had heard from the doppleganger. Said doppleganger kept pushing through the attacks as swiftly as possible. Sweat rolled down the face of the doppleganger when pushing Clark back.

The doppleganger dropped to one knee for a brief moment. The feelings of despair and the conflicts of what to do, reared their ugly head in a blink of an eye. Clark, Karen, and Carol all took tentative steps towards the clone. The confused and stressed out teenager looked up.

Carol had teenage sisters, and they could get very moody in a hurry. "Look, it's going to be okay."

For some reason, telling a crazed clone everything was going to be okay was the wrong thing to say at this moment in time. Said crazed clone lashed out and knocked Carol back a tiny amount, sending her flying onto her back with a very obvious and prominent thud. The wind knocked out of Carol the second she dropped down onto the ground. The clone pulled herself up, rage burning through her eyes when peering down at Carol.

"NO!" the clone howled at the top of her lungs. "NO!"

It was like a child learning their first word, and the destructive temper tantrum to go along with. Several chunks of debris shot around the lab, and a cyclone appeared around the clone. The clone nailed Clark in the ribs as fast as possible, and grabbed a chunk of Kryptonite. Smoke started to come through the clone's hands, forcing her to drop it down onto the ground.

A figure dropped down from the ceiling and caught the clone down on the back of the head. The clone flipped head over heels and landed down on the ground, slowly turning her attention. A tall dark-haired girl dressed in black Kryptonian battle armor dropped down to the ground. She resembled a mixture of both Karen and Clark.

The Phantom wraith had been fixed, and looked towards the clone.

"You need a time out," Divine said.

The clone disagreed with the former Phantom Wraith and blasted a beam of heat vision. The beam of heat vision had been countered with a blast of cold blue light which shot out of Divine's eyes. Heat and cold connected with each other, when the two pushed themselves back and forth.

"I don't want to hurt you either," Divine said. "But, you're making it very hard to keep that vow."

* * *

The confusion of what exactly was going on underneath the former LuthorCorp fertilizer plant caused Tess the need to do something, anything. And therefore, she decided to continue to dig up further information on the person who ran Cadmus.

"Well, of course," Tess said. "She had been cremated, and had her ashes scattered on the countryside. So, it would be very hard for anyone to verify whether she's dead. Very clever, Lillian."

Tess wondered if Lillian was like this all of the time, and just better at hiding it then Lionel, or perhaps years of being married to Lionel caused her to be twisted in such a way. There were a few little interesting side projects, including more work with the meteor mutants. The resurrection was only the tip of the iceberg.

They also had been attempting to develop Kryptonian strength and powers, into a cybernetic suit, without the obvious drawbacks, the Kryptonite was obvious. The red solar radiation was another problem they were trying their best to mitigate. Tess just had some questions, and not many answers.

' _Just another day in my life really.'_

Something really galled Tess a fair amount as well. She umwittingly played a role in Lillian's scheme, due to the fact that Lex and Lionel had been locked up. Something told Tess that Lillian might not have enacted this particular scheme, had her husband and son been out in the open.

Tess checked in and she could hear the static. The temporary fix Indigo had made to override Cadmus's override of the security network did not really work for as long as she thought. The businesswoman took in her breath and remained as calm as possible. There was no sense of her to lose her cool, especially in a high place situation like this.

' _Trust, Clark, because he can find a way out of anything,'_ Tess said. _'He can find a way out of anything, even the things which he should not be able to find a way out of.'_

Still, the fact she had been blind and deaf to what was going on in the LuthorCorp fertilizer plant put Tess on edge. She moved over and pushed a button.

"They found a way around my override?" Indigo asked.

"How did you ever guess?" Tess asked.

"Despite my capabilities, it was the most statistical probability possible," Indigo said. "I'm working on a more permanent fix, just please stand by, and hope this works. Not sure if we can give them much support, but it's essential to get Kal-El's distaff counterpart out of there."

Tess did not argue with that fact, not at all. She chewed on her lower lip, a really bad habit Tess unfortunately developed.

"So, you got locked out again, too?" Tess asked.

"Yeah, I did," Chloe chimed in. "Did you find out anything more about Lillian? As in, whether or not she's dead."

"Well she wanted to get cremated," Tess said. "I know, that really doesn't tell you much of anything. But still, the body which got burned might not have been hers. The ashes she had, they had been spread across the countryside, per her wishes, and as far as I can tell, Lionel actually did follow those wishes."

' _Mostly because he felt guilty for the trouble and trauma he caused her.'_

A few seconds passed, and Tess waited for Indy to get things together. It was taking an unfortunate amount longer than Tess would have liked. All they could do right now is wait, watch, and hope things would turn out for the better.

* * *

Once again, the back of the clone's head rang out. There was something in her memories which was causing problems. Memories of two different young men, living lives which she personally had no emotional attraction to, but they kept going through the back of the clone's head. These memories, the despair of everything they went through, coupled with her own despair caused her to grow manic.

Also, time in a lab caused her to scream. Several of her brothers and sisters melted before the eyes of the Kryptonian/Human hybrid home. It caused her to want to lash out, and make the pain stop. The breathing continued, when she rose up and down. The two men who stood over her did their best to work into her mind. They conditioned the clone, shaped her mind into something else.

"NO!"

That was the only word the clone could speak other than feral growls. Those screams continued when the clone had a strong desire to rip her nails into her own face and rake out her eyeballs. The breathing continued to increase with frequency the more than the clone tilted her head back.

"Stand still!"

The clone's throbbing head made it very hard to listen to reason.

"Stay….back!"

The clone choked out these words, forcing them through her very raw throat. It was very hard to speak in this particular way. Each ragged breath made the clone suffer when she tried to hold her down. The older dark-haired girl stepped in front of her. The energy coming from the woman sedated the clone just a small bit.

"Protect."

"Yes, you can protect," Clark said. "You just need to let us help you."

"NO!"

Karen and Carol grabbed the clone and wrestled her down to the ground. Divine stood over the clone and put a hand on the top of the clone's head which siphoned some of the yellow solar radiation empowering her away from her. The clone's breathing increased a few seconds later. The former Phantom Wraith pulled away from the clone and left her a shivering, twitching wreck on the ground.

"I didn't know you could do that."

"It hurts like hell to do it," Divine told Karen. "But, yeah, I can do it."

One clone down on the ground, shaking like mad. She was terrified out of her mind with what was happening, and for very good reason. The clone should have been terrified for everything she went through. The images flashing through Divine's mind after she transmitted the yellow solar radiation out of the girl caused the Phantom Wraith to shudder in response.

"It's not good," Divine said. "They've sacrificed many clones to get the perfect one, and even this one, they'll sacrifice her. They cut open her skull with a Kryptonite drill to rework her mind."

Karen thought she was going to get sick because of the vivid imagery Divine put in her mind. It only took Karen a few seconds to come to the conclusion that Divine, through the mild-melding process, had to see that up close and personal.

"There's an implant buried in her brain," Divine said.

Those eyes opened up and flashed with malice. This time, they did not flash with heat vision, because of the fact that Divine drained her of the powers. The Phantom Wraith peered down at the girl as she shook.

"She was able to restore herself very quickly," Divine said. "That's equal parts impressive, and frightening. I don't even know what to say here."

Divine stood over the top of the clone who took a breath and looked at Divine. Anger burned through those eyes, but another emotion could have been seen, and that was a growing sense of hopelessness, helplessness, and everything which went along with those unfortunately, frustrating emotions. The clone's body shivered when she had been pushed down onto the ground.

"We're going to need to fix her."

Karen and Clark switched spots, with now Carol and Clark holding the doppleganger down onto the ground. The clone's eyes flashed when Karen looked at the forehead, and took the palm scanner. She scanned and sure enough found the obstruction on the girl's brain.

' _Brain surgery,'_ Karen thought. _'Okay, that's a new one, but I'm going to have to do it.'_

'You can pull this off," Lara said. "You're just going to have to have a steady hand and plenty of patience to do so. But, I know you can do it."

"Right, I'm glad you have faith in me," Karen said.

"You're going to have to temporarily short out her brain so you can get in there," Lara said. "You have approximately ten minutes to work with, before she becomes brain dead."

Given the alternatives, Karen really did not have any choice. She pulled out a disc, and super charged the electrical pulse with heat vision when put at the base of the girl's neck. She shook in response when dropping down onto the ground.

Karen reached into the head, and picked up the piece of Kryptonite on the ground. She bust it, and took a sliver of it. Despite her shielding, the Kryptonite still felt like fire. The green Kryptonite lightly pierced into the head of the clone.

She pushed inside the cut up forehead. Blood dripped to the ground, and Karen took extra care.

"You need a precise shot with your heat vision to release the implant," Alura said. "One wrong move….."

Alura did not need to elaborate what would happen if Karen misfired the heat vision blast on someone's brain. This was still her cousin, in part, and thus it felt very weird. The hybrid's life rested in Karen's hands, and on her ability to perform very delicate brain surgery.

Karen steadily held the unconscious girl's skull and closed her eyes. The Kryptonian survivor used heat vision to slowly burn the implant. The implant fell down onto the ground, and Karen took a deep breath.

Karen slowly rolled the girl over and took a solar powered grenade out of her hand. It had been developed just in case they had been trapped on an alien planet which had an alien sun. It was a prototype and burned out very easily. It only had one good burst of solar radiation, and only about ten seconds worth.

Ten seconds was more than enough to jumpstart the brain of the downed girl and caused the healing process to be accelerated. Karen released the solar radiation.

The hybrid's forehead healed over and her body completely shook in response. A content smile passed on her face. Karen scanned all of the vitals, and they were normal.

"Now, you have to get her back to the Fortress," Lara said. "While the implant is out of her head, she's not out of the woods yet."

Karen nodded in response. She had saved the day, and not for the first time. Clark smiled and put a hand on his cousin's shoulder, and she returned the smile.

"You did well."

* * *

Miles Warren looked like a small child who watched his puppy dog get run over. And then, watched the car which ran over his puppy dog back up and run over it again, and it was just way too much. The sour look on Warren's face increased with each possible second.

"My greatest creation," Warren said. He took in a deep, sad breath, unable to believe things had been turned around for the worst this soon.

"It can be very difficult to come to terms with loss," Strange responded a moment later. "But, we must move on and more importantly, move beyond."

Warren did not have it within him to argue with Strange on a situation like this. Still, he was excited, finally, Warren created a clone which would actually be able to sustain for more than a couple of days. The combination of alien and human DNA, Warren should have figured that one out from the beginning.

"It's poetic irony," Strange said. "The implant KR2's head was the only thing they can be used to trace us back, but it would have resulted in us terminating the project."

Strange smiled, he could have been very pleased with himself. They were both in the back of a mobile lab, waiting to see where Cadmus's next operations were going to lead them. Strange in particular had been very pleased, very pleased indeed, by the results to come.

"The next time, the conditioning will be stronger, and she will be more ruthless," Strange said. "You learn more from a hundred failures, then you do one success."

Warren decided that perhaps he did understand where Strange was coming from. Warren detested failure though, each time he failed, it was an insult. And each time, Warren failed, it caused him to be feel insulted. No one would get the better of him, not if Warren had anything to say about it.

"You were very fortunate to get out of there when you did," the supervisor said. "You lost the clone, but you would have lost a lot more. And it would have been a shame to lose assets like yourself."

The not so subtle implication that the supervisor saw Warren and Strange as easily replaceable came on through the communication network. Strange took this matter in greater stride. He had been used to working for people who threatened him.

"Lutessa gets closer to finding out what we're up to, and she's already been able to deduce the rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," the supervisor continued, speaking in her very crisp voice. "She might just be Lionel's bastard child, but she's still savvy. She's received the worst cards that life has given, and came out ahead. That to me, it's very respectable."

"Yes, it is," Strange said. "And I suppose the DEO is storming the base and confiscating anything we left behind. Not that much of value has been left behind."

"Other than the clone, which is in the hands of the Traveler now," the supervisor responded. "I warned the two of you why it was essential for you to get out of there when you did. Perhaps in the future, you would find it very prudent to listen to me."

The not so subtle jab of their intelligence caught them flush.

"What do we do now?" Warren asked.

"Cadmus does what it always does," the supervisor said. "We are going to prepare for war. Let the self-appointed protectors do the heavy lifting when the Thangarians come."

Warren and Strange had been surprised.

"Thangarians?" Strange asked.

"That's on a need to know basis," the supervisor said. "You will be brought to another facility. Don't get too comfortable at this one."

"We're playing a shell game with Kal-El, Lutessa, and the DEO," Strange said. "Eventually, we're going to get caught."

"You haven't got caught yet, and you won't, unless you blunder," the supervisor said. "And I know both of you, your egos will not allow yourself to blunder. Do they?"

* * *

The clone had been dropped back to the Fortress. Divine also remained behind to make sure she turned out just find after the encounter. Tess signaled for Clark to stop by the Luthor Mansion. Clark dropped on the front yard, and the guard at the front gate stepped aside, allowing Clark to step inside.

"Ms. Mercy is waiting for you, Superman."

That name still caught Clark off guard. There was a part of him who thought the name was a bit much, but Tess assured him that it fit him, in more ways than one. Regardless, Clark stepped into the living room. Tess waited for him, dressed in an elegant silk blouse, and a nice black skirt, along with stocks, and high heels which she balanced on very gracefully.

"So, I'm going to have to tell you the bad news," Tess said.

"What?" Clark asked.

He had been more than used to bad news, unfortunately.

"Lois has been snagged."

"What?" Clark demanded. "Lois, what, who took her….."

"We know who took her, and we know where she is," Tess said. "She's been chosen by the Green Lantern Corps, and if I had to guess, she's being trained by the Guardians of Oa."

Clark took a deep breath and calmed down. He remembered the Green Lantern Corps during the incident involving Lobo and Mongul. They were powered by will, and there were very few people that Clark knew, who had more will-power than Lois Lane. Something told Clark se would flourish.

And if half of the things Astra said about the Guardians were true, Lois would be giving them some headaches because of headstrong attitude.

"Lara is trying to establish contact with the Guardians," Tess said. "I'm sure Lois is fine though. She can handle herself. More than most of us."

Of course, the fact that Lois could handle herself ended up causing her to get into an unfortunate amount of trouble. Tess decided not to bring up that very evident point. She flashed Clark a smile when motioning him to close just a little bit closer towards her.

"We have a lot of other things on our plate, unfortunately," Tess responded a few seconds later. "Cadmus is one of the big ones, and there's also, Lillian."

Clark could hardly believe that Lex's mother was alive and running a secret government organization, at least as far as Tess suspected, and Tess would not just throw down accusations without having some very solid proof to back them up.

"It's always the ones you least suspected," Tess said, lightly shrugging in response. "And I don't know about her motives, and I can only begin to speculate about them. And I don't like to speculate."

"Don't I know it."

Tess lightly pulled open one of the buttons on her blouse, an impish smile delivered at Clark.

"With all that's going on, you seem to be tense," Tess said. "And I know I'm tense as well. Why don't you say we relieve the tension?"

Tess finished unbuttoning her blouse to reveal two amazing breasts in an elegant and very expensive green bra which drew Clark's attention to Tess's toned body. Tess allowed her blouse to drop to the ground and descended around the soft carpet, while undoing Clark's pants.

* * *

It did not take too long for Tess to fish Clark's throbbing hard cock out of his pants. The length stood out tall and Tess wrapped a hand around the base of the cock and slowly began to stroke it. Starting at the head, Tess licked all the way to the base of the cock, and then went between Clark's legs, to lick his balls.

"Tess, that feels so good."

Tess worshipped Clark's length for a moment with a series of passionate kisses. Her moist lips wrapped around Clark and took him deep into her mouth. Clark grabbed onto Tess's beautiful red hair which brushed around the part of the length which did not slip into her mouth.

The businesswoman took Clark's cock and sucked it. Those balls throbbed, and Tess realized that could contain enough cum which could drown someone. Tess enjoyed the feeling of Clark's balls just resting in the palm of her hand. She wanted more though, and squeezed them. The very visible reaction of pleasure from the most powerful man on the planet got Tess's motor running and caused her to want to suck Clark even harder. Her lips eased down further on Clark's manhood, sucking him deep inside, as deep as humanly possible.

"Tess, oh yes, that's really good!" Clark groaned, when feeling Tess's warm lips encase and release him like there was no tomorrow.

Tess didn't even bat an eyelash. She wanted to make Clark feel better than great, because making Clark feel great made Tess feel great, and that very essential cycle of pleasure should continue for as long as humanly possible. And speaking of long, Clark's cock was long and pushing into the back of Tess's throat, stretching it out. Tess grabbed Clark's back and pushed his manhood deep inside of her mouth. The hunger following increased, the deeper and more passionately Tess sucked Clark's long manhood between her legs.

"TESS!"

Clark screaming her name when Tess blew him caused the redhead to become rather wet between her thighs. Tess kept up the action by taking Clark's length as deep in throat as possible. The part of the length Tess could not grab, her hands twisted.

The feeling of Tess worshipping Clark caused the Last Son of Krypton more pleasure than possible. Clark's balls slapped deep against of Tess's chin and pushed deep inside of Tess's throat. He was this close to exploding, and Tess knew it. Tess made a series of lewd sounds around Clark's manhood and dragged it deep inside the back of her throat.

Seconds passed, and Clark fired cum deep inside of Tess's waiting through. Clark pushed into Tess's mouth and filled her up with so much cum.

Tess smiled and slowly, seductively, rose to her feet. A smile passed, with Tess sucking the cum into her mouth. A smile passed a few seconds later, and Clark reached in to grab Tess and speed her into the next room.

They were in Lex's study. Tess enjoyed the poetic irony of Superman fucking the sister of his greatest enemy in said enemy's own study. It was symbolic of something.

Not that Tess had much time to worry about symbolism, when Clark toyed with her clit, and caused the redhead to breath. The bra came off and Tess's amazing breasts came out. Clark touched Tess between her legs, reaching out and cupping her pussy, working a finger inside of it, and then a second done.

Clark could not feel every inch of Tess's sultry body fast enough. The redhead's eyes closed, and a pleasurable moan came out of the woman. Clark rolled his finger deep between Tess's waiting thighs, and she pushed the pussy up into Clark's grip. Clark edged deeper inside of Tess.

"Eat me."

"Good thing I'm hungry."

Tess almost melted underneath the presence of that tongue. Clark's tongue lapped up every last amount of Tess's juices, like it was some god giving, divine right. Tess knew one thing, her pussy was going to be plenty weight enough for the main event.

Clark worked at the businesswoman, making her succumb to several passionate strokes with the tongue. Lara and Raya's lessons, with visual demonstrations about the best way to eat a pussy, paid off. Tess squirmed and creamed all over Clark's face. Clark tasted the evidence of Tess's arousal.

The man shifted focus to Tess's gorgeous legs which rested upon his shoulders. The nylon stockings she wore made them feel so much more amazing. Clark rolled his fingers over the legs, and could not wait to feel those stocking clad legs wrapped around him when he fucked Tess.

Tess almost exploded in pleasure the second Clark finished tongue-fucking the bastard child of Lionel Luthor. The redhead's breathing increased for a few seconds, and Clark rose up to his feet.

The feeling of Clark just drinking in every inch of her body made Tess's excitement only grow. Her legs spread as far as possible, knowing there was only one thing which could fill the void presently existing between her thighs.

"Do it," Tess begged Clark. "DO IT!"

Clark edged closer, the hunger overwhelming him. His throbbing cock guided the way between the heavenly gates between the thighs of the redhead.

Tess wrapped her arms around Clark's neck, and her legs around his waist. She felt Clark push into her, stretching out her pussy with everything he could give her. The woman's canal clamped down on Clark's throbbing rod the further he pushed inside of her.

"YES!" Tess mewled in Clark's ear. "YES!"

Tess screamed out these words of passion when Clark pushed inside of her. The redhead pushed deep against Clark and buried the man's large cock deeper inside of her waiting loins. Tess grabbed onto Clark's shoulder, and felt the pleasure with Clark burying deep inside of her.

Those passionate screams spurred Clark to go faster. Tess's center grabbed around Clark when pushing her nails onto him. The passionate exchange of bodily fluids was about to go on either further. Tess wrapped her legs around Clark's waist to make sure he did not stray too far from the pussy he had to fuck. And Clark did not plan to stray too far from Tess's gorgeous core as well. Clark's manhood spiked Tess, going deeper into her. Tess held onto the back of Clark's neck, and breathed passionately.

The feeling of her breasts pressing against Clark's muscular chest caused Tess to be driven wild. The passionate woman's hips bucked, her nails breaking in Clark's super powerful back. Tess wasn't afraid of a couple of broken nails, she had been driven too mad in lust to care about such little details.

"HARDER!"

Clark reached in and cupped Tess's succulent orbs. His super powerful mouth and hands worshipped Tess like she should be. Tess's passionate screams could be heard on the grounds of the mansion. It was almost like she wanted the entire world to see who fucked Tess Mercer.

The feeling of Tess clamping down on his raging rod only caused Clark to push himself harder, into Tess's warm and willing body. Her loins clamping down on Clark made things even hotter, and heavier. Clark rolled his fingers on the underside of Tess's stockings, and felt them up.

"I'm wear them for you every time," Tess breathed. "And not much else. I know how much they drive you wild."

Clark did not slow down with thrusting deep inside of Tess's wet pussy. Tess grabbed onto Clark and took the full length. Every second moment pasted, and Tess's body shook with more content. The dripping of moisture from her pussy made Tess quiver in excitement.

Those hands really did work their magic on her, every single direction. Tess closed her eyes, and threw her hips back into Clark's thrusting manhood. Clark buried further into Tess, and Tess responded by taking more of him.

Clark marveled at the fact Tess did not wear out.

"You live for this?" Clark asked.

"It's so exciting to be fucked, hard, by a man that can break you," Tess said, lightly nibbling on Clark's neck.

He wouldn't really feel it that much, but it was the thought that counted. Tess trained her pussy muscles to make sure Clark would feel it where it counted. Juices trickling out lubricated Clark's amazing length and pushed him further into the center. Tess pumped Clark inside of her, moaning and thrashing the deeper Clark pushed into her. Tess did not hold back at all.

"Getting closer, aren't we?" Tess teased him.

"Oh, not as close as you want."

Tess's excitement increased. She felt good, and so did her breasts being played with by Clark. Every touch caused a miniature orgasm to rock through Tess, in preparation for the big one. Tess rolled herself up against Clark.

Clark managed to move around to every surface on the study, and fuck Tess vigorously against every potential surface. The walls, the tables, the bookshelves, and even the couch in the back of the study. He had Tess bent over the coffee table, doggy style, when ramming his cock into her.

"This is where Lex used to have his morning coffee," Tess said. "Where he thought about….tried to figure out you. Little did he know you'd be fucking me over that table. Oh, yes, fuck me hard!"

Tess had been drilled hard and one of the most powerful orgasms she ever experienced just spiked all the way through her body. Clark pulled out of Tess almost all the way and pushed back into her. His balls slapped Tess's thighs the further Clark buried inside of her.

"You're getting fucked harder than you ever know," Clark breathed. "And you're going to cum for me, aren't you? Aren't you, you kinky little slut?"

"YES!" Tess shrieked.

Tess came for Clark, the dirty language coming from the mouth of the boy scout exciting Tess. Truly, some of the girls had been a bad influence on him, at least in the bedroom.

Clark grabbed onto Tess, and now had her on the couch. Every time Clark pumped down into Tess when she laid firmly on her back, he caught a nice look at Tess's beautiful face. Clark pumped himself deeper inside of Tess's body. Her loins clamped down onto Clark, milking him for everything that he was worth.

"Fuck!" Tess breathed hungrily. "That's the spot, right fucking there!"

Clark just responded with a smile, pushing his rod deeper inside of Tess's body. Tess grabbed onto Clark's hard cock and released him. Each solid pump inside of Tess brought Clark further into her body.

Tess came, and Clark followed, burying his seed into Tess's waiting pussy. Tess's warm loins squeezed Clark, and pushed his stored load inside of her.

The two matched each other, both of them seeing stars, and cumming for each other. Tess made sure to never let her legs leave Clark's waist, and his hands never left her legs. Clark pushed deep into Tess, releasing all of that unfortunately built up tension into a gushing flood between Tess's thighs.

There was a lot of tension released between the two of them were done for the day.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 19** **th** **, 2017.**


	67. Chapter 67

**Chapter Sixty-Seven: Ends Justify the Means**

* * *

The last couple of days passed by, and many problems occurred, and many more lingered right around the corner. One of the biggest problems Lara thought about, and continued to haunt them all, pointed to the incoming invasion of the Thangarians. No one argued if the invasion approached, only a matter of when the invasion approached. Lara hoped all of the preparations worked to lead to their success.

Now, Lara sat in the middle of the Fortress and just completed a scan of the area around Earth, for any potential hostiles. So far, nothing as of yet, but given the Thangarians invented ships which could push them through a portal, Lara only hoped they reacted fast enough. And she hoped, the people of Earth declined to make the situation even worse than ever, even though Lara suspected difficulties coming from this particular instance.

' _Must prepare for anything,'_ Lara said. _'The Thangarians are going to throw anything, and everything at us, especially if they want to take Earth as a strategic battle ground. We cannot allow them to succeed, we will not allow them to succeed.'_

A never ending mantra entered Lara's mind about not allowing Thangar to succeed in the invasion. She peered off to the side, where Divine sat, resting from her first mission out in the wild. Inside a stasis tube rested the hybrid clone which they rescued from Cadmus.

"We got to her just in time."

Alura's voice cut in through the air and jolted Lara away from the upcoming preparations for the Thangarian invasion. The woman nodded, and looked at all of the angles.

"Clone degeneration may not have been as rapid with the other ones," Alura said. "It would set in eventually, and we would have problems."

"We wouldn't have had enough to salvage," Lara said. "The confusion she must have felt."

Her technical granddaughter lingered in the tube, and Lara hoped to help the poor girl out. Unfortunately, other matters prompted Lara to do a few things to get everything in order. One of the biggest things to get in order, and Lara knew this, happened to be to get transmission out to OA. The Green Lantern ring choose Lois and pulled her off to some kind of adventure on the outer reaches of space.

Training, and Lara refused to envy anyone who dealt with the Guardians of Oa. She never dealt with them, at least not directly, not until this conversation which she prepared to have. Jor-El chose the words he spoke of them carefully; Lara understood Jor-El's frustration with them. Oddly enough, his AI had more in common with the Guardians, then the alive Jor-El wished to have.

Then, Alura and Astra dealt with them up close.

"Are those glorified space Smurfs on the line yet?" Astra asked.

Lara cracked a smile at Astra's adopting of Indigo's word for the Guardians of Oa.

"I'm very nearly holding onto communication," Lara said. "It's best if I do all of the talking."

"I can handle them," Astra said.

"It worries me a lot you can," Lara said. "We have enough problems, and I would like to ask for their help on the upcoming Thangarian invasion."

"You're wasting your time even asking them," Astra said. "By the time the Guardians decide to act, and figure out whether or not it contradicts their precious protocol, the invasion will be over and done with."

Lara said nothing and made contact. Alura held her sister's arm back. Astra took in a deep breath and nodded in response, when waiting for the connection to occur on the other end.

"May we be of service?"

One of the giant blue headed men in red robes flickered on the screen.

"My name is Lara Lor-Van, formally of Krypton," she said. "I'm currently on Earth, and I know you….."

"You wish to inquire about the Earth woman," the Guardian said in a stoic and very calm tone of voice. "Lois Lane, I believe her name is."

"Yes," Lara said. "Is she okay?"

"She is perfectly unharmed," the Guardian said. "She's currently being assessed. She's one of the more belligerent people we've ever had to train as part of the Green Lantern Corps. And I find it quite strange the ring chose someone of Earth origin. They always have their reasons, even though many of us are anxious about the reason why it latched on to this particular woman."

Lara read between the lines and frowned.

"The Thangarians are on the move, and are preparing to invade Earth," Lara said. "Do you know anything about….."

"We have received intelligence," the Guardian answered. "We are going to assess the situation, and we will send assistance if it can be spared. Earth is a Yellow level planet."

Lara knew Yellow-Level meant of low priority, due to the status in the universe. She did not particularly agree with the Guardian. All she could do, would be respond with a very obvious nod. One look through the crystal showed Astra, who looked to be holding back.

"We will be in contact should we require anything further," the Guardian said in his usual stiffness. "Good day."

* * *

The last couple of days, Clark did not really know what to make of them, only knowing he lived in some very interesting times. He stopped by the DEO, with Karen tagging along. They needed to make sure all of their allies were in order, to make sure the invasion did not cause too much damage to the people of Earth.

Humans looked anxious about anything different from them. Clark understood, they feared the unknown. They would fear those who were different, even if they helped out the people of Earth. Clark did not have to like everything going on, even though he respected everything. Every last minute, Clark hoped something would happen, which would allow them to succeed and be the best they could be.

"The Guardians are about as helpful as normal," Lara told them in their earpiece.

"I'm sure Astra had some choice words for them," Clark said.

"Yes, some very choice words, but I'll leave them out of polite company," Lara said. "She does know curse words in about twenty-nine different alien languages, so she ran the gauntlet of her very colorful vocabulary to say the very least."

Clark smiled, he figured about as much. He wondered what the next play would be.

"How's Lois?" Clark asked.

"According to the Guardians, nothing to worry about regarding Lois, she's being trained," Lara said. "Something about a woman from Earth receiving a Green Lantern Ring miffed them a little bit. They're going to be harder on her."

Clark would be worried, if not for one simple fact. Lois gave about as well as she received. These Guardians, and the rest of the Green Lantern Corps wanted to be hard on her? Lois might give them a bit more than they had in mind, and they might have bitten off more than they could chew.

"Astra is giving the Kandorians a last minute pep talk," Lara said. "Faora prepared them for this, as did Astra. I don't think the Thangarians expected this."

"The problem with Thangarians is, they fight to the death," Karen said somberly. "Surrender is not in their vocabulary. They aren't going to run form a fight."

"We're just going to keep fighting, until they can't fight us back," Clark said.

The two Kryptonians passed through the front entrance. J'onn, under the guise of Hank Henshaw, looked at a stack of paperwork. Not exactly the most thrilling part in helping save the world from the threats which would keep piling up.

"Thangarians are coming, and we have this problem with Cadmus on top of it," J'onn said. "There's plenty of evidence how a rogue DEO agent is supplying Cadmus with some resources, and information, which is why they're one step ahead of them."

"It shouldn't be too hard to find them," Clark said.

"Maybe, I can read their mind, but Cadmus may also be supplying them with a means to block it," J'onn said, letting out a deep breath in frustration. "And this organization is several levels deep. I don't have constant access to every agent, and there are people who don't necessary work for me, but work for the United States government, and down that path leads to problems."

Clark figured if the mole had a boss beyond "Hank Henshaw", then it would be hard. Clark hated to think the United States government would be doing something like this, but he knew there were only human beings. A government's corruption only ran as deep as the people running it, and several politicians in Washington knew how to play the game.

"The Guardians of Oa aren't really jumping at the chance to send help for us," Clark said.

"Shocking," J'onn murmured.

Clark stopped, and had no idea Martians were capable of sarcasm. His words took Clark completely off guard.

"When Mars burned, we signaled for help, and the Guardians never picked it up," J'onn said. "The White Martians laughed at us for trying and…."

Clark only heard J'onn elude to his past in passing. The Martian's broad shoulders held a lot of baggage, and he took a deep breath. Several deep breaths in a matter of fact, and looked out the window.

"We can only count on those who are here, the Kandorians, the Amazons, and….us, at the DEO," J'onn said. "Agent Danvers and Agent Johnson have been working together, to get a squad together, and they are to get the civilians out of the line of fire. We have some weapons which may put a dent in the Thangarian fleet, but depending on how big they are, there will be problems."

"Looks like the DEO might need to send their big guns out there," Karen said.

"I'm certain Supergirl will be in the middle of things," J'onn said.

"I was referring to our favorite Martian," Karen said.

J'onn paused for a moment, and thought about it. He had come here for a reason, and he would not allow another planet to burn due to cruelty and destruction.

"I'll help where I can," J'onn said. "You might not have had the best relationship with your father, but he did have great hopes for you. This is the sort of thing you were put on Earth to do, Kal-El, to protect. Not everyone will agree with the actions you take, but as long as your heart is in the right place, the good will outweigh the bad, in the end."

Clark perfectly understood everything J'onn said, and nodded in response. The good had to outweigh the bad, in the end. Clark did not know any other way, but the good outweighing the bad.

"If I can only find this leak," J'onn said. "This is the last thing we need with an alien invasion coming around the corner."

* * *

Tess received a message, a message which intrigued her, and also made her very suspicious as well. Indigo informed her there had been a message at a Cadmus facility, for Tess to meet the people involved there. Tess decided to take the armor Lex developed out of storage, and put it on. She needed to give it a test run, if she wanted to be any help for the Thangarian invasion. She also had a cannon, which hooked to the side of the armor. One wrong move and anyone who stepped in her way would be toast.

' _Let's see what this is all about.'_

Tess drew in a deep breath and stepped into the facility. A blinking computer scream appeared in front of her. The moment Tess appeared in the room a bright light came out, and scanned Tess's body. Tess stood in wait, waiting for the scan to finish.

"Hello, Lutessa."

The voice of Lillian Luthor came out. She had not been here in the flesh, and Tess did not expect the woman to be here in the flesh.

"Lillian Luthor, I would not believe it, unless I had been hearing it myself," Tess responded. "I figured the rumors of your demise had been greatly exaggerated. The real question is why, and more importantly, the real question is how…how did you….."

"Questions, I'm sure you have them, you have many of them in fact," Lillian said. "I thought about answering them, and I also considered the fact it would be very amusing to keep you guessing. The explanation of how I evaded death, it could be fantastic, or it could be mundane. I spent twenty years of my life married to Lionel Luthor, and you don't stay around that man for that long without picking up a few tricks."

Lillian took a deep breath and spoke once again.

"You have many questions, and no doubt, the other most pressing one, is why. It's very simple really."

Tess looked forward to hearing what depraved motivation Lillian Luthor spun out now. She felt very intrigued because of what Lillian might have said.

"This is being done for the good of all of humanity."

' _Of course it is, of course it is,'_ Tess thought. _'The default calling card for an extremist, they decide it benefits humanity as a whole, and not themselves.'_

"Lionel's obsession with the stars and with the Traveler, caused our family to be ripped apart, even more than his many extramarital affairs. And it infected Lex. It infected my baby, my precious little, Alexander, he suffered, at the hands of his father and his manipulations. I was the dutiful wife, because I had a role to play in the traditional nuclear family, but Lionel didn't reward me. He cared, he cared more about the Traveler, then being a husband. I was a good mother."

"What about Julian?" Tess asked.

Tess realized she struck a nerve, bringing up the younger son of Lionel and Lillian Luthor, who Lillian killed, and blamed on Lex.

"It was a moment of weakness, don't you dare bring him up to me, you don't understand what I was going through at the time," Lillian said. "I was weak, for that moment. I realized, I had to get away, because Lionel poisoned me….I saved Julian though, I sent him to a better place, away from his father…..I couldn't save Lex as well. Especially when Lex met him."

The word almost had spat out. Tess could see Lillian had a few issues which should have been worked out a long time ago in therapy.

"Now, Lex is locked up, driven insane by the secrets of the universe, by him, by one he called a friend," Lillian said. "And you are now with him, Lutessa. You are in bed with an alien. You're in bed with several aliens, and you've betrayed humanity by doing so. But in some way, you helped me, you helped me because you locked Lionel up, and while you have Lex locked up, I will come for my baby, and I will fix him."

Lillian took in a deep breath. Tess wondered what else this unhinged woman would say now.

"I'll come for Lex, but keep him safe for me," Lillian said. "We should be on the same side, we both want Earth to be safe, but as long as you're in the league with Kal-El, then all bets are off. But…there's another problem coming, isn't there?"

"You know about the Thangarians," Tess said.

"Yes, and I know they will be coming soon," Lillian said. "I'm going to stand aside, and let you deal with the Hawks, and I want you to hurt them, Lutessa. I might not be your mother, but hurt them for me."

"We should work together," Tess said. "I can help you."

"I don't need any help," Lillian said. "I just need for you to remember something. You better remember where your loyalties with humanity lie, and you better remember them soon. You're aligned with the man who helped destroy Lex's life, and I will not let that go unpunished. I can forgive you, if you renounce him."

"I don't need forgiveness from you," Tess said.

"Yes, I know, because you can't forgive yourself," Lillian said. "Deep down, you're just like him, just like Lionel. You play chess with people's lives, both of you do. And you don't care who gets hurt in the process."

The transmission had been cut off completely. Tess would have to take a quick look around the facility, although Lillian's haunting words continued to penetrate Tess's mind and haunt her.

"The DEO is in position," Karen said.

"I'll be there in a little bit," Tess said. "I just have a few things to tie up here."

* * *

Astra stepped into New Kandor. She watched the Kandorians move around, and they prepared for war. The war could not be avoided, no matter how much they wanted to avoid it. Astra understood this several times. She spent plenty of time in the Phantom Zone contemplating, before she escaped.

Faora stepped directly towards Astra.

"They are among the greatest Krypton has ever seen," Faora said. "They were a bit disheartened they did not get their powers underneath the yellow sun."

"It's something they need to understand," Astra said. "Do you want to brief them, or should I?"

"After you."

Faora opened her hand and gave Astra the opening she needed. Astra made her way over where the Kandorians completed a drill. She knew they were good, and while it would be useful to have them empowered, Astra understood the huge can of worms it opened as well. She knew a group of aliens with powers flying around meant some trouble.

' _Time to address them.'_

Astra took a deep breath and cleared her throat. All of the Kandorians stood up straight, and almost in awe, at one of the greatest military commanders the planet Krypton ever saw in their life. Astra balanced them in their palm of her hand and smiled when addressing them.

"We are Krypton," Astra said. "I can hear the whispers of self-doubt. Some of you are disappointed, perhaps upset, you did not receive extraordinary abilities underneath Earth's yellow sun, which you could be empowered."

Some of the members of the Kandorian army shifted about, and they looked at each other. Nervousness spread through their bodies when they looked at each other. Time passed when they looked at each other and looked back at each other. Many of them tried to hide it, but many were disappointed.

"Powers are not needed."

The Kandorians stood up straight at Astra's great declarations.

"I refuse to believe one of the greatest and well put together armies the universe has ever seen, can simply live and die by abilities granted underneath a special sun," Astra said. "You remember the battle of Kandor. You remember the Argo Valley?"

Astra could hardly forget the Argo Valley, neither her nor there.

"You remember all of the great victories you have received, through training, discipline, and dedication," Astra said, gaining some steady momentum. "These victories were not accomplished by the color of any sun. Hardly, they were achieved by the strength of your character, and the valor of each and every one of you standing here before me. It's not the powers which are needed, it's the strength which is inside all of you, that cannot be matched."

Astra took a moment to look the mall. Their attention had been more on Astra now than ever before, not that it had been off her much at all.

"All of you, have your roles to play, special purposes out there, as part of this army," Astra said. "I'm not going to lie to you, and I'm not going to tell you this battle will be easy. It's the contrary, this battle will be one of the most difficult any of you have ever dealt with in your life. Some of you will be pushed beyond your limits, and some will rise, while others may get knocked down."

All of the members of the Kandorian Army stirred just a little bit more. Astra told them all of the right words, and they prepared to get out there, and do what they needed to do. Some of them rose to their feet and chanted for the woman who they learned to fear, hate, and respect at the same time.

"This Kandorian Army is still, after all of these years, one of the most efficient armies in the universe," Astra said. "We are not going to let a group of glorified winged barbarians get the better of us. We're not going to allow them, are we?"

"NO!" they all chorused in response.

"We're not going to allow that, are we?" Astra asked.

"NO WE'RE NOT!" they all chanted one more time.

Astra broke into a knowing smile, having riled them all up, and for a very good reason as well. She had them all ready to go to war, for many reasons. She knew the Kandorians were only one small part of the Earth's invasion repelling forces, but she intended to make the most out of this.

"We are Krypton," Astra concluded.

"WE ARE KRYPTON!" The Kandorians yelled.

Faora smiled from the side. She knew Astra had an ability with words, but any thought of not having powers, they faded now. The Kandorians prepared to go to war with the Thangarians, when they showed up. There would be a very big surprise if the Thanagarians thought they could take control of this particular planet.

* * *

Anxiety hit Shayera for the first time in a long time. The people she once belonged to in another lifetime, they were coming. Thangar may have changed since those scattered memories lingering around as afterthoughts in the back of the woman's mind.

Shayera sat in pins and needles, and she watched Diana and Hippolyta both move around, preparing the Amazons for the battle. The Amazons eagerly stepped up to defend the call. They understood, as the Princess and Queen told them, they were not dealing with a problem with just Man's World, not this time. They dealt with a problem which effected the entire world.

Pins and needles pushed into the back of Shayera's legs when bracing herself for something, anything, any kind of problem. Shayera drew in a deep breath and came out with another breath. She sounded very calm, but looks could be among one of the more deceiving things possible.

She watched Lana who grew rigid next to her. Lana stuck close by, because of the visions she received of the upcoming invasion, now about two or three a day, were becoming more prolific and it scared the girl.

Lana watched them flash into her minds eye. War ships moved past the red planet of Mars, and started to close into Earth. Several winged men and women flew in space suits, with weapons made of very potent alien metal which made the sharpest, and most dangerous weapons imaginable. Lana tried not to fidget.

The girl bounced off to her feet, so quickly, one would think the bench she sat on had been lit up on fire. Diana moved over towards Lana.

"Lana, snap out of it!" Diana yelled.

Diana grabbed the girl's hand and Lana took in a couple of deep breaths, trying not to lose it. Actually, she might have already lost it, unfortunately, Lana did not really know. The frustration bubbled over to the surface with Lana's breathing increasing.

"They're coming," Lana murmured underneath her breath. "They're coming, and there's nothing we can do to stop them from coming. The fleet is immense."

Shayera's body shook and she could feel the changes coming on.

"I'm going….I'm changing, and this time, I don't think I can hold back," Shayera said.

Diana realized she had two very distressed women to deal with and the Amazon Princess tried to keep herself calm and collected in the situation. She watched when Shayera's wings ripped out of the back of her tank top, and her eyes flashed over.

"They're going to pay," Shayera said.

Shayera had gone full Hawkwoman on them, and Diana thought the fact Shayera did not lash out in an attack this time the moment she changed to be very encouraging.

Hopefully, Shayera could keep it together.

"Thirty-six hours," Lana said.

"Donna, you know what to do."

Donna nodded, and stepped through the portal, to pass on the message to the DEO.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on November 26** **th** **, 2017.**


	68. Chapter 68

It's time for the 2017 Story of the Year Poll. You can vote in the poll on my blog which will close on December 31st. You can get to my blog through the Page of Important Links. The poll's located at the top of the page on my blog. It's hard to miss.

* * *

 **Chapter Sixty-Eight; Night of the Hawks Part One**

* * *

The untamed vastness of space stretched on for miles and miles. No one quite could understand the many secrets space offered. No one person had the opportunity to look out into space and uncover all of those secrets into their entire lifetime. It just seemed way impossible, something which could not have been done. No one in their right mind could do it, and some people had been tried.

One planet landed in the direct center point of the entire universe, that being the planet known as Earth. To some, Earth sounded like an afterthought. Compared to the other planets in this milky way solar system, Earth was the only one who currently had sustained life. Mars once sustained life, but a war between the White and the Green Martians essentially wiped out all life there.

Earth proved to be an enigma to some, and a very distinct afterthought to others. For those who were in the know, humans leaned towards being the butt of many of an intergalactic joke. Many people mocked humanity in general. Some received transmissions of Earth television, which had been the source of much ridicule from the alien races. They especially got a kick out of the Earth's depiction of other alien races.

Yet, deep down, they knew the humans got it right in some respects. Many alien races would take control and conquer the planet, if given half of an opportunity. The armada approaching the milky way galaxy, going through a riff behind Uranus, and making good time, Uranus blasted off clouds of noxious gas, which caused rifts in time and space.

The Thangarians armada slipped through the portal. One of the leaders, one of the smarter members of the hawks, peered through. Despite his intelligence, the leader of the Hawk People always hungered for carnage, and he hungered for a fight.

"We've traveled across star systems to answer the signal," the leader replied to two of his men. "Our fallen brothers, they have landed here on Earth. Their sacrifices, will not have been in vain. We will take the planet for the Thangarian Empire."

The home world suffered many losses over the years. One of the biggest losses occurred during a war with Gordanians, which left a significant fraction of their population decimated. The losses racked up, in a more constant basis, those disgusting reptiles, and their allies causing them trouble at pretty much every single term.

"It will allow us to strike back against those vile lizards as well."

The hawks all riled up, ready for war. Earth would be a strategic location for Thangar to bring in as a colony. The humans may resist at first, but their primitive means were not enough to stop the oncoming conquest. They passed the planets, moving closer towards Mars.

The Martians had not been a race which Thangarians had much to do with. They once respected them, until they tore themselves apart in a barbaric and senseless civil war. Now the Thangarians did not describe Martians. They passed over the planet, looking down at the once proud race, and the graveyard on the planet with thinly veiled contempt offered at every inch of that alien planet.

"We will give the humans a chance to surrender," the commander of the ship replied. "They will have to listen to reason, if they do not want their people to go extinct. And destroying their planet will be counterproductive."

"I lead…"

"You only lead the combat on the ground," the commander replied. "I know you're here for a more personal reason as well. I can see it in your eyes, Katar."

The leader of the army took a moment to close his grip around the axe. He could not deny the fact that a more personal reason drove him to accept this mission. Dreams haunted the man, and he realized his soulmate had been on this planet for all of this time. The madness and the despair of being driven apart from her, caused his anger to increase.

She had been reborn on Earth, while he was halfway across the galaxy, a member of the Thangarian army. It could not be allowed, it could not do.

"No," he growled. "They can't have her….he can't have her."

The commander of the ship grabbed Katar by the shoulder. Katar turned around and gripped the axe. The very powerful weapon which spilled much blood on the grounds of many battle fields showed itself to be one of the most intimidating sights possible. The commander, a very brave and fierce warrior in his own right, swallowed. Hand shook very fiercely when he tried to hold himself up to a higher standard.

"We pass over Mars," the Commander commented. "Remember the Gordians, and remember our war against them. Do nothing to jeopardize that, and us acquiring Earth to use to blast those lizards into oblivion."

The commander of the mothership and the leader of the main armies locked eye to eye with each other. The tension in the room could have been sliced with a very fine blade. No one inside of the room dared say a word, out of fear of what might happen if they had angered the wrong person. The two hawk warriors stared each other down, for several seconds passing.

"Understood."

Kartar's one word, as group as it sounded, came over. He gripped the axe hard, to maintain some level of intimidation. The Hawk warrior doubted very much they would listen. Humans were senseless barbarians. The level of air contamination, requiring the Thangarians to wear breather masks, because they could not deal with the type of atmosphere the planet Earth had.

Beeping echoed in the ship.

"We are within range commander. Should we prepare to make contact, sir?"

"At once," the commander replied. "They need to understand that trying to fight us is very futile. Nothing can stop us, nothing."

* * *

Years of preparation, and Clark prepared to deal with this particular invasion to the best of his abilities. The hawks closed in on the planet, and they would be here, sooner rather than later. Clark currently stepped into the DEO. Many of the agents prepared for battle, to try and bring down the alien craft because it caused the problem. One of them worked on a device which could in theory bring any alien craft down to the Earth.

Given what Shayera said, the crafts of the Thangarians paled in comparison to the actual hawks within them. Clark drew his breath instantly and he turned to Daisy who had been moving around. She looked to be trying to fit together a cannon or some sort. Not watching where she went, Daisy almost bumped head long into Clark. She jumped back in surprise and then shook, and not in the way.

"Sorry," Daisy said. "This is just the biggest alien invasion the DEO ever had to deal with. We just deal with isolated threats for the most part, the occasional alien, maybe a small gang of them, but never an entire armada."

Daisy prepared for this, but to be perfectly honest, nothing could compare them for what was about to happen next. Her nervousness reached another fever pitch. It would be very difficult for Daisy to describe everything she felt now. Those butterflies grew large wings and prepared to take flight in the pit of her gut.

"Relax," Clark said.

"I try," Daisy said. "But, I don't think I can until I know what I'm dealing with. I'd relax a lot better, if I can figure out how to get this stupid cannon working."

Daisy tried to shove the pieces of the cannon together. It fought the empowered woman every step of the way.

"Might have to do this old school style," Daisy said. "Unless they can get the EMP tower thing working…..which might just take out the ships. The hawks on the ships, they're another matter entirely."

Alex wheeled a crate back in. Daisy turned her attention towards her girlfriend.

"And what are these?" Daisy asked.

"Blast grenades, they pack a hell of a punch," Alex said. "And you should choose your shots wisely…the question is, are we ready?"

"The Amazons are ready, the Kandorians are ready," Clark replied.

"And the DEO is about as ready as we're going to get," Alex admitted. She sounded on edge.

Anticipation built more frustration than anything. Alex preferred to see the invasion get done and over with, and they would have to deal with it. The fact the hawks were taking their sweet time showing up.

"Mother?" Clark asked.

"Yes, Kal, there's been something picked up very close by," Lara said. "I don't know what exactly, but an Armada has just passed Mars, and is heading to Earth."

Clark wondered how long it would take them to get there. He turned to Karen, who stepped in towards him. She wore Kryptonian battle armor which also had been modified to absorb more yellow sunlight per second. She would need as much yellow sunlight as possible if there had been any hope in taking down the Thangarians. Wishful thinking ruled the day, at least it did for Kal at this particular point in time.

"The Fortress picked up a signal," Clark informed her.

Karen nodded in response, and saw Kara getting something ready. She advised some of the DEO members how to best prepare the cannon. Alura taught her very well.

"I hate to say this," Karen muttered. "The DEO's way out of their depth here. I don't think they have a change against the Thangarians."

"You never know," Clark responded. "They might be able to surprise you. Don't count them out just yet."

"The Thangarians have something up their sleeve," Karen said. "If what Lana said was true, they're not coming here to get sent back. And you know what they are. They are going to fight to the very last breath, to the very last drop of the blood. Surrender is not in their vocabulary."

"It isn't in mine either."

Clark wanted to make people think twice. Earth's age paled in comparison to many of the planets around the solar system, but it did not matter. Clark refused to allow the potential of this planet be burned out. Daisy stepped over, and got Clark's attention.

Several of the DEO members, including J'onn, under his usual guise as Hank Henshaw, stepped in. He frowned when looking at the image on the screen.

"Daisy, do you think you can pick up on the signal?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm already on it," Daisy said.

' _Oracle eat your heart out,'_ Daisy thought to herself.

She managed to grab onto the signal, and she had a brief glimpse of the inside of the Thangarian mothership. She recognized some of the technology in the ship, obviously swiped from other alien races during the pursuit of the universe. Awesome, impressive, there were a few words to describe it as well.

"Greetings people of the Earth, I am Hyram Kozak," the Thangarian Commander said. "I am here to tell you that Earth is now underneath the dominion of the Thangarian Empire. I do not wish to alarm you, but you are in danger of being attacked. War will be coming, and the only way to save both of our races from utter annihilation is to colonize your planet. We do not wish any aggression, therefore I will give your world leaders one orbital cycle to concede control of the planet."

"They want the world leaders to concede the planet?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, that's going to happen," Daisy said. "Especially when you take into account the world leaders can't agree on what to get for lunch, much less policy."

"Your surrender is much appreciated, and we can work together without bloodshed."

Clark knew something was going to break. He just couldn't put his finger on what.

* * *

The message broadcasted through the entire world, and reached the Kandorian outpost. The Kandorians readied for war, and all Astra had to do was give the word to Faora, who would in turn, give the word to them. Astra in particular looked on. The Kryptonian General looked on to her people, all of them who waited.

"Stand by for one moment," Astra said.

Astra needed to step away just to consider the sheer arrogance of the Thangarians. They dared try to get humanity to give up their planet. The humans were not completely hopeless, and even if they were willing to just forfeit their planet, Astra was not ready to give up this planet to the invasion of those hostile, those vile barbarians.

Clark and Karen dropped behind Astra. Astra turned around to face both her daughter, and her cousin.

"So, did you hear?" Clark asked.

"Yes, I heard the arrogant words," Astra said. "I don't think we can take the hawks at their word, and even if we could, anyone with any sense in their mind knows that peace is in their dictionary. They prepare for war, and we're going to bring a fight."

"We've got another problem," Kara said.

The ear piece picked up Kara's words. Clark looked on with a frown.

"The military is already moving in," Kara said. "They are preparing for battle, and they are getting people off of the streets. There's a lot of panic over here in Metropolis."

"And the fact the United States military has shown up has done nothing to ease the worry, only to make more," Astra replied. "Naturally, I figured about as much. Why would it be anything different? Why would there be any changes?"

The bitterness found in Astra's voice could make anyone shudder.

"Faora, if I do not return within the hour, assume the worse," Astra said. "Then prepare for war."

"At once, General Astra," Faora replied.

Clark, Karen, and Astra made their way out, flying over the skies. They dropped down onto the ground, standing next to Kara, who had been looking up into the sky.

"And here I assumed they would give us the full twenty-four hours," Karen said.

"That's a very faulty assumption," Astra said.

The light flashed in the sky. The people in Metropolis all looked up into the air. The military brought in one of the largest tanks and several helicopters also surrounded in the air. The mother of all motherships appeared in the sky. It resembled an island which had been ripped out of the ground and outfitted with several cannons. Some of the cannons pointing to the ground.

The commander of the army on the ground looked up.

"Boy, that's one big MFer," the commander muttered before shaking his head. "Don't let these blasted aliens win. Fire on them, hit that mother ship with everything it's worth. I want them to be hit so hard that….just fire!"

The men obeyed their leaders orders and started to fire on the ship. The tank launched several huge rounds and the helicopters hovered around the mothership. The bullets ricocheted off of the ship, and left no damage to it whatsoever.

One of the cannons on the ship locked and fired. The tank flipped over from the ship.

Clark turned around and went up in the sky. He grabbed the cannon and turned it, preventing it from firing on the troops. It fired up into the sky and caused Clark to go flying directly down. He crashed through the globe of Daily Planet office building from the impact.

The wind came out of Clark's lungs when struggling to get up. Kara and Karen rushed over towards him, concern going through their eyes.

"I'm okay," Clark said.

Clark staggered half of a step. The cannon packed a huge punch, even when directed against the Kryptonian. Astra made her way over to the ground. She looked up and noticed something clicking. Several metal balls hovered and dropped down onto the ground.

The four Kryptonians, and the members of the army which had not scattered waited. The orbs clicked open, and several hawk warriors dressed in armor showed up for the battle. Some held axes, some held swords, and others held large iron maces. All of them prepared to attack.

"Faora, I won't be back in an hour," Astra said. "Get ready."

"For Thangar!"

One of the hawk warriors charged forward. The attack had been evaded by Astra. Astra flipped into the air, and ripped the axe out of the hand of the hawk warrior. She swung it, slicing his arm off with violent fury, causing blood to splatter everywhere.

Clark flew at one of the hawk creatures. He slammed a spiked gauntlet into Clark's shoulder. Clark blocked the second shot from the spiked gauntlet and cracked the hawk warrior back down to the ground. Clark flipped the adversary down to the ground, hammering the hawk creature down onto the back of the head with repeated, and never ending punches, punishing his adversary with everything he was worth.

More of them dropped down onto the ground. Astra smiled, and the energy portal opened up. Faora stepped through the portal, and she threw a blade through the wing joint of one of the Thangarians which dropped him down to the ground. He had been grounded in the worst possible way.

The battle continued to kick up.

* * *

Daisy left to join the fight on the ground. Thankfully, the DEO had their own technical support person, someone who had been doing this for a very long time, only not to this extent. Chloe sat down on the chair, taking a deep breath. She looked and saw at least a dozen motherships showed up, containing more hawk warriors.

"Diana?" Chloe asked.

"Yes," Diana said.

"There are hawks in London now," Chloe said. "Do you think you can take a team of Amazons to give them a proper weapon?"

"Yes," Diana said.

"Make sure to give them no room to breath."

Chloe found herself almost overwhelmed by the amount of chess pieces she shuffled about. Normally in this situation, she had to just deal with Clark and maybe a couple of others. It was only one city, and now it was very big, and very immense. Chloe chewed down on her lower lip, looking very excited at what was going on, and also a little bit apprehensive.

"I think I'm close to finding a weak spot," Chloe said. "Daisy?"

"Yeah, I'm here," Daisy said.

"Is the EMP tower ready?" Chloe asked.

Daisy responded with a very prominent sigh and Chloe knew that kind of sigh. It was the sigh which came from a person who knew frustration, and knew they had hit a few snags.

"It's about three hours from being ready, and I'm not sure it's going to even work," Daisy said.

Chloe nodded in understanding. She hoped that they could hit them right in the heart of the mothership. The hacker wished she had about ten sets of eyes to figure out everything which was going on. Unfortunately, Chloe had not been blessed with that ability.

"My…other has an idea," Alex said. "What if we get our hands on one of the orbs they used to touch down? Maybe that has a connection to the mothership."

"Yeah, yeah, that could work," Chloe agreed, nodding in confirmation. "That just might work, go ahead and try that. I'm not sure if we have anything to lose, but…yeah, go and try that, see where that takes us."

Any plan worked better than running around like people with their chickens cut off. Chloe leaned back in the chair and tried to monitor the situation. Anything looked worth a shot, even though the stakes rose. The anxiety rose along with the stakes. Chloe drummed her fingers nervously across the table, just waiting for something, anything to happen.

A loud bang echoed and caused the lights in the DEO headquarters to blink. Chloe's heart raced a little bit after almost being rocked out of her chair. Chloe drew in a deeper breath and drew out another one as well.

She tried to get a visual. Static on the screen made it more than difficult to do so. Chloe bit down on her tongue and fiddled with the setting of her ear piece.

"Daisy, Alex?" Chloe asked. "Clark? Anyone out there."

Someone knocked out the communication tower the DEO used somehow. Chloe pulled out her laptop and got to work, trying to get some kind of workout. Being in the dark when the world was about to drop down to an alien invasion was not something Chloe enjoyed doing.

* * *

"I'll be given a medal for taking you down," one of the Thangarians cried.

Astra blocked the swinging axe of the creature and ripped it from his hand. She could see the Kandorians moving over, having gotten their hands on one of the explosives the Thangarians intended to use to rock the city down to its foundation.

"For someone who wants this planet very much," Astra said. "You seem bent on destroying it. Or maybe, you're just simply bent."

Astra twisted the arm, shattering it, and she grabbed onto the right wing and shattered all of the bones in that for good measure.

One of the Thangarians, realizing the Kandorians planted an explosive, moved over. Faora blocked the mace, using the momentum of the Thangarian to come down to the ground. She punched him right in the joint of the wing and caused the man's body to almost shut down. Faora slammed the Thangarian down head first onto the ground with a curb stomp.

"No powers," Faora said.

Faora punched the Thangarian in the face and caused his mask to crack. The Thangarian dropped down to the ground, the Earth's atmosphere causing him to be light headed. Despite this, he still fought, although he did not fight with the same vigor as before. Faora took advantage of him, downing him with multiple punches. Each of them connecting to the pont.

"It's ready, Commander."

"Detonate it!"

The ship hovering blew up, and crashed down to the ground.

"Break it open," Faora said. "And if any hawks come after you, break the breather masks. They can't stand the air."

The weakness had been found, although if the hawks were smart, they would take extra steps to secure their faces. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, they would at the very least.

Three of the hawks moved in. A figure dropped down from the sky, dressed in battle armor and wielding an iron mace. Her red hair flipped in the air and a look of unbridled intensity fluttered through her eye.s

"You," one of the Hawks growled.

"Yes, me," she replied.

"You're a traitor to our kind," the Hawk said. "You will pay!"

Shayera did not even bother to acknowledge his words. She blocked the swinging of the large axe with her mace. The mace flung back and knocked the axe back. The warrior refused to back down from the fight. Shayera swung back and he blocked an attempt to get smashed in the face.

The warrior woman dropped down the full force onto the back of the head.

Off to the side, Clark dropped down. One of the warriors charged him. Shayera blocked the attack and nailed the warrior in the side of the head, knocking him down.

"Good one," Clark said.

One of the larger hawks tried to bury a hatchet into Shayera's head. Clark reached over and blocked the hawk's hand. He headbutted the hawk which caused the breather mask to crack. The hawk could still breath, although it burned his lungs, and allowed Clark to take him down with a further punch to the back of the head.

"Now, we're even," Shayera replied.

The end did not come. One of the more powerful hawk warriors dropped down to the ground. He grunted and threw knives at Shayera. Shayera deflected the very real attack at her wings.

Clark looked up in the sky and saw the cannon of the mothership heating up. He jumped up into the sky and punched the mothership, causing his arm to be burned all the way down to the shoulder. The fusion cannon disabled, and Clark dropped to the ground.

Shayera rushed the attacker, who knocked her out of the air, mid-flight. Shayera flipped down to the ground, the wind knocked to her. One of the hawks reared back and stabbed her in the wing with his knife, causing great pain to come through Shayera's face.

"STOP!"

The words of the ground leader caused the hawk warrior to stop from ripping into Shayera's other wing. The leader of the group troop swung his axe and nailed the brutish warrior in the face.

Shayera ignored the pain coming from her. Blood and feathers fell down to the ground from as she painfully walked.

"It's you, we're finally together at last," he said. "I'm Katar, don't you remember me?"

Shayera's mind flashed back to Egypt, and how these mad hawk zombies attacked her. This man's face resembled the leader. Pure rage mode blocked out Shayera's pain.

"YOU!"

It wasn't the fuzzy reunion the Hawkman had in mind.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on December 3** **rd** **, 2017.**


	69. Chapter 69

**Chapter Sixty-Nine: Night of the Hawks Part Two**

* * *

The entire world grinded to a halt for a few moments. Chloe knew the calm would not last. She sat on mission support, trying to get everything in place. Several different angles to work with and Chloe needed to look for the most critical. Losing communication proved to be one of the more annoying aspects of this entire mess. Chloe brought in her breath and brought it out. Chloe just had to take these deep breaths, and gain control of the situation. She would soon have everything she needed, for better or for worse.

"Daisy, if you can hear me, talk to me."

Chloe waited, perhaps a bit more impatiently than she should, for the communication to come back through. The computer hacker tapped her fingers. She hated being out in the open, without any knowledge of what was going on. Chloe worked to get the system back on. Suddenly, a bright light entered the facility she sat in and Chloe jumped off about ten feet from the chair.

The facility's power kicked back on and not a moment too soon either. Chloe detested having to work in the dark and all of the problems which came along with it. Maybe if the power came back on, so did the communication to the DEO agents. Daisy and Alex went in and then there had been nothing. They ran across a very large barrage of hawk people.

This had been the first full scale alien invasion, and it was very different from chasing down the average alien fugitives did.

"Yes?" Daisy asked. "Chloe, can you hear me now?"

"Yeah, a bit wonky, but I can hear you," Chloe said.

"We were very close to the blast zone, something must have caused a communication lock out," Daisy said. "I'm not sure how much time we have left before the communication gets knocked out again."

Chloe agreed. She anxiously drummed her fingers across the desk, waiting for something to break, whether it be for better or it would be for worse.

"I'm on the inside of one the ships," Daisy said. "They've abandoned it, which doesn't seem like a good sign."

Chloe agreed the fact the Thangarians abandoned a potential resource did not seem like a good sign. She waited and made a split second decision on what to do.

"Head in there, and be as careful as you can," Chloe said. "Just don't do anything reckless, and we'll all be fine."

"Right, not reckless," Daisy said. "You're asking a lot of me, aren't you?"

Chloe smiled, too true. Daisy had been pretty good at keeping her head above the water. Chloe found herself more concerned about how the Blue Beetle scarab and Alex would hold up in battle. She was not the only one who had these concerns.

Then again, perhaps Chloe needed to focus. She lost contact with another team though.

"Hey, it's me," Diana said. "We just managed to capture one of the orbs, and we're trying to get inside. I'm not sure if we're going to find anything or not, if it didn't break open."

Chloe thought of two potential things they could find inside of the orb. The one thing which came to her mind first of all was a dead Thanagarian who suffocated. The other thing would be the orb rigged to explode. Either idea did not sound too appeasing to Chloe, if she could be perfectly honest with herself.

"Just keep back, and make sure there are no surprises," Chloe said.

"Shayera's doing a good job in taking them back, but she ran into some trouble," Diana said. "And that's when I lost track of her."

Losing track of one of their best fighters, at least against Thanagarians, Chloe could just barely imagine. She chewed down on her tongue, and received some numbers coming in. They flashed across the screen.

"This signal has been transporting from that ship," Daisy said. "There's no one on it, there's nothing on it. It's just been transporting the same signal over and over again. Pretty weird, wouldn't you think?"

"Yes, weird," Chloe muttered underneath her breath.

She could not make heads or tails of this particular situation. The transmission continued to send some weird numbers.

"Hey, Raya?" Chloe asked.

"May I help you, Chloe?" Raya asked.

"I'm sending some numbers over," Chloe said. "They're coming from one of the alien ships."

"Yes, please stand by," Raya said.

Chloe pressed on the side of the console and fed the numbers into the computer of the Fortress of Solitude. She waited, for more information. No news was good news in most cases. However, in the case of an alien invasion, Chloe figured out that no news, was very bad news at this point.

The screen above Chloe flashed, and Chloe rose her head up to look at the flashing red mark on the screen. Everything started to come crashing down and Chloe's blood started to run cold, just a little bit more.

' _Please don't be what I think it is,'_ Chloe thought.

"Raya, are you getting this big blip?" Chloe asked.

"Yes, I am," Raya said. "I'm afraid you have a right to be concerned. That big blip is a big bomb being armed just outside of Earth's atmosphere. And they intend to detonate it, if these codes are correct."

Chloe found herself in despair. Despite being no expert, Chloe figured the bomb's radius would engulf most of the planet, and cause a hideous explosion which would destroy half of the life on Earth. The Thangarian's brutish nature came out to play.

* * *

Shayera's breathing increased when she came face to face with the same face who fought her back in Egypt. Blood pumped through Shayera's veins the second she charged the enemy. Her mace swung wildly, and connected with the side of the axe. The two of them moved, sparks flying with each other.

"You, it's always you!" Shayera yelled.

"Yes," The Thangarian leader said. "You feel the connection. Don't you see, we were meant to be together. Destiny gets drawing us together. Time after time, life after life, we're together."

Shayera took a deep breath and swung the mace as hard as possible. The mace had been dodged expertly. The Hawkman jumped into the air to avoid the attack. Shayera reared back and swung the mace one more time. The Hawkman dodged the attack once again. Shayera gritted her teeth and swung the mace and again, another attack had been evaded. Blood pressure boiled to a brand new level.

"Fight me!" Shayera yelled at the top of her lungs.

"You just woke up, so you're going to feel confusion," the Hawkman said. "But, you'll know your feelings to be true."

The only feelings Shayera knew to be true right now was a very pressing desire to take her mace and put it in a very uncomfortable place.

"Just leave me alone!" Shayera yelled. "I'm not letting you take Earth."

"The humans are barbarians who would squander a perfectly good planet," Katar said. "We thought, perhaps foolishly, they would listen to reason. You must understand, we don't do this to conquer. We never do this to conquer, we do this because we have to."

Shayera refused to buy what this man, this horrific man, sold. Shayera spun the mace around as fast as possible and swung it as hard as possible. The mace cracked down across the chest of the Hawkman and sent him flying back several feet.

"You're the barbarian if you try and do this!" Shayera yelled.

Katar blocked Shayera when she drove down onto the ground.

"It isn't the first time I had to restrain you when you wouldn't listen," Katar grunted. "And you've done the same for me, during numerous life times. We live together, we die together, we find each other again."

"Miserable sounding cycle," Shayera said.

"Not the first time you've said that either," Katar said. "We are bound by all enterity, destined to find each other. We can rebuild this planet, rebuild it for an entire new generation. Maybe, we can find a way to break the curse, where it all began, in ancient Egypt all of those years ago."

The very mention of Egypt caused Shayera's eyes to flash red. Anger spread through the woman's body, when bouncing back up. She swung the mace as hard as possible. The Hawkman evaded the mace one more time. He dodged every single attack.

"Anything you can do, I know what you're going to do."

A blur flew into the air and knocked the Thangarian leader out of the air. The force dropped down to the ground.

"But, you don't know what I could do."

Katar saw red the second he came face to face with the living breathing Kryptonian. He withdrew the battle axe and moved towards him.

"Just for that, I'm going to take your head and mount it on my mantle," Katar said.

"Superman watch out!" Shayera yelled.

The Nth metal could hurt Kryptonians underneath a yellow sun, and the crazed Hawkman rushed towards him. Clark dodged the attack and jumped down behind him. Katar turned around and swung the axe with a very frenzied fury, ripping through the air with a blade.

"You aren't going to get the better of me!" Katar bellowed at the top of his lungs. "A Kryptonian is not better than me. Do you hear me you smug little….."

Clark grabbed the Hawkman by the wing joint, and snapped it back which caused him great pain. Clark reached behind him and slammed two fingers down onto the back of his neck. It exploited a pressure point which dropped Katar to his knees. A well placed attack, one Astra taught him, took the Hawkman down to the ground.

Shayera charged forward and swung the mace towards Hawkman's face and cracked the helmet, the mask, and his jaw with one swing. The Hawkman fell backand Shayera stood over the top of him with disgust.

"That means I'm not interested," Shayera said.

Several more Hawk Warriors dropped down onto the ground. One of them launched a chain at Superman to try and ensnare him. Superman caught the chain and the Hawk took off on the ground. Clark broke free from the chain and flipped high into the air, coming crashing down on the hawk warrior, sending him spiraling down onto the ground with a huge impact.

One of them dove at Clark with a dagger extended. Clark blocked the dagger, and punched the man directly in the chest. A series of huge punches rock the Thangarian, sending him crashing down. Clark reared back and headbutted his adversary, knocking the wind out of him. The daggers retracted from the palm and pushed down onto Clark. Clark blocked the hands and brought him backwards.

"Kal, we have a problem," Raya said.

Clark thought she could have not stated that particular fact better. Holding onto one of the arms, Clark moved behind and broke the joint connecting the wing to the back. The hawks were not much when they couldn't swoop down for the attack. Clark nailed him with a rapid fire series of attacks, knocking the adversary down. He pulled back from the hawk creature.

"What's the problem?" Clark asked.

Shayera rushed in to return the favor from earlier and drive her mace into the stomach of one of the hawks. She smashed him down onto the ground, ripping through his wing with a violent attack. Blood splattered and bones crunched, with feathers flying in the air.

She pushed through the injury from earlier, not wanting to let it affect her. Adrenaline pumped through Shayera.

"There's a big blip, and it's a bomb," Raya said.

Clark tried very hard not to swear, but this time, he could barely hold his tongue back. When it rained, it most certainly poured.

"It's done," one of the hawk said.

* * *

As always, the United Nations entered a huge uproar where they spent more time arguing with each other, than doing anything. Most joked that it would be too much to hope for that the United Nations knew what to order for lunch, much less any kind of foreign policy.

"We should try and appease the aliens, find out what they want, and work with them," one of the members of the delegation responded.

"Appeasement?" one of them asked roughly. "Ha, you give them an inch, and they will take a foot. If you ask me, we should nuke them out of the sky."

"Yes, we should show that the people of Earth aren't going to be pushed around," one of the members of the delegation responded.

"I think a nuclear assault is too strong, and appeasement is too soft but….."

"Excuse me."

The voice caused the members of the United Nations delegation to turn around. A woman, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, stepped into the room, and all around the room bore witness to the look of ever-lasting determination dancing through her eyes. Her dark hair hung across her shoulders in a ponytail, and she wore a black bodysuit, which looked like battle armor.

"My name is Alura In-Ze and I represent the Planet Krypton."

She spoke this statement to each delegate, in their native language. The moment she made their way around the room, Alura stood there.

"You….Krypton?" one of them asked. "I thought the bird men, they were called Thangarians, or something like that."

"They are," Alura said in a calm and very patient tone of voice. "You are talking, while the people of Earth are living in fear because of this threat. Not all aliens are going to target the planet, but there are many, where the only language the understand is force."

"Yes, I agree with the alien," the delegate said. "Which is why we should go for all out nuclear assault, and bomb them all straight to hell. No one would ever mess with the people of Earth again, if they…."

"Your nuclear weapons would not even dent their fleet," Alura said, shutting them down as quickly as possible. She could hear the mutterings of protest, the tones of self doubt, all coming through the room. They were not used to anyone like her, and she dragged them out of their comfort zone. "The people of this planet, while more advanced than they were a hundred years ago, are nowhere near ready to take on an entire alien invasion. As we speak, the Thangarians are preparing a bomb."

"A bomb?" one of them asked. "And you know this….."

"If you ask me, all of these aliens are in the league with each other," one of the delegates said. He rose to his feet and pointed towards Alura. "We should have her thrown in some lab, and see what she knows."

"Outside this building, there are six more just like me," Alura said. "I do not wish to alarm you, but they are only here to make sure the Thangarians don't attack you. However, I can call them in and detain anyone in this room, to make sure they don't threaten my physical well-being. I'm not a fighter, I'm a scientist, but you shouldn't push me, you shouldn't push me at all."

Alura looked at them and for a moment, the delegates of the United Nations shut completely up. She was going to take this moment to jump in.

"I've seen what you're capable of, and unless you've developed something new that has been well-hidden from detection, then Earth will not be able to withstand the alien threat," Alura said. "The Kandorians, my people, they have the abilities, and the knowledge, to shut this invasion down. Stand aside, call off all of your people, and let us handle it. We're your only hope to save this entire planet."

The look in Alura's eyes both was full of determination, but a tiny bit of desperation went through those eyes as well. If they failed, Earth would be doomed. She grew found of the planet.

The members of the United Nations started to argue once again. Alura thought the similarities between Earth and Krypton were more than just both races looking very similar. She recalled similar situations regarding the Council on Krypton and the arguments they could get into at a drop of a hat.

' _Just like old times again,'_ Alura thought.

* * *

The bomb's central core hovered over Metropolis. Shayera and Clark stood by, waiting for it to happen. They both knew something was going to happen.

Astra dropped down next to them, her mouth hanging open. It had been a very rare occasion when the fabled General had been driven speechless. The Thangarians created a weapon which she honestly surprised was not used to blow their home world up several times over.

"So, how do we shut that down?" Clark asked.

"I don't know," Shayera said. "They've developed that nasty weapon since my last life time, and I don't know….."

Shayera winced when a particularly bitter wind hit her left wing.

"You're hurt," Astra said.

"Yes, a little bit," Shayera said. "We aren't going to let a little broke wing stop us. Not when we're so close to bringing them down."

Astra just nodded in response. She left command of the Kandorians in Faora's able hands and they already disabled three big time ships and cut the fleet in half. Astra needed to focus on this mother bomb which hovered high above the planet. One wrong move on their parts meant they were utterly annihilated, in the worst possible way. Astra did not even want to know.

' _We stand, we fight,'_ Astra thought. _'We are Krypton.'_

Those words kept echoing through Astra's head as some kind of mantra, which kept her head high above the air. Logically speaking, they might have been doomed, but Astra saw the problems all coming in. She had to focus on doing what needed to be done.

"Are we going to be able to get underneath that thing?" Clark asked.

"We're going to have to capture one of the Thangarian commanders," Shayera said.

"Do you expect one of them to fall in our lap?"

The bloodied and beatened form of Katar dropped onto the ground. The Hawkman's heavy breathing, coupled with the blood and ripped wings made him look like an extremely formidable enemy indeed. His axe had been lifted up.

Astra nailed him directly in the chest and doubled the leader over.

"Shayera, please, look into your heart, she's going to kill me," Katar said.

"You're not the man I once loved," Shayera said. "The man I once loved, would not rip apart another planet, to further a war. That weapon is going to destroy most of humanity, and it's going to also destroy some of your people…our people."

"No, no, it won't, it will protect us," Katar said. "It was the humans who put those fingers on the trigger."

"You're hanging onto the past," Shayera said. "It's twisting your mind, like it eventually twisted his. Remember it, don't you?"

Katar remembered the person responsible for forcing them into this never ending cycle of resurrection. His heart beat even faster, blood just barely pumping into his heart.

"I need….this is a lie," Katar breathed. "You've broken the curse…but I haven't….I can't break the curse…..not without you."

"That's the thing," Shayera told him. "I've figured out how to best break it, is to move on. You haven't moved on, Katar."

A small part of Shayera hoped her former love could find piece. Holding onto the past, lifetime after lifetime, it wore her down. It was no way to live. Their lives were just passing time to the next tragic death, and Shayera made a promise to herself, the last time they were killed, during the time of the JSA, that she would not let herself defined by tragedy. For a long time, she was happy.

"No, you need….I can't move on!" Katar yelled.

Astra punched him in the ribs and doubled the Hawk Warrior over. Blood splattered from the man, with Astra pushing him down onto the ground. Agony spreading through Katar's body continued.

"I'm going to have to ask you one time, before I rip off what's left of your wings," Astra said. Astra withdrew a blade to show what she could do and pressed it against the edge of the wing. "How do you disable the bomb?"

"I'm a fighter, not a scientist…."

Astra grabbed the wing and started to painfully rip off feathers, one at a time. The raw skin pinched by Astra's forceful grip resulted in Katar screaming blood murder. The pressure being put on resulted in more agony being raised, the more Astra put the pressure on. The agony continued, and Katar's screams increased in frequency.

"Yes, I can tell you don't have the brain cells to muster," Astra said.

"She'll stop hurting you, if you tell us who can stop it," Clark said.

"You need to get on the mothership, and that's the most well-protected of the ships," Katar said. "You won't be able to get past there…."

"What's this?" Astra demanded.

Astra pulled a remote control device out of Katar's belt. The Hawkman's howl of agony increased.

"No, that's my emergency relay," Katar breathed. "It brings the Thangarians to my point, I need that, you can't take that from me."

Astra dropped Katar face first on the ground. The sound of worthless Thangarian bones crushing underneath her feet were most certainly a sight to behold. His quivering mess of a body shook on the ground. Astra stepped back, stepping away from him. The man's body smashed into the ground, blood spurting from his nose and mouth when being driven down to the ground.

"You can't fight it, Shayera," Katar breathed. "You know in your heart, you have to save me."

"Just let go," Shayera told him. "You have to let go, it's the only way for you to break the curse, to live fully. You need to move on."

"It's destiny," Katar argued.

"No, you're just a slave to the past," Clark told him. "I don't believe in destiny, I believe in the choices we make, defining who we are. And you could have made a choice to do the right thing, but instead, you went along with a plan to destroy Earth. Because you are just as blood thirty as the rest of them."

"I'm not going to be judged by a man belonging to a race who blew up their entire planet because they were too ign….."

Astra ripped Katar's wing clean off the bone. More blood splattered everywhere, and it was an obsessive amount of blood, very lethal as well. Katar screamed, like a man who had his limb amputated. Which for all intents and purposes, he did.

"Don't ever call me people ignorant again, vermin," Astra said through gritted teeth.

Clark and Shayera watched the situation with awe.

"You scare me sometimes," Clark said.

"Good," Astra said. "Hopefully his next life will have better choices."

"Astra, there's another battalion heading our way," Faora said.

"Do what you have to do to protect Earth, just like you would have protected Krypton," Astra said. "This is our home now, and we must stop these Thangarians at any cost."

"I believe we'll open up a path to the mothership," Faora said.

"Good," Astra said. "Keep me posted on your progress, and give them no quarter."

The mothership being captured would prevent the Thangarians arming the bomb. Astra looked at the relay button and debated on whether or not to use it, to draw the Thangarians into a trap. She decided against it for the very simple reason she refused to trust a Thangarian at their word.

"And once they've got it cleared, Kara and I have found a way inside," Karen said.

"Keep your cousin safe, I'll be there soon," Astra said.

* * *

The Thangarian Commander sat, the humans refused to listen to reason. Their tiny brains seemed to not fully grasp. Their world leaders could have surrendered control of the planet over to Thangar and everything would have worked just fine.

"This is a disappointment," the commander said.

"The weapon is online now," the chief scientist said. His hands shook in response. The man, for a brief second, had many doubts about launching this weapon. "This is our last chance to pull back…."

The lights flashed in the building. The Commander rose up.

"Someone has breached the defenses," the commander responded, breathing in hard.

"What should we do?" the scientist asked.

"Deploy the weapon."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on December 10** **th** **, 2017.**


	70. Chapter 70

**Chapter Seventy: Night of the Hawks Part Three**

* * *

The Thangarians hurled pretty much everything they could at Earth. Ships, warriors, and a very huge bomb was about ready to be armed over the top of Metropolis. Other bombs could also be prepared. This was humanity's last chance to stand down. The heroes of Earth disagreed, especially given the rough actions of the Thangarians. They refused to back down from the fight.

The sounds of battle came from up above. Kara Zor-El moved at the speed of light. One of the Thangarians swung a huge axe towards Kara. Kara dodged the axe when it came inches away from parting her hair. The Girl of Steel released a huge punch to the chest to knock the Thangarian attacker back. Two more came down behind Kara. Kara flipped out of the grip of them.

Karen blasted up in the air and knocked one of the Thangarians back a few inches. One of them hurled a huge punch at Karen. The punch blasted through the air. Karen blocked the arm and grabbed the Thangarian. She hurled the Thangarian into one of the air ships to force him to smash into it with a solid crack. The Thangarian slid down hard and almost fell down back to Earth.

"We need to get to the Mothership," Karen said.

Kara nodded. They needed to do something. Needing to do something and actually doing something, was easier said than done. The Girl of Steel avoided the attack one of the axes smashed down onto the side of the head. The other Thangarian moved through the air. Kara blocked the axe of the attacker and kicked him into the face.

"Keep them off me," Karen said. "I have an idea."

No choice other than to agree, Kara nodded. She whipped her fist back into the ribs of the Thangarian and flipped him high into the air. Kara smashed the point of her elbow down across the side of the neck of her attacker. Repeated blows before Kara disarmed the attacker. She swung the mace at an accelerated speed and smashed into the chest of the Thangarian.

Sparks flew from the air with Kara knocking him down. The Girl of Steel grabbed the Thangarian around the arm and forced him back down to the air. Karen ripped open the top of one of the scouter ships. Another Thangarian flew through the air.

Kara whipped the Thangarian back against the edge of a pod which started to arm. The Girl of Steel pushed her hand through the edge of the pod and ripped it to pieces. The metal flew out and clipped the wings of the Thangarian.

"Stand clear!"

The Girl of Steel flipped in the air and dodged the blast. The engine on the ship ignited and teleported several of the Thangarian ships out of the way. The Girl of Steel smiled and turned directly towards Karen. She held up a key card in her hand. Karen and Kara locked eyes with each other.

Easy part completed, now they moved to the hard part. Karen moved to the edge of the ship and swiped inside. A few seconds passed before the gates of the mothership opened up. Karen and Kara stepped inside of the ship and waited for anything. No Thanagarians stepped around to engage them inside of the ship. Both Kryptonian blondes moved inside. Kara picked up a pair of blaster devices which axes on the end. She handed one to Kara. They might have to fight their way to the main core of the power ship.

"We're in," Kara said.

"Good," Tess said. "You entering the ship is the easiest part. The hard part is to come. And don't feel like you're under any pressure, but there's a bomb. Clark, Shayera, and Diana are trying to get in the other day. And Astra is using the Kandorians to distract them on the other end."

Karen thought so many things could go wrong. Unfortunately, no one could focus on what could go wrong in a verny dangerous situation like this.

"We need to shut the entire fleet down," Karen said.

"Easier said than done," Kara said. "I mean, I guess it's possible, but…."

Was it possible? Kara thought about it. already she tried to figure out a way to get around the security of the ship. The Girl of Steel took a deep breath and looked around. So far, nothing.

"It's possible, and you're going to have to do so," Indigo chimed in. "Even if you shut down the bomb, with the entire fleet in place, they can still deploy another bomb. We need to shut down the invasion at the source. And the source is the control room."

Karen nodded and a thought entered the Kryptonian survivor's head. She turned slowly towards her younger cousin.

"Do you think you can get to the control room?" Karen asked. "If I cover you?"

A deep moment of thought passed over the face of the Girl of Steel. Kara looked towards Karen and nodded.

"Yeah, if you cover me, I don't think there are going to be too many problems," Kara said. "So, are you ready?"

Karen nodded in confirmation, they were ready. The bomb would be deployed, unless Clark found a way to shut it down. Lara had been helping him back at the Fortress. They needed to help him, the best way they could. The two Kryptonians moved their way around the corner.

A group of Thangarians rushed around the corner. Karen's fingers pushed together and she shoved Kara through the corner.

"Go!" Karen yelled.

* * *

Chaos went through the entire world. Explosions, insanity, and everything, with Clark moving back. He pushed the ear piece into his ear and locked onto his mother on the other side.

"Please tell me you've got something," Clark said.

"I just might have something," Lara said. "But, you're going to have to head straight, it's just one shot, through the entrance into the core. And you only have two minutes before the failsafe trigger is unleashed."

Clark just allowed Lara's words to come in. The Man of Steel saw six very well armored Thangarian guards hovering about the ship. The Man of Steel looked up into the sky to see them. They hovered like a small army of particular deranged buzzards.

"Don't they know that if they get caught in the crossfire they will get burned?" Clark asked.

"They know," Shayera said. "They just don't care."

They don't care and neither did Shayera. The Hawk warrior blitzed in the air and hurled her mace at one of the lead guards. She caught him in the chest and knocked the attacker back. The mace flew back into Shayera's head. She caught the mace and swung it back. The sound of the mace cracking against the Thangarian knocked him back.

Diana added her set up with the Amazon wrapping the lasso around the wings of the hawk creature. The Amazon whipped her adversary down to the ground and brought him down hard. The Amazon jumped up and blocked the swung weapon at her. The Amazon Princess whipped the arm of the attacker back. She slammed her fist deep into the chest of her adversary.

One of the attackers jumped in the air and Diana blocked the attack. The Amazon flipped him up into the air, and grabbed onto the waist of the attacker. Diana swung the Thangarian around and hurled him towards another one of the flying hawks. The two Thangarians slammed into each other in the middle of the air with an explosive attack. The Amazon pulled back, a smile crossing her face.

"The ship's clear!" Clark yelled.

The Man of Steel grabbed onto the edge of the ship and yanked on it. He pulled the ship open and allowed the trio of attackers to enter the ship.

"You just need to go to the right, and you'll be there," Lara said.

Tess jumped onto the communication network. "Kara and Karen are on the main fleet. They're going to try and redirect the Thangarians back home."

Clark really hoped his cousins would succeed. One of the largest and meanest Thangarians they ever saw made his way over. He cracked his knuckles and rushed Clark. The Man of Steel dodged the attack, with Clark flipping himself up into the air. He caught the Thangarian with a huge series of punches to the side. The Thangarian rushed around and almost nailed Clark.

"You're not going to stop us!" the Thangarian growled.

"I bet you we will," Clark said.

The Thangarian charged Clark and just avoided the attack. The wall got smashed. Clark ducked the attack and came back with repeated attacks. Clark caught two of the pressure points and doubled him. The Man of Steel flipped the Thangarian down onto the ground. The Man of Steel pulled back his fist and smacked it into Thangarian's neck.

Shayera's eyes flared and she nailed two of the Thangarian guards with a huge mace being swung at the attackers. The Thangarian's breathing increased when she hurled back the mace and then nailed the Thangarians when they charged her one more time.

"Come on!"

"Shayera!" Clark yelled. "You have to focus."

The Thangarian's eyes bulged out. Anger spread through the body of the woman. She flipped the mace back a few inches and smashed it directly into the charging enemy. The Thangarian blasted her enemy as hard as possible with the mace when connecting with her.

"I'm focused," Shayera said.

Clark placed a hand on Shayera's shoulder. The Thangarian calmed down, the Hawk Woman keeping her head above the water as much as possible. She looked off to one side.

"We need to go," Diana said. "Shayera and I will keep them off of your back for as long as we can."

The sounds of battle from outside of the ship momentary brought Clark's attention away. He took in a breath and moved over to the edge. The ship started to beep around him. No more guards came and Clark kept moving a little bit further to the edge of the ship.

"Clark, I don't know if you know this, but the bomb's about ready to deploy," Chloe said.

"I'm getting there, it will be fine," Clark said.

The Kryptonian moved around the corner. He had to say everything would be fine, because otherwise things would be going very insane. The bomb hovered over Metropolis.

"Kara's in position," Tess said. "Keep your fingers crossed."

Clark pried open the power core from the bomb. The energy hummed around Clark's fingers when he pushed his fingers through the edge of the bomb. Energy continuously pumped from the bomb when Clark pushed his fingers deep the bomb and moved. Several energy numbers flashed over in Clark's face. He maneuvered his way in, and started to disengage the bomb with a series of careful maneuvers.

"Just a little bit easier," Lara said. "Take a deep breath, that's it, you can do it, Kal."

* * *

Kara stepped into position, and moved her way towards the center. Her palms grew anxious with sweat. The Girl of Steel stepped further down the hallway, taking a deep breath. The sounds of battle from outside made Kara hope Karen won.

"Kal's done it," Lara said. "He's stopped the bomb. It's up to you to stop the fleet before they deployed another bomb."

Kara took a deep breath. She moved to the central console in the ship. It looked like one of the most complex pieces of equipment ever. The Girl of Steel pushed his hand on the edge of the ship and took in a deep breath. Smiling, Kara shifted her way towards the front panel of the ship. It clicked open and flashed open, revealing a three dimensional security disarray. Kara saw several dots which contained the ships fleet.

Very complex, but not too complex to be worked with an advanced Kryptonian computer.

"You're in," Indigo said. "All you have to do is uplink me into the ship.

The portable computer containing an uplink to Indigo pushed into the edge of the port of the ship. The uplink started with Indigo downloading all of the plans in the ship.

A loud explosion echoed from the other end of the ship. The cargo doors flew open, and Karen engaged one of the Thangarians. She struggled against him. Kara looked around nervously, when two more Thangarians stepped in. A third walked over towards the Girl of Steel, eyes widening.

"You're not going to stop us!"

Kara blasted the axe with the heat vision and knocked it out of the hand of the Thangarian. The Thangarian growled and charged Kara. The Thangarian rushed towards Kara and tried to take her head out with a vicious swing. Kara blocked the Thangarian and popped his shoulder back to send him flying down onto the ground.

More of the Thangarians rushed towards Kara. Karen jumped in and knocked one of the Thangarians back. She flipped up high into the air and caught the Thangarian with a vicious uppercut style swing. Karen and Kara fought side by side as every single Thangarian on the mothership swarmed them.

"How much longer do we have?" Kara asked.

She deflected one of the attacks and came back with repeated kicks to knock her enemy back. Kara waited for what seemed like a very long time. She broke the Thangarian's weapon when preventing him from attacking. The pace quickened in the fight, with the Girl of Steel nailing her adversary with a very vicious undercut punch which sent him flying back several feet.

"One minute and nineteen seconds."

"Stop the upload!" one of the hawks yelled at the top of his lungs.

Kara and Karen struggled against the sheer numbers. Heat vision bounced off of the ship, forcing the hawks back. One of the hawks rose a large mace with the intention to smash Indigo away from the computer. Time stood still when he came this much closer to bringing the item down on the computer.

From the vent, a blur came out and blocked the hawk's attack. The hawk's eyes widened in response, and Clark smashed him face first into the wall. Clark grabbed onto the mace and swung it around. The metal clashed down on the hawks and knocked them down to the ground.

"Figured you could use a hand," Clark said.

Kara and Karen stood back to back with each other, fighting the armor. The console of the ship started to glow and they knew Indigo finally started to upgrade the virus. The hawks stopped battle.

"What did you do?" one of them demanded.

"Made sure you realized what would happen if you messed with the people of Earth," Karen said.

"They would have been nothing without the Kryptonians," the Thangarian leader spat, almost in Karen's face.

She stepped back to avoid the disgusting spit from the Thangarian coating her face. Karen stood, firm and tall, staring back at her adversary without another word.

"Maybe they won't be the best today, but they will be someday," Karen said. "And we have a vested interest in making sure the people of this planet are the very best they could be."

"The systems are not responding," the Thangarian chief navigator said. "The only thing they've allowed us to do is to warp home."

The Thangarians on the shift all gritted their teeth and there was a sound of the ship being bombarded. Not only were all of their offensive systems down, but all of the defensive systems had been taken down as well. Their ships continued to be bombarded by a violent and vicious assault from all sides.

"Must be the Kandorians," Karen said. "Looks like you're out of luck."

Karen, Kara, and Clark moved their way to the nearest exit of the ship. This time, the Thangarians did not pursue them, knowing they had problems. Either they warped away, or their entire fleet would be destroyed. They lost a good chunk of their forces on this invasion.

"We better go before they decide to leave!" Karen yelled.

Clark answered with a nod and all of them exited the ship, one by one. They dropped down, flying out. The Thangarian Fleet started to glow before they flashed back to their Earth.

The day was saved, and the people of Metropolis cheered.

"Look, it's Superman!" a voice yelled from above.

Kara dropped down as well, and about as many people cheered for her. There was a lot of applause for them saving the world. Of course, there would be doubters, they understood that about as much as anyone else. Still, the fair amount of applause coming down brightened their day.

"We did it," Kara said.

"You did it," Clark said. "You were amazing in there."

Kara almost lost it a couple of times. It was a very tense moment for her out there during the alien invasion. Still, somehow, she managed to do a good job in holding it together. Karen helped her. She looked up in the sky and watched the Kandorians return. They had played their own role.

"Well, you did it," Chloe said. "You saved the Earth."

Clark smiled, they did save the Earth, all of them, working together. Clark just had a funny feeling though, there were going to be some other challenges coming along very soon.

* * *

Shayera sat back and basked in the moment. For the first time in a long time, she felt really free. The Thangarians invading might not have been the most ideal thing for Earth. It was something at the end of the day Shayera needed to come to terms with the type of person she was. For the first time in a very long time, Shayera could breath and smile.

Granted, she was now alone, and obviously not welcomed back from the rest of her race. Shayera found herself not really caring about this particular fact to be perfectly honest. She mentally distanced herself from the Thangarians a long time ago.

Some people looked at Shayera with a bit of distrust. She could understand why they looked in her at the way they did. Shayera might not have to like it, and she did not most certainly like it. She understood though where they were going for and respected it, in some twisted, weird way. It could be very weird in a sense of the word. Thangarians received a pretty bad reputation and it was not without a good reason.

Still, she had been patched up and currently sat in the Fortress. She enjoyed the Kryptonian technology around her and some of the artifacts which had been placed there. She always held a distinct fascination for history, because those who did not learn from history, had bene often times doomed to repeat it.

Unfortunately, the Thangarians refused to learn this very valuable lesson. Shayer thought she could have learned a bit more. The damage in her wing would heal, according to Lara. She found herself pretty glad about this point.

Shayera needed to thank one person for bringing her to this point. Actually, scratch that, Shayera needed to thank a few people. One in particular just stood out at a higher point. She watched the doors, waiting for him to come on through. Any moment, he would have been here.

The door opened up and Diana stepped inside. Shayera lowered her shoulders in response and could not help, and allow a deep sigh to pass through her body. Diana noticed Shayera's very disappointed body language and looked at the woman with a smile crossing her face.

"You're upset to see me?" Diana asked.

Shayera shook her head.

"I'm not upset to see you, not in particular. It was just, I hoped to see someone else."

Diana smiled knowingly. She figured Clark did not return to the Fortress right away, for a good reason. The Thangarians were pushed away, and transported off. Tales of this failed attempt to conquer a less-technologically advanced planet like Earth would haunt them for the rest of their days. It did not matter as far as Diana had been concerned though.

"Oh?" Diana asked.

"Yes," Shayera said, smiling when she locked eyes onto Diana. "I think we can both agree who that might be. I own him a lot, I owe you a lot as well."

"Well, you might be able to kill two birds with one stone," Diana said.

Shayera never really liked that particular saying. It seemed unnecessarily cruel to be perfectly honest. The door slid open and Clark made his way inside. He walked up to Shayera, who looked at him with a smile and also had been eying him up very hungrily.

"How are you feeling?" Clark asked.

"Better now that Earth's saved," Shayera said. "It's going to take a while for the people to get over it. I think they don't trust me."

"One day at a time," Clark said.

"And I want to thank you," Shayera said.

Her hot blooded nature made Shayera very prone to make some very impulsive and sudden actions. One of the most sudden actions she could make was to throw her arms around Clark and then give him a very long and very deep kiss. Clark grabbed onto the back of Shayera's head and guided his tongue into her mouth.

Diana smiled and moved behind Shayera, slowly slipping the woman's pants off of her.

"It's a good thing Thangarian's are bisexual by nature," Shayera said.

"Well, most women tend to be on this planet too," Diana said. "So, you have some pretty good options."

Shayera worked Clark's shirt off with a frenzied fury. The Arctic might have been cool, but the bedroom was going to heat up. Shayera started to kiss Clark's chest, and abs. She moved down, with Diana taking her place. The Amazon Princess already stripped bare naked, and Shayera felt a stirring in her loins when she realized how beautiful Diana looked. Diana turned a fraction of an inch and Shayera drank in the sight of Diana's beautiful ass.

Both women made short work of Clark's pants and freed the object of their desire in a flash.

* * *

Shayera unveiled Clark and came face to face with an endowment the likes of which she had never seen in her life. The Thangarian's lips moistened. Diana snapped her fingers to bring Shayera back to life.

"Do you think you can handle anything like that?" Diana asked.

Diana dropped to her knees before Shayera and took Clark's cock into her mouth. The Amazon gave him a few very loud and very pleasurable sucks. Her hand cupped the underside of the balls, squeezing them, and making sure to feel the cum which loaded.

Shayera watched Diana take Clark's cock down her throat. The Thangarian imagined herself in Diana's place. Diana slid her lips off and licked around the edge of Clark's cock. She kissed the tip of his head and pulled away.

"Of course I can."

Clark looked at the gorgeous green-eyed redhead on her knees before him. Those hands placed on either side of Clark's hips. Shayera moved in and her lips wrapped around Clark. She grabbed the base of his cock with her hands to feel it up, when sucking the head.

And she sucked Clark Kent, hard. The Last Son of Krypton closed his eyes. The Thangarian pushed her warm lips deep around Clark's hard manhood. The sensation of Shayera blowing him felt good. Coupled in that, Diana came down, and started to attack Clark's balls.

Both beautiful and strong vixens worshipped their god. Clark put his hands on the back of their heads, feeling their silky hair. He guided them to suck and to do whatever they wanted to him. The feeling of his loins aching, and needing more increased.

"Shayera!" Clark groaned.

The Thangarian took Clark deep into her throat. The hawk warrior's blowjob brought new meaning to the term intensity. She looked intense on pretty much everything she did. Clark grabbed Shayera's head and slowly pumped his way into her warm mouth. Shayera bobbed up and down on Clark's pole and took as much into her mouth as possible.

Every now and then, Diana would squeeze his balls before sucking on them. The suction effect made Clark groan when feeling their hot mouths and warm tongues work him over. The two women brought Clark to an orgasm.

Shayera took the warm cum into her mouth. Clark pushed his cock into her mouth and used her throat to empty his cum out. Sucking down the cum, Shayera made sure to drain him as much as possible. Thankfully, the restorative powers would bring him back.

The redhead pulled herself to her feet, standing completely naked. Clark got a pretty good look at her, her fit, toned body. Nice breasts which had a pair of perfectly erect nipples sticking out and begging to be sucked. Clark's eyes drifted down to Shayera's flat stomach, and nice formed ass as well. Her hips looked perfect for grabbing on and fucking. Her pussy dripped with arousal and she had a pair of nice, strong powerful legs.

Shayera came closer towards Clark and pushed him down onto the bed. Slowly, the Thangarian grabbed Clark's cock and stroked up and down.

"Kal, it's feeding time."

Diana crouched down over Clark's face. Her ass smacked against it and Clark responded by slapping the very firm posterior of the Amazon. He grabbed her onto her ass and lightly brushed his tongue against it. Diana closed her eyes, the further Clark pushed his tongue against her ass and moved in to lick her pussy.

Clark's throbbing cock found the inside of the Thangarian. Shayera felt him stretch her warm womanhood out. The feeling of this manhood pushing her walls apart felt really good. Clark's hips rose up and shoved more of his cock inside of her. Shayera moaned in pleasure when coming down onto him.

The warm tightness Shayera boasted about collapsed around Clark's engorged prick. The Thangarian pushed herself up and down and rode Clark's throbbing pole silly. She reached over and grabbed Diana's chest.

Turn about seemed to be fair play. Diana groped Shayera's chest back and the two powerful women continued to pinch and prod at each other's swollen nipples, before moving in and kissing each other.

The sound of both women above him made Clark's hips push up even harder. Shayera clamped down onto him, the warm vice of her pussy squeezing Clark's manhood as tightly as possible. Clark grabbed Shayera's hips and guided her down onto his throbbing hard pole.

"Ohhh!" Shayera yelled.

She came, came big time onto Clark. She realized the Amazon moved her attentions from Shayera's mouth and now onto her breasts. They demanded to be sucked, and Diana scratched every primal itch Shayera had. The Amazon pushed her hips down onto Clark and milked him.

Clark pulled away from Diana, and went to squeeze Shayera's firm backside. The Thangarian brought herself down. The moisture oozed from Shayera and allowed him to get a very firm path to pound her. Clark looked up through Diana, using his X-Ray vision and he caught a glimpse of both of the women taking turns sucking each other's breasts. It caused Clark's balls to ache even more.

"Oh, Kal, that's it, right there!" Diana moaned.

Clark vibrated his tongue with super speed into Diana and hit all of her buttons. Her mate ate Diana's pussy so furiously, she almost came undone. She grabbed onto Shayera's face to hold herself up.

Shayera looked into Diana's face, so full of erotic fulfillment and she had no choice, but to bring herself down harder upon Clark's throbbing manhood. Shayera pushed deep down onto Clark and filled herself up. Each fall, each drop, brought Clark further into her body. The Thangarian's breathing increased when bouncing up and down on Clark's hard, throbbing cock.

"OOOH!" Shayera screamed at the top of her lungs.

She made sure everyone heard the passion coming through her when she came. Clark's cock pistoned into her and lead Shayera's orgasm to another orgasm. Shayera never felt this good in any of her lifetimes. Clark spoiled her, and made her feel really good.

Diana threw her head back from another round of Clark munching on her. He touched all of the spots which drove Diana nuts with unbridled passion.

The Man of Steel felt both women cum all over his mouth and cock respectfully. Shayera's very warm pussy made her feel really good. Clark could not help but pound inside of her. The young man pushed up into Shayera, his balls begging for release.

Shayera dropped down onto Clark's throbbing balls. She could feel Clark shove deep inside of her body, with each powerful thrust. The young man pushed deep inside of Shayera, his balls dropping and his balls getting heavier.

"Cum, please, I need your cum inside me," Shayera said.

Clark put his full attention on pumping up into Shayera. He pushed his cock inside of her, his balls swelling up and then releasing inside of her body. Several thick, ropes of cum shot into Shayera's womanhood and filled up her pussy to the brim.

Shayera grabbed Clark's shoulder and rode down all the way. She felt herself filled up with so much cum, she could hardly stand it.

Diana fell back onto the bed as well. Clark ate her out to an amazing orgasm. She watched Shayera descend back on the bed. The woman resembled an angel who had been debauched, falling back on the bed, her wings spread.

Slowly, Diana crawled over Clark to get to Shayera. Her pussy dragged all over Clark's body and teased him, when rubbing against him. The Amazon Princess came towards Shayera's thighs and saw Clark's cum oozing out, combined with Shayera's own.

Shayera looked up and saw Diana kiss down her belly button. The Thangarian's breathing increased with Diana working her way down, licking around Shayera's dripping hot slit. Diana positioned herself between Shayera's legs and sucked Clark's cum out of her.

"That's hot," Clark groaned.

Diana reached up, grabbed her ass, and smacked it invitingly. Clark did not need to be told twice. He moved over, cock re-hardened and he positioned himself into Diana.

Shayera's hips jerked up off of the bed with Diana's tongue going deep inside of her. She could feel Clark fucking Diana from behind and the vibrations coming back through Diana as she moaned, it caused Shayera to thrash about on the bed. Her eyes flooded over with lust.

The Amazon Princess ate a pussy, like she had many times in the past. The taste of Shayera's sweet, sweet, pussy, caused Diana to be blinded with lust. Clark's manhood pushing into her, feeling up her body, those strong hands reaching underneath Diana and reminding of her own owned those breasts, it made Diana feel really good.

Clark groaned at the very familiar tightness of the Amazon. His cock received a full squeezing, and his balls throbbed. He ran his hands over Diana and worshipped her body. Every touch brought fresh, new moans from Diana. Clark pushed deeper inside of Diana, and punished her with more rapid fire thrusts. His balls slapped Diana hard in the thigh when he pushed into her and slid almost all the way out of her.

"So, close," Clark grunted.

Diana agreed, she could not wait much longer. Her muscles flexed around Clark. Clark, not wanting to go down without a fight, relaxed his thrusts to slow call.

"Ah, she's whimpering," Shayera said. "She wants your cock so bad, Kal-El."

Clark intended to give Diana more than what she bargained for, after a moment. For now, Clark pummeled Diana's warm pussy and slammed his hard cock inside of her body. The Amazon stretched out and pulled Clark in. The very pleasurable warmth sucked him in.

"Yes!" Shayera moaned.

Diana took out her frustration on Clark denying her his cum by eating Shayera out. The slurping motions of Diana on Shayera's pussy encouraged Clark to push inside of her a little bit more. Clark's big balls slapped against Shayera and worked a steady path inside of her.

So close, Clark could almost feel it. His balls grew even more throbbing. Clark touched every inch of Diana's body, and made sure to allow her to cum first. His balls begged for release and Diana's warm pussy tried to drain him.

The Man of Steel released his latest load into Diana's warm pussy. The Amazon flexed her walls around Clark's hard cock.

"It's always so good," Clark breathed.

Clark emptied his balls deep inside of her. He could feel Diana tense up and milk him of every single last drop of cum he had. The Kryptonian pushed himself to the brink and continued to empty inside of her.

The moment he pulled away, both Warrior Women gave him a look which indicated they were not done playing, not tonight.

* * *

Queen Maxima of Almarac found herself bored, which as many would attest from experience, did not suit the woman very well. She tucked a hand underneath her chin and frowned. Just one hour ago, her latest suit had to be carried out. The man's sense of confidence interested Maxima. Unfortunately, for the Queen, he could not get it done where it counted, on the battlefield.

' _I can't very well have a man who can't stand on his own two feet in a fight,'_ Maxima thought.

The Queen's frustration reached a fever pitch. She had her maids and her servants, all of which made sure some of her needs were taken care of. Maxima thought they were very good at what they did. Unfortunately, their greatness could only stretch so far when Maxima needed, craved, and desired a real man to take her into his arms and make Maxima his. She breathed heavily and longingly at the thought of such a man.

' _They don't grow on trees, unfortunately,'_ Maxima thought to herself, sounding a bit despondent.

"Queen Maxima, you should see this."

One of her aides came in with a crystal in her hand. She nearly tripped. Maxima reached forward and took pity on the poor anxious woman, pulling her up to the ground.

"We might have found the man you're searching for."

Maxima heard this about three times a week. Her servants meant well trying to find her a king, but Maxima's standards reached an obscenely high point to be perfectly honest.

"You say you have?" Maxima asked.

"Yes," the servant said. She took in a deep breath and sighed. "An entire fleet of Thangarians have been stopped by a Kryptonian."

The image of the handsome young man flashed before Maxima. He was gorgeous enough for Maxima to stand up and take notice. The woman's eyes followed the progress of the young man in action, fighting the Thangarians. Brutish hawks, a couple of them came here demanding Maxima's hand. Maxima soundly trashed them in battle.

"Quite a Kryptonian as well," Maxima said.

The Queen licked her succulent lips at the thought of this man being in her bed. She hungered for him, and she imagined him taking her, making her his wife, and bedding her, until she could hardly stand. The coitus would be out of this world.

Naturally, Maxima got her hopes up before and they had been destroyed. This Kryptonian, this god among men, would have to prove himself to her. Maxima made arrangements to head to Earth to see what if he was really the man of her dreams, or someone who would just disappoint her like all other suitors had.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 2** **nd** **, 2018.**


	71. Chapter 71

And we are back, and while I was away, I posted some blog exclusive content for this story. Mostly(or always really) it takes the form of an lemon. This time, it features a threesome between Chloe, Lana, and Clark. You can find it at my blog. Head through the page of Important Links, head to the Web of Chaos archives, and either the Blog Exclusive Chapter Archives or the Stronger Archives. It's titled "Just the Three Of Us."

And now on to your feature presentation.

* * *

 **Chapter Seventy-One: The Dust Settles**

* * *

Six long months had passed since Metropolis and the rest of the year had been invaded by the forces from Thangar. Times have changed and the people in this city changed along with it. There had been a cloud of uncertainty regarding the invasion which had many people stop.

"What's to stop another invasion from happening again? Nothing, as long as we keep allowing these aliens into every corner of our lives? We should and will hold pretty much every alien on this planet accountable for their actions."

A series of newscasts speculating on what it meant to have aliens at their doorstep broadcasted over the last couple of months. The more this became the hot topic issue, many people jumped on. The flames of the fears of the people had been grabbed by media personalities or social commentators. It was hard to call them newscasters because they seldom reported on any actual news. They made the news and used fear mongering.

It became a sad truth that very few people actually reported on news these days. They seemed more comfortable in being a talking head who broadcasted their biases for the entire world to see. They put their own slant on things.

"Yeah, the aliens are taking money out of my own bank account."

A small group of heavily armed men crowded around the back of a storage facility in one of the most rundown parts of Metropolis. One of these gentlemen started to tap his finger.

"Only because Superman stopped you from making off with that armored truck about three months ago," one of the thugs said to the man who talked.

The gruff thug slapped one fist against the other to make a resounding and loud sound. "Exactly my point. That money could have been in my bank account. Instead, he swoops in like some do-gooder. What the hell is he doing?"

"Seems to me like he's trying to stop you from robbing a bank?"

One armored henchman sighed, these goons really did not get it. Still, he wasn't going to get got by Superman ever again, not if he helped it. He now had an entire crew of people. Superman had his allies to work with, well Joe Thompson might not have been well known as Superman. However, he had his friends, running with one of the most well-connected mafia outfits in the city, that being Intergang.

Intergang, it was a group that would be feared all down the eastern seaboard. He could hardly wait to help pull off this heist.

"Hey, Joey could use a bit of a hand over here!"

Joe snapped out of the statement and walked over. They were going to break down the doors and get into his place. Giddiness did not even begin to describe what he felt.

"Alright, don't get too excited," the leader of the crew said. "The boss wants us to break into that vault and get whatever they have inside."

"So what's inside?"

The leader of the crew tried to remain calm, but to be honest, it was kind of hard. Especially when he was the type who did not like having questions asked. "Think of it like Christmas. You never know what's inside."

The doors rattled open. The man playing lookout held a rocket launcher over his shoulder and moved from one side to the next. A sound of something approaching caused the man to jump almost halfway up into the air. The rocket launcher cracked in his hand.

"Look up in the sky," he said. "Something's coming."

The leader of the gang looked up and moved into the back of the truck. He pulled out a huge rocket launcher and put it over his arms.

One of the goons tripped a silent alarm at the vault, and halfway from across town, Clark heard it. He quickly got into uniform as Superman and flew at the speed of light. Following him was Karen, and the two Kryptonians came across a small group of gentlemen. Two of them looked heavily armed.

"Intergang again?" Karen asked.

"Yes, I'm afraid so," Clark said with a groan

Faster than a speeding bullet, Superman dove in. An energy cannon cut through the air towards Superman. It looked it packed a punch. Providing, of course, that Superman was in the line of fire when the cannon went off, which he was not. He spun around and nailed the cannon with the full force of a punch.

Power Girl plucked the two Intergang goons off of the ground and hurled them up into the air and over her shoulder. They were pretty good all things considered, but she was also pretty good herself. Power Girl dropped down onto the ground in front of them. These goons pulled their weapons to fire at Power Girl. She blocked the attack and knocked them over to the ground.

Clark prevented the truck from being driven off.

"Oh, no, not again!" Joey yelled. "Hey, Supes, long time no see, man!"

Clark pulled out the thug out of the truck. In no time, the latest Intergang heist had gone off the rails, despite the fact that they all knew there would be many more heists to deal with.

"And here comes the SCU," Karen said. "Looks like they can handle it from here."

"You'll pay for this, Superman!" one of the goons yelled. "A new day is coming, and you're going to be sorry! Humans will rise up and put down the alien menace!"

It's not like either Kryptonian did not hear the same statement before.

* * *

Chloe parked herself in front of the computer at the Fortress. Indigo, Raya, and Astra helped rig this one up and explained to Chloe how it worked. It was hard due to the primitive nature of Earth's satellites compared to the communication relays used by other planets.

Somehow, they found a way to make it work. Chloe pressed a couple of buttons and she heard a sound. It reminded her of the dark days where you had to go on dial-up to get on the Internet. The slow way everything ground to a halt while waiting for the website to load.

She was going through several different galaxies. And if there was any storm, it could be a problem. Chloe took out her cell phone to check something while waiting for the system to go up.

"Hey, Chloe!"

Chloe slipped the cell phone bag into her bag at the sight of Lois popping over the screen. Chloe responded with a smile the second Lois turned up.

"So, it works?" Chloe asked. "The Interstellar Communication thing works?"

"I can barely hear you," Lois said.

Chloe frowned and decided to adjust the volume controls. This was like dealing with a badly functioning cell phone, hard to configure. Chloe was pretty sure she found a way to amplify the sound just enough to make out what Lois is saying.

"Can you hear me now?" Chloe asked.

"Loud and clear," Lois said. "Your picture is a little bit fuzzy, but I can make out most of you. It's good to see you again….I'm just glad we were able to find a way to do this on my day off."

"Your training is almost done, I thought," Chloe said.

"Yeah, well, kind of," Lois responded with a very slight and very evident little shrug. "I mean, I guess you could say my training is done if you look at things from a certain angle. They're going to let me go on missions, and I'm assigned to protect Sector 2814, which is just Earth. It used to be Mars and a couple of other planets. Don't think it was Uranus."

"I can't believe you went there," Chloe said.

"Well, I've been to….actually I can't believe I almost made that joke."

Lois responded with a shake of her head. She would be honest, it was really bad form to make a joke that crass and one that flew over the head of the aliens she made it to the first time about six months ago.

"My training is almost done, I just got to run one or two more assessments," Lois responded. "And it's not going to be easy. I'm the Earth girl who somehow backdoored her way into getting a Green Lantern ring. I'm not exactly Miss Popularity here to be perfectly honest."

"Well, if anyone is stubborn enough to prove them wrong, it's you?"

The words had been taken out of Chloe's mouth by a third party. Lois answered with a smile as Clark stepped in. It was hard to make him out until he got close to the screen.

"Hey, Smallville," Lois said. "You haven't been getting into loads of trouble without me to pull you out of the fire, have you?"

"Very funny, Lois," Clark said. "And no, I've been staying out of trouble. I just hope the same thing is happening to you."

Lois gave a very obvious "who me?" type look on her face. Clark laughed at the look on her face, it was pretty priceless.

"I think you might be mistaking me for someone else," Lois said. "Because you know me, I never get into trouble."

Clark gave her an insightful look and smile. "I must be thinking of that other brunette woman named Lois Lane that I know. Sorry, for the confusion."

"Just don't let it happen again," Lois teased. "So, how have things been going on Earth? The Guardians finally decided to send for aid past the point of it doing any good."

A grimace spread across Clark's face. Some of the things Astra said about the Guardians should really not be repeated in polite company. Not that Lois could be polite company, especially when she was going.

"Well, there are people who are….well if they got their way, they would crucify all aliens," Chloe said. "The worst is the Godfrey Twins."

The normally reserved Clark looked rather sick at hearing those two. They were social commentators at the very worst, and unfortunately, many people hung on every word they said like it was the gospel truth, facts and reality be damned.

"They've really stepped it up," Chloe continued. "Which is really funny, they seem to be mostly united on this issue that aliens are a bad thing. Despite Gordon being the worst of the extreme right and Grace is the most annoying of the extreme left."

"Oh, politics," Lois grumbled. "I've heard Grace talk about women's issues before. And she's the type of person any woman with sanity would not listen to and would not want to speak on their behalf. I don't need a Feminazinutjob like her to speak on my behalf. I know for me at least. People like her think that women are children who should be coddled and how the evil men are…."

Lois's rant would have gone on, but she heard someone yelling at her.

"And time to go," Lois said. "I'll be back soon…we should do lunch sometime…take care of yourself, Smallville. You too, Chloe."

* * *

When you talked about a new technological achievement, the people were out in full force. The three women who walked up behind the curtain gave more press conferences than any of them cared to remember. Tess Mercer, Thea Queen, and Helena Wayne all stood around. Thea looked at the crowd which assembled and let out a very prominent sounding whistle before pulling herself back to talk to the rest of them.

"It never gets old, does it?" Thea asked. "I mean all of these people coming out to hear about the newest achievements. I think there are reporters from Gotham, Metropolis, and Starling City."

Helena just gave the younger girl a smile. "It's fitting given the cities the three of us represent."

"Yeah, it is," Thea agreed. "Still it has a chance to be bigger than anything else we've done. If we can do it right, that is….we're going to do it right."

Tess put a hand on Thea's shoulder and smiled at her. "Relax, kid. We're going to do it right…it's a shame Patricia could not be with us today."

"She said she would try and make it, but something came up," Helena said.

All of them nodded in response. They understood how busy Patricia got, especially in the six months following the invasion of the Thangarians. She worked with the DEO to try and make sure every piece of alien technology had been found. They had a catalog of what those bits of alien technology the Thangarians left behind were for.

Six long months passed, six long months where pretty much everything changed in many ways, both for better and for worse as well. Tess especially was looking over her shoulder. Cadmus remained a potentially dangerous threat, as always. They had knowledge which could harm many despite their belief they were working towards a greater good.

The greater good, those three words always had been given by extremists who tried to justify their actions. No matter what Lionel did, and he committed a lot of crimes, nothing excused Lillian's actions. The marriage left her broken, but deep down, there was something in there always, just begging to come out.

"Are you ready?" Helena asked.

Tess nodded in response. Thea gave her a raised eyebrow.

"Just thinking," Tess said. "When I'm out on that stage, I'm going to be professional. I'll lead, and the two of you jump in as soon as possible."

Helena did not let go without another word. "Are you sure that you can handle being out there tonight?"

"I'm positive," Tess said. "We better go. You know how the press is about waiting when they want to know something."

The curtains parted to allow Tess to go onto the stage. She received a decent reaction from the people watching from the stage, although the reaction only paled in comparison to the one given to Thea and Helena. You would think a pair of rock stars came out onto the stage from how the crowd cheered.

Tess allowed for the applause to die down. She knew these people would rest in the palm of her hand from a simple gesture.

"Thank you all for coming out today," Tess said. "My name, for those of you who are more interested in seeing Ms. Wayne or Ms. Queen, is Tess Mercer. I am the current CEO of LuthorCorp."

They all stood back and smiled. They were a very respectful crowd, all things considered, something which Tess appreciated to be perfectly honest.

"Some people talk about how the future is coming around the corner," Tess said. "I disagree with this assessment. The future is not coming around the corner. Today is yesterday's future and we need to move on. We need to stand together with the new challenges coming into this world. And we need to communicate with each other. Communication is the barrier to understanding."

This statement sounded like corporate doublespeak to the most cynical of people. Tess thought these cynics would and could have a point. Still, they were words that she strongly believed it.

"Queen Industries, Wayne Industries, and LuthorCorp have teamed up to put their resources together for a state of the art satellite network, and a new line of cell phones and other communication devices," Tess said. "We hope to build a stronger Internet as well, a more secure web where some of the threats that many people are not certain of will be a nonentity."

Tess put up a hand to interrupt.

"This will also help detect incoming threats to the world before they even come out," Tess said.

"And can it be used to spy on people?"

Tess sighed at the very obvious, but at the same time very frustrating question. She looked at the party who asked it with a smile.

"Unfortunately, good technology can always be co-opted for evil purposes."

Almost on cue, something blipped on the system. Tess turned around, not expecting anything to be picked up by the satellites.

Some pod headed straight for Metropolis.

* * *

Clark Kent returned from making his rounds in the Fortress. He also had been making his rounds. There had been a lot of unrest following the Thangarian Invasion. Clark could not say he was very comfortable with the amount of unrest going on, to be perfectly blunt about the situation.

The United Nations fiercely debated about what to do with the upcoming crisis. Clark did not expect anything to come of it. The world leaders had trouble coming to terms what to order for lunch, much less have any foreign policy. Still, the future was going to be very interesting and very uncertain the longer they lingered.

"No one can quite figure out the scope of the aliens who decided to make Earth their home. Whether they have come here for reasons fair or foul, the fact none of the major world leaders can account for the numbers. Many of them are able to blend into their communities, live their lives, and maybe even ascend to positions of power through carefully manipulated documents."

Clark extended his head down for a few seconds and sighed. It was true that many lived as human beings, but it was just so they can find a new home after what they lost. Martians, Kryptonians, they all lost world. And some, like Shayera, would never be welcomed back under any circumstances to where she was. She would always be different, but she would not be welcomed.

' _There are no easy answers.'_

The scroll about Congress having their debate on alien registration made Clark straighten up a little bit. He hoped they would not try anything like that because history showed trying to segregate one group of people from the rest of the population seldom ended well.

The aliens who found Earth to be their new home had their share of supporters. One of them had been a recently elected Kansas State Senator who was near and dear to Clark's heart. Still, there were others who would decide to throw aliens out to the wolves no matter what the cause.

"It's a mess."

Raya stepped into the Fortress to walk the television screen. She moved in dressed in white material which clung to every inch of her body.

"Yes, unfortunately," Clark said. "Politics is a dirty business."

"Always, it tends to be no matter what the world," Raya confirmed. "These debates remind me of those who went on, on Krypton, and they seldom get anything done."

Mostly because these debates were just a bunch of old men who did not have their pulse on the real world shouting back and forth at each other. Nothing ever had been accomplished by that particular level of bickering and infighting. Raya sighed.

' _The more things change, the more they say the same.'_

"Congress is making some noise about registration," Clark said. "Forcing aliens to register their movements with the government."

"This never ends well," Raya said. "And if some of the rumors, the legends are true, where do they draw the line? Humanity, as we know it today, may have originated from other alien species who visited this planet."

"I know, it's silly when you think about it," Clark said. "It's just a bunch of overexcited people screaming, asking for someone to please think of the children."

Raya took a glimpse of the world's greatest hope and sighed. She reached in and cupped her hand on Clark's face so the two could look at each other properly.

"Not really an Earth problem," Raya said. "It's more of a problem with many worlds. It becomes a purity test and…well, it's the beginning of the end. I just hope the people come to their senses before it's too late before others take advantage of their fear to satisfy their own greed. This is how people end up being divided and worlds become lost."

Clark sighed, it was already beginning.

"Maybe you should come with me," Raya said. "You're tense, and I should help you with that tension. It's my duty, after all, to make sure you're happy."

The Last Son of Krypton followed Raya who beckoned him to her bedchambers. Raya shrugged off her clothes with a bright smile on her face. She looked at Clark, hungrily licking her lips when he approached.

"Why don't you get out of those clothes?" Raya asked. "Or maybe I can help you, Kal?"

* * *

Raya unwrapped the clothes off of Kal's muscular body with a smile on her face. She leaned in and kissed Clark on the lips. Clark returned the kiss, with Clark running his hand down her back. He touched her body and received some moans from Raya.

The beautiful alien decided to continue to kiss down Clark's neck. She sucked on the side of his neck and kept kissing away at him. Every time her mouth touched him, Raya's excitement just built to an increasing fever pitch. She accelerated her actions to drop down to the ground on her knees.

Clark's big cock stuck out with Raya wrapping both of her hands on it. She jerked Clark off until her lips touched it.

"Use that mouth," Clark said.

Raya slipped her lips around Clark's throbbing hard cock without another word and inhaled his manhood with a deep and masterful blowjob. She bobbed her head up and down on Clark's cock a few times. The moment she finished, she pulled out. Raya utilized her warm and willing tongue around the edge of Clark's mighty rod. She slowly licked Clark's hard rod from the base down to the twitching tip.

Warm heaven surrounded Clark's rod after Raya licked it. Her hands cradling his balls increased the pleasure. Clark gripped her head and looked down to see Raya shoving her mouth down onto him. He watched her push as much of his cock down her throat as possible.

Pleasure, Clark groaned when Raya took his cock into her mouth and sucked him as hard as possible. She gripped onto his balls and gave them a firm squeeze. Clark slid his manhood inside of her very willing mouth. Raya smacked her lips around his cock as hard as possible.

Suddenly, Raya pulled herself up onto the bed. She dropped down, the sheets rising up and falling as her beautiful body landed spread-eagled. A lock of blonde hair curled on her face.

Clark moved down to meet the sultry woman on the bed. He planted his mouth down several inches of her body. Raya's nipples poked up for attention. Clark reached down and took the rosy wonder into his mouth. Raya gasped when Clark sucked her warm and very erect nipple.

The more Clark brought his mouth to her chest, the more Raya lost sense of her inhibitions. Clark reached behind her legs to rub her pussy. The moist heat coming from it made Clark feel so enraptured by her. He needed to be inside of her and in the worst possible way.

"Kal-El, take me," Raya begged him.

Clark worked his cock in towards her dripping wet pussy. The blonde shifted herself off of the bed, putting her legs around Clark's waist. He aimed his manhood at her entrance and drove himself inside of her. Raya closed her eyes and rose her hips all the way up off of the bed. Clark rose up and dropped down into her with a massive thrust. He slipped inside of her.

The moment every inch of Kal-El's breeding rod pushed into her, Raya pushed up and down off of the bed. Clark plowed into her tight sheath and rose up before slamming his rod down into her. Raya shifted her hips almost halfway up off of the bed to meet Clark. Her entire body was being taken on a never-ending thrill ride. The roller coaster of being risen up and dropped down made Raya's desire just increase.

"Look at you," Clark said. "Look at how much you're cumming for me!"

Clark touched Raya and made her squirm underneath him on the sheets. A second passed with Clark sliding himself out of Raya. She had whined about the loss of his manhood. Her pussy tried to push up, but Clark held her down.

Then he speared into the woman made to serve him. Raya took the tension off with her warm pussy tightening around his thick rod. She breathed in, pushing her nails all over Clark's back.

Each thrust buried into Raya. The tension inside of her loins had been released. Juices squirted all over Clark, which made the second round even more easy to get into her. He did not want to make Raya lose it too soon the next time. Clark wished to drag out the torment and made her feel this inside of her in every way.

"Kal-El!" Raya cried at the top of her lungs.

Clark plunged inside of her slick center. The feeling of warm walls sticking to him was very good. He plunged inside of Raya and took his huge cock inside of her very willing and extremely accommodating depths. Clark pulled almost all the way out of her and plunged himself inside of her with repeated thrusts.

"Oh, you're too much, Raya," Clark breathed. "You're going to make me explode."

"Yes, that's what I'm here for," Raya said. "Please!"

She came up and her words stopped with a moan. Clark slammed his rod inside of her again. She never once spoke in anything throughout this entire round other than delicious and delirious whimpering.

The stiff prick shoved deep inside of Raya's inviting womanhood. Raya lifted her hips up off of the bed and rolled them to meet Clark. She matched his intrusions very nicely. The delicious blonde underneath Clark's thrusts started to whimper and moan the deeper he buried inside of her body.

"You're so nice," Clark said. "And it feels so nice to have you cum. Do you enjoy this as well, Raya?"

Raya nodded in response. His skilled hands brought her body to receive pleasures which were sinful. She almost thought it was a bit much to have this much pleasure without any permission. Clark, Kal, he did not seem to deny her the pleasure so Raya kept shifting her warm thighs up and down to meet his intruding staff. He stretched her loins completely out with Raya incasing inside of her.

He gave her enough of a break to come back down to Earth. The devotion dancing in Raya's eyes was stunning. The moment her body begged for it, Clark planted his aching rod back inside of Raya. He thrust his way inside of her with repeated jabs. His massive rod pushed inside of Raya's heated center.

"Let go," Clark whispered in her ear. "Just give in to it. Give in to your desires. Give into your pleasure."

Raya did so and Clark plunged his rod inside of her. He touched all of the right spots which took her on a sexual thrill ride. Every single height had a fall with Clark burying his staff inside of Raya's gripping loins. She held onto him, panting heavily and hungrily the deeper Clark plunged inside of her.

"YES!" Raya moaned at the top of her lungs. "OH….RAO!"

She screamed the longer Clark buried his cock inside of her body. Her entire body just burned with desire. The only thing which could put out the fire was against her.

"It's going to be my turn soon," Clark said to her.

"Please," Raya begged him. "Please, please, please!"

He decided to draw out Raya's anticipation a little bit. Clark rose up and dropped down inside of Raya with a huge thrust. He fucked her with a force which only Kryptonians and Amazons could handle. Raya shoved her pussy up to meet him. Clark drove his cock down inside of her. The two went at it with each other for a little bit longer.

Finally, Clark reached his limit. Their bodies molded together the instant their shared orgasm reached a fever pitch. Clark spilled the contents from his balls inside of Raya's accepting pussy.

Raya collapsed onto the bed to receive Clark's treat inside of her. Her walls became bathed in the essence of the man she pledged to serve.

The dust settled, and Clark rolled over. He pulled Raya over and allowed her to engage in the mutual sharing of body heat. Every time Clark touched her body, a shiver came down her spine with Clark pulling her closer to him.

"Thanks, Raya."

"It was an honor, Kal-El."

* * *

The city of Metropolis had been silent for a very long time. The Special Crimes Unit who kept an eye on some strange and mysterious events had been equal parts surprised and pleased with the lack of incidents. They also were a little bit suspicious, but that came with the territory to be perfectly honest.

Still, it was a nice day where everyone was getting along. There was not a cloud in a sky, the sun shined bright. People got along about as well as they were going to in a city this particular size.

The two members of the Special Crimes Unit who got this beat leaned against the edge of a billboard. They looked around to see a woman rolling her baby in a stroller across the street. A happy young couple crossed the street, and a haggard-looking businessman rushed down the street. He had a briefcase dangling from his hand and started to murmur about how he was going to be pretty late.

"Pretty sweet job we got here," the officer said.

"Don't let Turpin or Sawyer catch you talking about how the job is easy," the second officer warned the first officer. "The last guy who shot his mouth off ended up working Suicide Slum, and that's where the really crazy shit tends to happen."

The younger officer just shrugged. His brown hair parted down the side, slicked back. He always thought it would be exciting to be an officer of the law. Top of the Academy and his special skillset got him a spot in the elite Special Crimes Unit in Metropolis.

"You got to admit this gig is pretty sweet," the officer said a second later. "You just got to kick back and wait for Superman to come and save the day."

The older officer just sighed, Superman, well he was interesting. Here and gone, and very few people saw him, only those who had been close enough to function. The officer thought a man who could fly, well he was one who they would have to keep a close eye on.

' _Don't quite know about him,'_ the older officer said. _'Things used to be never this weird. We never really needed a Special Crimes Unit either until all of these meta-people kept turning up.'_

Fighting crime used to be pretty simple. It used to be as simple as tracking down some thug with a gun and forcing him to give up his information. Now, everything had become less simple. And it became even more dangerous as far as the older officer was concerned.

He reached into his pocket and took out a lollipop. Used to be a heavy smoker, but decided to cut back thanks to wanting to be able to spend time with his grandchildren and see him grow up.

"Will?"

The younger office grabbed on the shoulder of the older one, Will, who turned his attention to the flash of bright light in the sky. The lollipop slid out of his mouth and fell down onto the ground in a blink of an eye. The older officer could barely out what happened.

"Well, rookie. Things are going to get more exciting."

Exactly how exciting, he did not know. All he could tell was something arrived in Metropolis. A blinding flash of light appeared and caused the citizens, along with the Special Crimes Unit to step up.

A very tall and very striking looking red-haired woman popped up on the ground in front of her. She was very lovely, with a firm body which was barely uncovered. She wore a green top stretching over her breasts. Her flat toned stomach showed no ounce of fat on it. Then her long legs, with thigh-high boots stuck out in the distance ready to be admired from every single angle.

She was the type of woman which wet-dreams were made of. This gorgeous body could crush anyone who got in her way or seduce them to their doom, depending on her preference. The woman stepped over and surveyed the landscape around her.

"Who the devil is she?" the older officer asked.

"I don't know, but I really would like to get to know her," the younger officer said.

Will turned to his younger partner. "Trust me, kid, you should really lower your standards."

The rookie did not even say anything. His mind had been blown away by this dangerous woman who turned up towards him. Her stunning beauty almost hurt anyone who laid eyes on it. She looked at every single person in front of her.

"My name is Maxima," she said. "And I have arrived because I want to test my Kryptonian Soul Mate to see if I have finally found the one that is worthy of taking my hand in marriage."

A large fellow who resembled your average high school jock who kept being a high school jock long after high school ended stepped up. He was balding, wearing an old Letterman Jacket from his high school, with the stench of tobacco and booze coming off of his pours coming off when he approached him.

"Hey baby, I don't know if you've heard, but if you're looking for someone to show you a good time….."

Maxima lifted the loudmouth of the ground. She could tell his type a mile away. He was nothing and belonged with the other waste. She picked up the man and dropped him in the trash.

The Special Crimes Unit looked at the woman as she effortlessly manhandled the loudmouth. She gave them a very slight smile when approaching them.

"Point me to the one who calls himself Superman."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 4** **th** **, 2018.**


	72. Chapter 72

**Chapter Seventy-Two: Perfect Match**

* * *

Astra stood in the hallways of the DEO facility. She was giving some advice to the various members of the DEO. It had been very hard to believe how much difference a couple of years made for Astra. She had gone from a fugitive to the Phantom Zone, put in for war crimes, to someone who helped a brand new world. She, along with Faora, had given the Kandorians another chance to make a good impression. They all managed to settle into their roles in their new world.

' _A year makes a great deal of difference,'_ Astra commented to herself.

She moved towards the rookie DEO agents. Some of them were wide-eyed and obviously was a bit in over their head. Still, as long as they were willing to work, they had potential.

"Okay, they might be rough around the edges."

Astra turned around to come face to face with Alex Danvers. The two of them locked eyes with each other for a moment. There had always been a bit of tension between the two of them. Daisy stepped around the hallway and looked at her friend and the aunt of her friend's sister. Things could get a little bit tense between the two of them around them.

"Yes," Astra said. "Yes, I see."

"So, don't go too hard on them," Alex said.

"I won't be any firmer on them than I need to be," Astra said.

Something about Astra's tone did not reassurance Alex much if at all. She could not quite put her finger on what it was, it just was very unsettling to her.

"Right," Alex said. "Just….well you've addressed new recruits before. So, I think that you know what you're doing."

Astra held up a single hand in front of Alex's face. Alex took a deep breath when looking at the older woman a few seconds later.

"Calm down," Astra informed her. "I know what I'm doing. It hasn't been the first time I've had to address new recruits. I won't chew them up and spit them out on their first day."

"Well, she knows what she's doing," Daisy said. "Let her talk."

Alex stepped back and kept a careful eye on Astra. She still had a few misgivings. Astra turned around and looked at the new recruits. They all looked up at the woman who surveyed them with a very calm stare.

"Welcome to the Department of Extraordinary Affairs," Astra said. "My name is Astra In-Ze, and I have seen planets die. There has been one common cause which has killed many planets. There have been many planets which have perished due to people being reactive and not proactive. It's essential to be three or four steps ahead of your enemy. Each of you has different backgrounds, different skill sets, and all of you…."

The sounds blared through the DEO headquarters. Astra turned her attention to both Daisy and Alex, and Alex moved over.

"We're going to have to cut this one short," Alex said. "There's an alien on the loose…"

The image of a very tall and statuesque redhead woman flashed in a three-dimensional hologram. Astra's eyes narrowed when looking at her.

"The report said she demanded to see Superman, and she's…well, I'm not sure where she went from there," Daisy commented. "The reporter doesn't really say."

"Bold, brazen, a skilled warrior, and a sense of entitlement to match her skills," Astra said. "She must be from Almarac."

The two women looked at her. Astra's words struck Alex with a moment of morbid curiosity.

"Are there any alien races which you don't have a problem with?" Alex asked.

"Tamarians," Astra said without skipping a beat.

Nothing else other to say, they would have follow up on this point later. Alex and Daisy prepared to suit up and join the rest of the DEO agents. They would have to head to Metropolis and deal with the chaos.

This woman's arrival did not help with the anger people were feeling of aliens in general. Things might end up getting worse before they got better.

* * *

Superman appeared on the scene in Metropolis. He just missed the woman showing up, apparently. Everyone looked on in surprise. They were still talking, muttering about her.

"A fierce redhead woman can't be that hard to find," Chloe offered him. "Not even in a city as big as Metropolis."

"Are we just going to trust an alien just because he gives us a big smile and reassuring words? We still don't know who Superman truly is. We don't even know what he is able to do."

The face of G. Gordon Godfrey appeared on the jumbotron for all to hear.

"Earth should be for the Earthlings. And America, with us being the greatest nation and the leader of the free world has a responsibility to its people. The responsibility to lead by example. And we have not lead by any good example by allowing those aliens to walk into our country. They work with us, they live with us, and some of them even lay in bed with us. They poison our minds and steal our secrets. We lose our identities as human beings the further they dig into our lives."

The ranting gentleman continued to escalate his words. Everyone heard Godfrey. Another voice, this time more shrill, belonging to his sister, Grace Godfrey came out.

"And they call him Superman! And that makes me sick to my stomach! He blatantly flaunts his masculinity. And he forces his so-called partners to conform to him. Supergirl will never ascend to a status greater than Superman, thanks to the oppression of the Patriarchy. Every time you celebrate Superman, you celebrate the spirit of oppression. You celebrate holding back a woman from letting her voice be heard. Superman swoops in to save the day, and everyone puts him on a pedestal. He rescues women because he believes we are not strong. He only works with them to hold them back, to oppress them."

Superman's super hearing ached by the ringing voice of Grace Godfrey as it continued to echo over New York. He saw her face, from behind a pair of thick glasses. She had a severe look in her eyes. Maybe she would be attractive, maybe, if she did not have a sour look on her face all of the time. And also, the fact she didn't have an abrasive personality who talked down to everyone around her, that helped as well.

"Rest assure, I will not stop until Superman learns that he cannot continue to promote his toxic values and hurt women. You should open your eyes, listen and learn and realize how much Superman is causing problems. He flaunts himself around…."

Clark was very glad to have heard the sound of a cop car whirling down the streets of Metropolis which cut off Grace. She would always be within earshot, thanks to the unfortunate gift of super hearing. Clark moved about as far away from her as humanly possible.

"Sorry you have to hear all of that," Chloe said. "Well, from both of them. It has to be grating to listen to them."

Clark would have to agree.

"They have the right to say what they want to say," Clark said. "No matter how ignorant it might sound, no matter how uninformed it might be, no matter how divorced it is from reality, they have the right to say what they want to say and feel what they want to feel."

A long sigh came out from Chloe. Clark kept his eyes peeled and continued the search for their mysterious visitor. Every second he waited was a second longer she would be out there.

"Yes, that's what Freedom of Speech does," Chloe said. "It helps protect the righteous along with the ignorant."

"Yes," Clark agreed. "I just hope other people are open-minded enough to make their own choices and not blindly be led by sound-bytes."

"Keep hoping, Clark," Chloe said. "Right, I think she's slipped away when you did not show up. She isn't one to play a patient game by the looks of things."

Clark noticed someone who might have been able to help. The Man of Steel walked over to an attractive dark-haired police officer looking up at the jumbotron.

"True women can open their eyes and understand what kind of danger Superman poses to impressionable young women and girls. He has forced his female companion Supergirl to dress in a mini-skirt when she fights crime. It's quite disgusting."

The face of the detective turned into a very frustrated look. A hand placed on her shoulder caused her to jump a little bit. She stopped and realized she came face to face with Superman.

"You're not a fan?" Superman asked.

"No," she said. "Godfrey doesn't speak for all women, no more than her brother speaks for all humans."

Clark smiled at her, and she steps back to get a better look at him.

"We haven't had a chance to formally talk," she said. "Detective Maggie Sawyer at your service…and before you got sidetracked, I think you were looking for the mysterious woman. Because I think she's been looking for you."

"I figured about as much," Clark said. "I'm going to try and lure her away from Metropolis."

"That shouldn't be too difficult," Maggie said. "The way she was talking, she sounded pretty obsessed with you. Just not obsessed enough to stay around in one place for too long."

This woman was not a very patient one. Clark could potentially use it to this advantage if he played his cards right. He would have to see how things worked out.

"We're going to clear the area," Maggie said. "Turpin and I, and the rest, we'll keep civilians out of harm's way the best we can. You just got to get her out of here."

"I will."

Clark now focused one hundred percent on this mysterious visitor from another world. He would need to find her before it was too late.

* * *

Three gentlemen crowded around the doorway. The leader of the crew motioned for the others to step back. He took in a deep breath. The men kept stepping closer towards him until the man scared them off with a snarl.

"Hey, give me some room!"

The man reached out and tried to grab onto the lock with a crowbar. He pushed the crowbar into the hole and strained against it. The side door refused to budge. The thug opted to instead kick at the door and all that caused with a sore toe in response.

"Yeah, that will really show it who's boss."

The thug turned around with a hateful glare flashing in his eyes. The thugs did not even bat an eyelash with their leader glaring back at them so hatefully. They just remained as calm as humanly possible, even though there could be some problems in the not so distant future.

"So, how the hell do we get in?" the thug asked.

"If you ask me, it's getting harder to get into places," the leader of the pack said. "This is a huge mess. Every time we try and break into a door, something happens to stop us. I'm pretty surprised that Superman has not swooped in and stopped us already."

The sound of someone dropping down on the rooftop right next to them caused all three of the thugs to jump up. The other two thugs spun to glare at the thug who had just said something.

"You just had to go and open up your big mouth, didn't you?"

The thug in question answered with a casual shrug. He dared chance a look to the rooftop. He came face to face with the opposite of Superman. Rather, it was a very stunning redhead woman dressed to kill, and potentially literally as well judging by the look on the face.

"Who the hell is she?"

One of the men looked on with a smile and slicked his hair back which somewhat disgusted his fellow gang members.

"I don't know, but I'd really like to find out if you know what I mean."

The other two criminals rolled their eyes on the antics of the third. One of the criminals reached forward and waffled the other one down across the back of the head.

"Yeah, dipstick, you really don't have a chance with a classy woman like her."

The woman dropped down into the alleyway. Her eyes narrowed when looking around. The three men in front of her entered the woman's crosshairs. Seconds passed before she decided to speak to them.

"Can any of you vagrants tell me where Superman is?"

"Hey, I don't know about Superman, but the ladies say I can be pretty super," one of the criminals said.

"You know, I don't remember any ladies ever saying that about you," another thug said. "Didn't your old lady leave you because she said she needed a microscope to….."

"Shut it, Leroy!" the thug snapped.

Maxima grabbed the thug and lifted him up off of the ground. The thug found himself face to chest with the woman in front of him. Normally he would have been excited to be up close and personal with such a treasure. This time, he was beyond scared to death and shaking madly as the woman held him up.

"I'm going to ask you one question," she said. "And I'm going to need an answer immediately. How do you get in touch with Superman?"

"Well, he's always around when some poor idiot is put in danger," the thug in Maxima's grip managed. "Oh, and I'm sorry if I offended you, please don't crush me."

"On the contrary, you didn't offend me. You helped me."

This caused the criminal to experience a sense of relief. Maybe, he was not about to get crushed like a bug underneath a windshield. However, the look relief turned into one of abject fear.

This woman was looking over at the man. She had a more wicked look on her face than his ex-wife did after she got half of everything he owned. Which admittedly, it was not that much.

Maxima lifted up at the sky. The other men dropped and run leaving their partner in crime to his own fate. The man in question struggled against Maxima's grip. He could feel her hand tightening harder.

She hurled the man down to the ground from a surprising height. The man came close to hurling down to the ground until someone saved him.

Maxima stepped back, a smile on her face. She would have her future husband right where she wanted him. Maxima could hardly wait. She moved back to the alleyway and watched as two men moved into a car. One of them had broken the window open.

They did not get too far before Maxima flipped the car over. One of the lowest forms of creatures in the universe was a petty thief and these two were the pettiest of all thieves.

* * *

Maggie studied a couple more sightings of the mysterious visitor. The tones of Grace Godfrey drowned out even her brother. Maggie learned to block it out and focus on her job. It could have been a challenge for her to be honest. But, it was one that Maggie was willing to take despite the throbbing going through her temples.

"These Superman protestors are getting out of hand."

The gruff and grumbling voice brought Maggie out of her thoughts. A rough-faced cough with greying hair made his way over. The man gave the impression of someone who had been through a few scraps over his time. The sounds of screams caused his fingers to clutch together.

"I know they are," Maggie said. "I know they are. They are…we're going to have to do something about this."

"Superman is not our hero! He does not represent us. Go home, Superman!"

Maggie had no idea which Godfrey they protested to be perfectly honest. When the supporters of both of them collided, it was going to get ugly, in the worst possible way. Maggie threw her head back and responded with a sigh in response. She put her ear to the radio.

"Yes, yes," Maggie said. "Get the others ready. We're going to have to clear this area quickly!"

Turpin raised an eyebrow at this news. "So, wait a minute? Are you telling me that we're going to…."

"If they don't back off at the warning shots, The Captain has given the order to release the tear gas."

One of the anti-Superman protestors broke free and tackled a child of about eleven to twelve years old from the crowd. Maggie moved over, but Turpin was already over there.

"Hey, hands off the kid, scumbag!" Turpin yelled.

"Fry the pigs!" one of them yelled. "They support Superman."

"The only good cop is a dead cop!"

One of them held a stun gun and threatened Turpin with it. Turpin reached for the gun and prepared to defend himself if it was necessary. More members of the Major Crimes Unit moved in. The men circled around and put a barricade. One of the protestors swung a glass bottle.

"Everyone get out of here!" Maggie yelled. "It's your last warning! This street is being blocked off!"

Many of the civilians backed off, but a few of the protestors rose up.

"You can't do this!" a woman yelled. "Our voice should be heard."

"I don't care about hearing your voice, I care about you standing in the street and being a public nuisance," Maggie said in a very patient voice. "No one will hear your voice if you end up getting trampled."

The women started to scream at each other. One of the moved in, but they had been wrestled down to the ground. The two members of the MCU cleared the area. Several more figures came out. A dark-haired woman escorts them in, with a weapon pointing out of here.

"This area is condemned on the orders of the United States President," the woman ordered them. "Clear the area. Clear out of here now!"

They moved in and Maggie turned to the woman in question. She took a deep breath as canisters flew into the cloud. A thick layer of gas backed off the protestors.

"It's harmless," she said. "Special Agent Alex Danvers of the DEO and this is my partner, Daisy Johnson."

"Detective Maggie Sawyer," Maggie commented. "And thanks for helping clear out the crowd. Hopefully, you have a lot better luck than I have in tracking down the alien."

A loud scream cut through the entire air. This little meeting had been cut short. The members of the DEO moved to an alleyway, where a shell-shocked thug was shaking down on the ground. His breathing escalated when he looked forward at them.

"Please, arrest me. Take me in!"

* * *

Chaos followed this woman who turned up in Metropolis. Clark realized that he needed to locate her and do it soon before she caused some real damage. He noticed an overturned car on the ground. Two men pinned down against the car and winced in absolute pain.

Moving closer, Clark noticed the striking red-haired woman dressed in battle armor. Despite the armor, she had an amazing body which even caused Clark to stop and stare at her. Every single curve looked far more abundant than the last and it was a very distracting thing to come to her in this particular light.

"You should learn a valuable lesson from this," Maxima said. "Those who take what does not belong to them will suffer the consequences."

"Oh, my neck!" the man in the car groaned.

Clark moved over and flipped the car over. The carjackers looked very relieved to see the man in question.

"Superman!" one of them yelled. "I never thought that I would say this, but I'm really glad to see you."

"I am as well."

Clark turned his attention after the thugs moved into the waiting arms of the Major Crimes Unit. They took their medicine without any complains whatsoever. Clark turned his attention completely towards Maxima. The woman was beautiful and likely very dangerous as well.

The Last Son of Krypton resolved to keep his wits about himself. Maxima looked like she unraveled him with her eyes. A smile crossed over the face of the woman in front of him.

"You are more amazing than advertised," Maxima said. "You are the man who stopped the entire Thangarian invasion. And you have presented a beacon of hope to this otherwise desolate and bleak world."

Clark did not say anything. He just remained calm when looking back at Maxima. Her arms folded underneath her chest when staring down at Clark. It brought her breasts out to a great degree of prominence when shifting and moving. Clark tried to keep his eyes focused on her face. It was still beautiful, but less distracting.

"You've caused a lot of chaos….."

"Maxima," she said helpfully. "Queen Maxima, of the Planet Almearac. I have searched the universe far and wide for a man who is worthy of my affections. And after I have heard of your prowess, I have decided that you are the man."

Already, based on her words, Clark figured there was some kind of trouble. The Kryptonian kept his eyes on the woman. Dangerous proved to be a pretty good description for this particular woman. Clark would have to remain guarded and prepare to fight her.

"I have chosen you to fight for my hand," Maxima said.

"And who am I fighting against?" Clark asked.

"Only a Queen can properly declare the worthiness of a man," Maxima said. "I fight my own battles. Those who dare try and fight another for my hand end up getting humiliated."

Clark figured he was she was a fierce warrior. And had fought may and had been disappointed by the competition so far. Clark figured a battle between the two of them would cause untold property damage in Metropolis which was why he had to think quickly to find a way around it.

"You want me, to fight you?" Clark asked.

"Yes, my love," Maxima said. "I know you will offer a stimulating challenge. And maybe, you will be the man to finally be able to take me."

So many ways that statement could be taken, but Clark just kept calm and collected. He was not going to allow Maxima to dictate the terms of this battle. He already was figuring out a plan. Clark reached into his earpiece and sent a coded signal before looking back at her.

"I hope you are a worthy opponent as I suspect you were," Maxima said. "I must warn you, my beloved, I will not hold back. If I find I was mistaken, and you are not worthy then I will not hesitate to give the same fate to others who have fought for the honor of marrying me."

The implication of the fate of those men, and maybe women, who tried to fight for Maxima's hand reared its ugly head. Clark stared down at her.

"I do hope that you win," Maxima continued. "But, rest assure I will not go easy on you just because you are easy on the eyes. I demand nothing other than the best. I demand a strong husband who is able to take me down."

"Well, that's an interesting challenge," Clark said.

"And one that I know you'll accept," Maxima said. "I know what you are thinking, Superman. I can see it in your eyes. You don't want to let down your adopted homeworld. You will have to fight me."

Maxima waited for the official word to accept the challenge. One constant through the universe was no man would dare turn down the challenge to face her. Many of them had been crushed underneath Maxima's feet because they were too proud to turn down the battle.

"If you want a fight, then you're going to have to earn it."

Maxima's mouth hung open at his words. He…he did not really understand, did he? He did not understand the rules of her game, did he? Maxima's prepared to protest.

"Chase me."

In a blink of an eye, Superman zipped off as far away from her. Maxima realized she had been challenged. She followed him.

The plan worked so far, Maxima would refuse to turn down a challenge. And Clark picked up speed when she moved after him. She made pretty good time. Clark almost let her catch him before picking up the speed and moving her past Metropolis and then past civilization.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 6** **th** **, 2018.**


	73. Chapter 73

**Chapter Seventy-Three: New Acquisition**

* * *

The latest visitor left quite the impression on the people of Metropolis. Many people would highly debate whether or not the impression left on them was a good impression to be perfectly honest. One woman in particular shook her head when dropping down at the edge of the curb.

"Why do they always come and bother us? Why do have to cause so much trouble? We're just normal people trying to live normal lives. Why do they do this to us? Why? Why? WHY?"

These words continued to echo out with the woman placing two hands on either side of her face and digging in nails first. The breathing increased as the woman rocked back and forth on the curb. A couple of the officers of the law moved in to check on her.

The cry of a child in the distance startled anyone who had been listening in. The woman disappeared alongside Superman. They were out of the woods for not, at least until the next invader popped up. And the next invader wold pop up. There were just a continued wave of terror for these particular people.

Daisy Johnson appeared at the edge of the crowd and drew in her deep breath with a sigh. She turned her head an inch to face her partner Alex Danvers. "I wonder when the exact moment was that we became a glorified clean up crew."

Alex shrugged her shoulders a fraction of an inch. She would have to be perfectly honest, she did not know. Several agents of the DEO came in behind Alex. All of them looked pretty shaken when showing up. Alex took a few seconds to compose her thoughts and draw in her breath with a deep sigh.

"We're going to have to assess the damage. All of you make sure the area is secure."

Civilians, especially the ones who were shell shocked were the highest priority. Alex noticed an overturned car on the ground. She quite frankly expected a bit more.

"I have a feeling we're late to the party again," Daisy mused. "And I'm still trying to figure out why we became the glorified cleanup crew."

Alex just shook her head absent mindedly. She moved over towards a building to see a couple of eyes peering out. The DEO Agent put her hand on the latch of the building and pulled on it. A huddled group of college students looked at each other and they were shaking.

"It's alright. It's okay. Come out, the worst is over."

She said this statement, but there was a part of Alex who did not believe it completely. She had to believe it though to focus on the job. The shaking civilians made their way out.

Daisy looked over her shoulder and then back at the civilians.

"Where's Superman?"

That question caused one of the civilians to jump up. The man had seen a lot today and had been shocked. His companion, a woman with strawberry blonde hair, spoke up with a very shaky demeanor.

"He flew off. Lead off that woman….I really don't know what to make of him any more. It just….there are just times where I don't know where he's coming from."

Daisy understood why people thought this. The media narrative being spun on both sides painted Clark in a not so flattering light. Boy, Daisy could understand that, and understand how the power of the mainstream media could be a very dangerous thing which would wreck the reputation of people.

' _Been there, done that.'_

"Ugh."

Alex's one word caused Daisy to raise an eyebrow. Daisy put a hand on Alex's shoulder and steered her back towards the conversation.

"I think we should get hazard pay being near the Godfrey twins this close and personal."

The bulldoggish face of Grace Godfrey flickered on the screen. She had been in the middle of some kind of rant.

"He swoops down to exert his dominance over us all. Any self-respecting woman would not put up with him. She would not put up with this garbage. And quite frankly, anyone who supports Superman, they're nothing less than garbage. You make me sick!"

Daisy threw her head back, placed her hand on the top of her head, and gave a sigh. Grace had a lot of nerve talking about things that made people sick, given how Grace was doing a bang up job of causing Daisy's stomach to turn in one of the worst ways possible.

"And he wears that symbol on his chest, that "S" which is a sign of misogyny and male oppression. His fellow female protectors are considered to be second class next to him. All women need to be educated, and stand up to this bullshit. And if you don't think that Superman is what's wrong in the world today, you're completely ignorant. Any self-respecting woman should empower themselves and just say no to Superman."

"And some of us fight alongside him making this world a better place," Daisy said. "Which is more that I can say about you. All your type does is divide people by your sensationalist bullshit."

Alex put her hand on Daisy's and caused her to turn away from the screen.

"I know she pisses you off. She really pisses me off too, but we have some work to do still."

Daisy gritted her teeth and responded with a nod. She pulled herself away from Grace Godfrey. Her brother also ranted, not about how women were being oppressed by Superman's mere presence. Rather he ranted furiously about how Superman ruined the fabric of America by his mere existence.

' _Shake it off, we got bigger problems to deal with.'_

* * *

No man ever made Maxima work for her conquest. By her nature, Maxima thought this particular quality would annoy her to no end. However, she found herself excited by the quest and the chase. It accelerated her heart beat and got her royal blood boiling. The redhead queen closed her eyes and felt the cool air blasting against her body.

' _Well, normally I prefer a warmer climate for my conquests. I can adapt though.'_

The thoughts of obtaining the perfect mate continued to burn though Maxima's head. The Almarac Queen chased her man.

"I will catch you, beloved."

"We'll see."

The young man looked over his shoulder straight towards Maxima and picked up the pace for a moment. Maxima reached out in front of him. One of the biggest smiles crossed her face when approaching him.

Clark led Maxima around the Arctic at a super-fast speed. He wished to dictate where they were heading. The Man of Steel sped up at certain points and slowed down to allow Maxima the illusion she was closing in to catch up on him. Clark pulled back from his position.

"Are you going to catch me? Or are you just too slow?"

The two blasted around the area of the North Pole. The moment Clark knew he had Maxima right where he wanted her, he decelerated and began to drop. Clark landed down onto the ground in front of Maxima.

Maxima dropped down. Her face looked flushed and the intense cold made her throw back her head for a moment. Maxima adjusted her demeanor to something more stern and fierce. She was not about to be denied what she truthfully wanted. Maxima drew in her deep breath and looked across towards the man she quested for after all of this time.

"You wanted a fight?"

The Queen looked towards the man who had stood out in the middle of the Arctic.

"To prove that you are worthy to bed me and be my mate, then yes, I want a fight."

The Last Son of Krypton took a moment to break into one of the biggest smiles possible. Maxima wondered what he was smiling about. Did he have some kind of plan which could throw her off balance? The thought of being taken down and dominated appealed to some part of the Queen.

' _No, I must fight. True domination has to be earned.'_

"I'm not certain you're worthy enough to be a mate."

Maxima raised an eyebrow for a second. She never heard those words in her life. Men threw themselves at her. She stomped them and stepped over them for the most part. This man did not just fall for her, for her immense beauty. A tremendous blow struck her and doubled her over.

"You're going to have to prove yourself. You have to prove yourself worthy of being my mate."

"I am Maxima, Queen of Almarac," she boasted. "I am always worthy."

Kal-El just gave her one of those smiles. The bold warrior queen most certainly had a lot of confidence in her. This particular confidence did appeal to him.

"It's the custom on Earth to show your abilities before fighting Earth's chosen champion. And only then, if you pass the test, are you completely worthy."

Maxima threw her head back, knuckles clutching together. Did he dare say she was not worthy? Maxima could not believe a word which has come out of the mouth of this man. And yet, she was intrigued by what challenge came her way. Maxima stood up a little bit to face him.

"Unless you lack the confidence."

"I don't. I know that I can defeat any adversary you throw at my feet. Bring on your champion."

The smile, if anything on Kal-El's face grew even wider. "Very well. You may face her now."

A dark haired figure dropped down on the ground in front of Maxima. Maxima took a half of a step back and allowed her mouth to hang open. She saw a ghost of the past in front of her. Tall, dark hair, dressed in a tight black body suit, and ready for battle, this person approached Maxima.

"You were a spoiled child the last time I saw you. And when you're now a woman, you're still a spoiled child."

Astra In-Ze smiled and Maxima faltered a few seconds. She looked at the woman who had been considered a legend. One of the greatest military leaders ever to step foot on the planet Krypton stood to face off against her.

"I'm not going to back down from you," Maxima boldly said.

"Good, I'm looking for a fight, Queen Maxima."

Maxima faced off against one of the more dangerous adversaries ever to come in front of her. Pride would not allow her to turn down this fight under any circumstances. The potential prize caused Maxima's lips to pride and overrode any fear she felt towards fighting Astra.

* * *

Several papers shuffled on her desk. Tess figured she should get organized somehow. The latest invader proved to be an interesting one.

' _Only a matter of time before Maxima showed up and threw herself at Kal. It was only a matter of time before she did.'_

Tess killed a few minutes reading the latest report. The latest figures were completely up for this month. It made Tess very happy to learn this particular news. She turned the radio to a station which talked about the news in a detached manner, without any of the social commentary.

' _I miss the days where the news only talked about the news,'_ Tess thought. _'Granted, that was a long time ago. And it's only going to get worse in the future.'_

The Godfreys created controversy wherever they went. Unfortunately, Tess learned one of the key cornerstones of business a long time ago. Controversy ended up creating cash. Tess bit back on her lip and threw her head back with one of the more obvious sighs possible.

Tess put her papers away in the file. She looked over her shoulder. It had been a learned behavior for a long time to check her surroundings. One might call it paranoid. Tess disagreed, she did not call it paranoid. She called it being aggressively prepared for anything that happened around her.

And there were a lot of things which could potentially happen around her if Tess was not careful. She moved over towards the edge of the window. The chaos in the streets calmed down.

' _You would think the Metropolis city government would have a protocol for these things by now.'_

Then again, Gotham had been at the brink of chaos once a week. The GCPD prepared for these things. Those outside of the Gotham City Police Department, who lived in Gotham City, they never could prepare for such things.

Tess turned towards the television muted. The footage caught of Superman and Maxima appeared on the screen. Maxima had been lead off by a crafty move by Superman.

' _With any luck, she'll be properly humbled.'_

The phone on the side of Tess's desk rang. She looked over to check the number, but it was not one she was familiar form. This caused a frown to go on Tess's face.

Continuous ringing echoed through the room. Tess waited and it went on for close to three minutes.

' _A telemarketer would not be this persistent.'_

Tess took a moment to sigh and to pick up the phone. She would find out who was on the other end, for better or for worse.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Lutessa," a distorted voice responded. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?"

Those particular words came at her with such force that Tess tried not to grit her teeth in obvious frustration. The unlisted phone number made a lot of sense when it had come through. Tess regretted picking up the phone instantly, and yet also felt morbid curiosity drive itself into her.

"What do you want?"

"A warm greeting as always, and yet, down the point. But, you should know something about the Godfreys. They are toxic."

Tess doubted very much that she needed someone to tell her how toxic the Godfreys were. Anyone who stomached a few moments of any of their broadcasts understood how much discontent they stirred up and how much trouble they stirred up along with it.

The Luthor heiress drew in a deep breath. "Tell me something I already don't know."

The pause between the two had been very awkward indeed. Tess hated long pauses because she spent them imagining just what the person was thinking during them.

"And I would think that you would get along with the Godfrey twins. Especially old Glorious, who hates aliens about as much as you do."

"You wound me due to your lack of understanding of nuance," Lillian replied on the other end of the phone. "You should think clearly back to your past. The one which you have been going out of your way to avoid. This might help you understand why my organization and the Godfrey twins will not get along. Think about that, and you understand all of the dangers that Earth causes. And you understand that we're only trying to protect this planet."

"Cadmus's idea of protection is very dangerous and puts more people at risk."

Tess wondered if that particular statement was even heard. The phone disconnected and left Tess to sigh in response. She took a moment to compose her thoughts.

"A runaway bus of school children would have hurled off the bridge with the children falling to their certain and inevitable doom. They would have, had it not been for Supergirl's latest round of heroics."

A smile broke out over the face of the redhead businesswoman. _'At last, some encouraging news for our heroes. It took long enough.'_

* * *

Maxima circled around her adversary on the battle field. She reminded herself this was not any warrior with a superiority complex. This was Astra In-Ze, one of the most dangerous woman to ever walk this world or any other. Astra and Maxima met eye to eye with each other.

The two charged into each other in battle. Maxima tried to take her opponent down swiftly and quickly. She normally enjoyed an intense back and forth battle. This time, Maxima refused to allow her ego and thought for a fight get the better of her.

Maxima flipped Astra over by her legs. Astra flipped over and landed on the ground. She grabbed Maxima's arm with a second attack and twisted it around. Maxima grimaced the second Astra held onto her arm.

"And I thought you were a fierce warrior."

Those eyes flared with anger. Maxima pushed out of the attack and came at Astra. Astra spent some time deflecting the attacks from Maxima. She held her back down to the ground, turned her around and drove a jab to the side of Maxima's shoulder.

Maxima grimaced and closed her eyes. She rushed towards Astra, and the two of them stumbled to the ground. Both of them rolled around the ground. Maxima gained the upper position for a minute with Astra grabbing onto her top and ripping at it.

The Queen of Almarac jumped back and yelled in anger at her clothing being ripped. Astra jumped up and wrapped her legs around Maxima before taking her down onto the ground. Astra held onto Maxima and squeezed her legs around her neck.

Maxima grabbed onto Astra's crotch and pushed her away. The strong legs of the Kryptonian General parted to allow Maxima room to breathe. Maxima grabbed Astra and tore at her bodysuit. This opened up Astra for an attack as both women did a flip in mid-air and smashed through the ice below.

Clark took a half of a step to see what was going up. Astra broke through the ice and yanked Maxima back up by the hair. Both women rolled into position with Maxima being pressed down face first onto the ground. They dripped wet with water which caused their slightly torn clothing to cling to their curvy bodies.

"And two people beating the hell out of each other is more arousing than I thought," Chloe commented over the link.

She and some of the other girls got a full few thanks to the security drones from the Fortress which as in the Arctic. Maxima and Astra exchange punches with each other.

"It can be," Diana said. "Especially given the people involved."

Maxima howled and threw her fist at Astra. Barely any clothes now hung from her wet body. The woman's nipples stuck out thanks to the Arctic chill.

"I figured you'd get off at being dominated."

Astra pushed her down to the ground and mounted in from behind. Parts of her battle gear were ripped, but not as much as Maxima's, who had been rendered to a few strips of fabric. It was not the first woman that Astra stripped naked and humiliated before her on the battlefield.

Maxima popped back up and tried to attack Astra. She nailed her adversary with a very solid punch to the side of the head. Another couple of punches popped back until Astra grabbed Maxima and pushed her to a kneeling position.

The Queen of Almarac came down to the ground. Astra pressed her foot down on Maxima's bare back and forced her on her hands and knees. She struggled at the feet of Kal-El. Her intense breathing grew even more so when trying to force herself back up.

"You are a very valiant warrior."

Astra grabbed the back of Maxima's head and pulled her up. She shook her head.

"You've been defeated."

Those words punctured the already heavy ego of the Queen. She struggled against the force Maxima exerted on her back when pushing her down onto the ground.

"You are a noble warrior who needs to learn many things still. Including your proper place."

The Queen found herself down on the ground in front of Kal-El. Astra stood over the top of Maxima like a conqueror. She closed her eyes and struggle to her feet.

"Forgive me, Kal-El. I have insulted you with thinking that I have been worthy without proving myself."

Astra took a moment to smile at this particular statement coming from the normally arrogant and self-assured mouth of the Queen. She would forever cherish this particular moment.

"For once in your life, you have been humbled. I will allow you to rise with Kal-El's permission. Your fate is in his hands."

The foot finally came off of Maxima's back and she scrambled to her knees. She stopped when realizing that Kal stood before her. Kal extended one hand and made the motion for Maxima to rise to her feet. Maxima made her way to a standing position.

"You should not have come here in the matter you did. The citizens of Earth might have considered it an act of aggression."

Those words from the Kryptonian survivor burned into Maxima's head. She extended her head down not being able to meet his gaze. Kal cupped the Queen around the chin and made her rise her gaze up to face him.

"You're going to face me when you take your punishment. And you will have to be punished. If you wish to be with me, then you will have to learn."

"You still…you still wish to have me?" Maxima asked.

A moment's pause followed and Clark responded with a smile. The smile warmed up Maxima somewhat when facing off against him. She hoped for something, anything to increase the hope she held.

"On my terms."

The Queen inclined her head into a very subdued bow. She appreciated these words coming from her savior. They were more than she deserved.

"We must take you to face judgment. You have invaded this world."

Astra's words came out and Kal raised an eyebrow. He nodded in response.

"An admirable suggestion," Kal said. "Come with me, Maxima."

Maxima would follow him to the edge of any world. The now humbled Queen realized she would do anything that he said. She would learn to be a better person so they could truly be equals. Maxima realized how much damage her arrogance could have caused for both her future prospects and the future prospects of her people.

' _This changes now. I will take whatever punishment I have.'_

* * *

The Fortress captured the spirit of the stories she heard from her mother about Krypton, Maxima knew about this much. She came face to face with a blonde woman who peered into her eyes for a few seconds. The woman's fierce demeanor showed Maxima she was not one that would be trifled with.

"My name is Lara. I am Kal-El's mother. The one you should have come to if you intended to court him."

Maxima took a few seconds to nod.

"I apologize if I offended you. I'm just used to….."

"Getting whatever you want?" Lara inquired. Maxima confirmed her statement with a nod. "Yes, unfortunately, that can be a problem. You are so used to success that you cannot conceive any failure."

The nail struck completely. Maxima sat back and spent a moment studying the glass sculpture which represented the moons of Krypton and the red sun, representative of the god, Rao. She turned to face Lara who now had been joined by Astra and Kal-El.

"I've decided on your punishment."

Maxima looked at her hopeful future husband and prepared to take her punishment in the best way possible.

"You are going to work on the same farm that I grew up on. You will be performing labor and understand how the other side lives. My father always said that a good hard day's work gives a person perspective, and I think you'll understand after spending a few days working on the farm."

"Yes," Maxima said. "Thank you."

Normally, Maxima would have detested lowering herself to manual labor. For Kal-El, she had no choice. She could have been sent to the Phantom Zone and it would have been well within his rights to do so. He might have been too valiant to throw her away like that, but Maxima could not be for certain.

"And you will allow me to do anything I wish to you, this evening. Within reason, naturally."

The Queen raised an eyebrow at his words. She opened her mouth.

"I'm so…..""

The Last Son of Krypton silenced her with a single finger on Maxima's lips. Her eyes flushed over the second Kal-El put his finger down onto her mouth.

"Less talking. I believe we can find another use for that mouth."

Clark leaned in and dominated Maxima's mouth with a kiss. His mouth engulfed hers and his tongue demanded entry into her mouth. Maxima closed her eyes the very second Clark held onto the back of her head. Their tongues kept pushing against each other.

"Mmm," Maxima moaned with delight. "Mmm."

The strong tongue continued to push its way against her. Clark's strong hands teased her body and took off the few clothes Maxima left to leave her bare and prepared for him.

"Remove my clothes, slowly."

Maxima did not hesitate to comply with Clark's wishes.

* * *

The Queen removed his clothes and smiled, pleased at his muscular body. She touched him and rolled down his body. Maxima varied her touching with some very passionate kissing. She moved down his body and undid his belt before pulling his pants down.

Maxima pressed her palm against his stomach and rolled down. His mighty phallus stuck out for Maxima to touch and to toy with.

"May I?"

The consenting smile made Maxima kiss down his body. She held his hard and proud cock up to touch and to tempt. She stuck her tongue out and tasted him from the base all the way to the head. The veiny member grew even harder in Maxima's hand.

"To your knees so you can do it properly."

Those commanding words brought Maxima to her knees. Clark's cock twitched at the sight of the sexy redhead on her knees. His cock pressed in Maxima's hand as the stunning warrior queen prepared to succumb to his phallus. She leaned in and planted a hungry kiss on the tip of his cock.

Maxima's warm mouth closed in around the swollen head of the powerful gentleman in front of her. She could be taken in any way that she wanted and she would accept it. His hard cock edged closer into her mouth. Two strong hands tightened the grip around the back of Maxima's head before sliding inside of her.

"Your mouth is perfect!" Clark groaned. "Perfect for sucking my cock."

The hard rod pummeled Maxima's warm mouth. Every thrust slapped Clark's balls against Maxima's chin and left a nice little mark on them. The young man held onto the back of her head and forced his agonizing rod into the back of her mouth with a few hard thrusts.

Maxima blew his massive rod. Her warm mouth encircled as much veiny flesh as possible. The Queen tipped her head back and took him into the back of her throat. Maxima's entire body flared up with desire.

' _I need it inside me.'_

That lustful thought increased Maxima's motions on him. She went down as far on Clark and took his massive rod into her perfectly tight and warm mouth. The back of Maxima's head bobbed up and then down to suck on Clark's hard cock. A growing pressure filled Clark's tense balls.

"Stop."

Maxima released his cock from her mouth. His throbbing erection slapped her in the face. Bits of spit spilled off of his cock from her messy blowjob. He grabbed Maxima's shoulder and pulled her up to her feet.

"On the bed, and on your hands and knees. Crawl across the bed and do it slowly."

Compliance with his words felt like the most natural thing in the world. Maxima sunk down onto her hands and knees on the bed and crawled. She peered over her shoulder, red hair flipping. Maxima's ass extended in the air.

SMACK!

The sound of hand spanking firm flesh echoed. Clark leaned behind Maxima and hovered up into the air behind her. He made sure to drag his hard cock against the small of her back, all the way down to the teasing crack of her ass.

"If you're fortunate, I might put it there."

Maxima looked up in surprise and confusion. "They do that on Earth?"

The thought heated her up. Maxima thought herself to be as adventurous to try anything once. Clark's strong hands grabbed Maxima's hips and rolled all over her body. The intense heat coming from her body increased the excitement with Clark's fingers drumming all over her body.

"In time, you might get the pleasure. There's something else I want."

Clark pushed his finger into Maxima's mouth and made her get his digit nice and wet. Maxima obediently assisted her ideal lover by sucking on his finger. She did it with such intensity that Clark's cock throbbed. He needed to be balls deep inside of this alien temptress and balls deep inside of her soon.

The finger sucking completed and Clark dragged his finger down. He stuck his finger inside of Maxima's pussy. All of the heat form her body just rushed into one central point. She prepared herself to mate with the powerful young man hovering above her.

"This is now mine. This belongs to me."

"Take what's yours," Maxima purred.

A slow finger fucking session dragged Maxima's emotions high. Her lover ensured she was nice and wet and ready for the next action. The finger detached from Maxima's stretched out core. The second Clark slid out of her, his cock replaced his finger.

That swollen head danced on Maxima's scorching slit. The redhead tried not to lose her mind, try as she might. Her strong lover could take her in any way and Maxima would give herself up in any way possible.

Clark spent precious moments teasing Maxima's body. He paid attention to her breasts which hung out like overripe fruit on the vine. They demanded to be grabbed and molded for him. Clark held her soft breasts in his hand. The warmth caressed his fingertips and he responded by caressing her breasts.

Their two strong and powerful bodies met each other. Clark slammed his hard cock into Maxima from behind.

"Oh, Rao damn it, I love how tight you are!"

Clark pushed his cock deep inside of Maxima's pussy. The Queen's body flared up. Clark leaned towards her and kissed the back of her neck. He planted more kisses down her as he planted his hard cock inside of her from behind.

"Made for you!" Maxima squealed. "I'm made only for you. Only for your hard cock to fuck me! OOOH, YES!"

The throbbing hard erection pierced Maxima and drove her to intensity. Her orgasm built in her body. The tightening around Kal's massive rod made her feel so good, so alive.

The Last Son of Krypton smiled when feeling how her sensitive body reacted to his touch. Maxima's pussy worked its way around his cock. She was gloriously tight and determined not to let go of his cock until the bounty had been spilled inside of her.

She came and boy did she ever come. Maxima's screams rebounded through the Fortress and into the Arctic. Clark closed his eyes and pushed into her body. Her wet snatch gripped his cock and milked him. Clark's balls smacked against her.

"You've been waiting to cum like that for a long time."

Maxima flashed Clark a smile as he pushed into her.

"The longest. My beloved Kal-El make me cum again!"

Clark pushed deep inside of her body. Every square inch of Maxima's scorching center caressed his hard cock. Clark groaned the second he pushed into her and then he pulled out.

Flares of sexual energy shot through Maxima. She hovered over the bed thanks to Kal-El pulling them back up. This allowed him access to her body in greater detail. Those hands mastered pleasing a female body.

"Compliments to your teachers," Maxima said. "Or does this come natur…naturally?"

The mighty rod pierced Maxima's tight center at the next orgasm. Her eyes watered with pleasure the deeper Clark penetrated her lovely body. Clark took some enjoyment in dragging out Maxima's next round of pleasure. His hard balls continued to slap her on her wet pussy.

"Well, I had people to drag out my natural talents."

He touched a very sensitive spot on the back of her neck. Maxima closed her eyes to properly understand the rush of pleasure coursing through her body. He built her up for another pleasure.

Clark entered her heat and stayed there for a few minutes before pulling back out almost all the way.

"Please, don't leave me."

"Never."

Those words coming from a normally confident, some might say arrogant, woman made Clark smile. He brought her down with a never ending thrill ride of pleasure. Clark's massive hands pushed against Maxima's round breasts and he squeezed them.

"Face me."

Clark pulled out of Maxima. He rotated her in mid-air. The Queen's eyes locked onto Clark's mighty rod which still dripped with her juices. The Queen positioned herself over Clark's massive rod and pushed herself down all the way onto him allowing her to be filled up.

"So good," Maxima said with a deep breath coming through her body. "It's…it's so good!"

Twelve inches of hard cock pieced deep inside of Maxima's body. She rose up and bounced down onto him. Her legs wrapped around Clark as he hovered in mid-air. The heat connecting between both of their bodies heated up the cold arctic on this day.

"I agree," Clark said. "It's not only so good, it's the best."

Clark tensed his hand around Maxima's nipple and gave it a very intense squeeze. Maxima closed her eyes tight when he played with her right nipple and her left nipple.

"Suck on them, please."

Pleasure filled Maxima with Clark sucking on her right nipple while he kept playing with her left one. Maxima rotated her hips down onto his crotch. The two lovers met together in mid-air with an intense feeling cascading through the pair of them.

Clark alternated and then buried his face between her large breasts. He sucked on the glorious mouths.

"Just think when they're full of milk for our child."

The Last Son of Krypton looked up from Maxima's heaving bosom and gave her a smile. "Only when you've earned that right."

"Then I endeavor to work hard," Maxima said.

Maxima's eyes glazed over at the sensations she felt. Their hips rolled together, back and forth. Neither party wavered from their feeling!

"KAL-EL!"

She screamed his name into his ear. Her fingernails kept digging into the back of his neck. Maxima's body flared up with a joy she could not explain through mere words. Her pussy walls sank deep and fast onto him.

The two lovers indulged themselves in their bodies. Clark spun them around, where he held Maxima upside down in the middle of the air. Clark held her tight and she responded by having her legs wrapped around them.

The final orgasm from Maxima triggered Clark's eruption. He grabbed onto her back and drove himself into her. His engorged balls started to spill their bounty inside of Maxima's wet cavern.

Maxima held on to him with her legs and made sure not to waste a single drop. She did not intend to slow down despite the soreness permeating through her body and neither did he.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 8** **th** **, 2018.**


	74. Chapter 74

**Chapter Seventy-Four: Welcome Back, Lois**

* * *

A big change in a person's life often changed that particular person's perspective and attitude. Maxima thought about her attitude before leaving for Earth and her attitude on this day. Maxima knew deep down she had a lot of growing to do. But, she was happy because of the strides she made.

Maxima would be spending a lot of time away from her home world until she was ready to properly rule it. She made her way back to the palace with the permission of her new husband and his collective of wives. The redhead woman turned her head a fraction of an inch to the left and then a fraction of an inch to the right before bringing it back around with a smile.

A small part of her would miss this place. The architects did a good job. The red curtains really did show off the palace in all of its glory. She also appreciated the nice archways. They lead deeper into the palace and showed Maxima how elegant this particular place could be.

The little things Maxima appreciated more so than ever before. She had been rather spoiled and took everything for granted. She thought she had been entitled for a husband. Said husband was far better than anything Maxima ever could have imagined. The redhead shifted back a couple of inches and sighed deeply. He was truthfully more than she deserved.

She really did come out ahead.

"My lady?"

The tentative words of her adviser brought Maxima out of her recollection. The short, dark-haired woman, was rather attractive in her own way. She did not carry herself with as much confidence as Maxima would have appreciated. The fiery queen leaned in and put a hand on the shoulder of the adviser who shifted a little bit nervously.

"Stand up straight. There's no need to be alarmed."

The adviser nodded and swallowed the lump in her throat. "Are you certain you want to go through with this? The ruling council…well they are more than happy to lead in your stead, but….I thought you were going to…."

"I'm not abandoning my people in any sense of the word," Maxima told her. "I'm merely exploring options of a brand new world. I never thought that I would leave and go to my husband's new home world either and yet here I am. I can't wait to….well I just can't wait. He'll be amazing."

The adviser once again nodded when backing off from Maxima. She put her hand on the door leading out to the balcony overlooking the square where many people gathered.

"Your public awaits. And…congratulations on finding him."

"My standards are high," Maxima said. "And he fulfills them. So, thank you."

The adviser's eyes widened at being thanked by her Queen. She was flattered Maxima seemed appreciative of her compliment. It was more than she deserved. This adviser's stomach turned a fraction of an inch as she wondered what happened.

"And if my public awaits, then it would be prudent not to keep them waiting."

Maxima moved through the golden doors. She walked over the elegant balcony. Three of her guards parted ways to give the Queen of Almarac room to move in to address the people who lingered beneath her. She looked down at them. They all looked up to her and then dropped down to their knees on the ground.

"You may all rise to your feet."

The collective citizens all rose to their feet before Maxima. Maxima hoped to convey to them the changes which went through her on this day and how they all did a good job in effecting her life.

"As you know, I have left our world in search for my mate. I had to expand my reach as my search for my king had grown futile. However, in time, I have found him and I have traveled to earth to find a man which could handle everything I had to offer. And a man who also can fulfill my standards."

The ears of everyone on the ground listened to the Queen. They always listened to her, but now they were listening more closely than ever before. All of them prepared for the woman's speech as she broke out into a smile and pressed on with her words.

"He bested me, an admirable quality for any man. And…I think that it is now time for me to leave this kingdom for a short amount of time. He has his own share of responsibilities upon his adoptive home world. Kal-El of Krypton will guide these humans of the planet Earth with strength and with his usual forceful nature. And I will prepare to stand alongside him during these moments, while also learning the culture of the people of this planet Earth!"

The words of Maxima had resounded with the people who were standing below on the ground. The Queen pressed on a few seconds later.

"I know that my people will prosper whether or not I am here to guide them!" Maxima claimed. "And there will come a day where I will return to you and prepare to guide my people once more. Even after I leave to experience the culture of Earth, I will still have my heart set. And once I discuss my future plans with my husband, we will be formidable as will those allies he had gathered. All must stand strong."

Maxima gave them all an encouraging smile which took the crowd again.

"Do not mistake my happiness for weakness however. We will be strong and anyone who tries to invade my planet or disrupt your way of life will have a few surprises on their way. Tonight, I depart, and I depart to be part of a brand new world. But, you should not worry, for I will be back stronger than ever."

The people applauded their Queen who waited for the applause to die down before she continued her speech.

"My most trusted advisers understand what they must do. And I can always return in the event that I'm needed, and my husband has powerful allies as well .Just a fair warning to those who may think a coup could be easy. It remains as futile as ever before."

* * *

A heavy tank rolled down the streets of Metropolis and rattled said streets. Clark Kent moved faster than a speeding bullet, under the guise of Superman. Karen, under the guise of Power Girl, moved in behind them. Her sigh proved her obvious agitation with this entire mess.

"I know, tell me about it," Clark said.

Karen shook her head and took a good long glimpse at everything they had to deal with. "Every single day, Intergang stages an attack. And half of the time they stop them. But their weapons are getting bigger. The last one almost took Kara down."

Almost was a very scary word. Intergang acquired weapons which would take down Kryptonians. Clark took a good long look at those weapons and what he had to deal with. The rattling of the engine put him on high alert.

The members of Intergang on the outside of the tank wielded those laser cannons as well. They were a far bulkier and wider model than the last ones Clark and Karen had to take on.

' _We've got to take out the tank first,'_ he decided. _'Then we're going to draw their fire away and pick out the gunners one at a time.'_

Clark looked over his shoulder towards his cousin. "You know what to do?"

Karen answered with a nod and moved around as a blur at the speed of light. The men on the ground caught sight of Karen and began to shoot at her. The dynamic blonde avoided the lasers from connecting with her full on as she circled around.

The Woman of Steel avoided the attacks from the lasers which came down towards her. She dropped down onto the ground in front of her attacker. One of them held out a grenade and it broke open on the ground to send a sonic pulse which caused Karen's ears to be rocked. She clutched the side of her head in very thinly veiled agony as the sonic blast continued to resound all around her.

Clark positioned himself high above the air and above the tank. He moved in at the speed of light and almost dropped his entire weight down on the tank. Clark connected very hard to the tank which rattled underneath his feet when dropping down on the ground.

The Man of Steel bounced off of tank. It had some kind of energy field around it which prevented him from attacking.

"We have a problem," Clark said.

Karen and Clark looked at the business end of the tank which shot a large rocket at them. The two Kryptonians bolted off, and the rocket followed them. They zipped through the city with the rocket tearing through the air. They dodged around the buildings just in time.

"And now, we continue to worship these alien threats!" G. Gordon Godfrey yelled. "We let them into the country and into their lives, undocumented. Do they even pay taxes? They put humanity in danger and cause more problems then they are worth. They are a cancer to any civil society. They should all be rounded up for what they've done. We still don't know where Superman lives when he isn't grandstanding and causing massive amounts of property damage."

Clark gritted his teeth. That voice as the last thing he needed to hear when flying to avoid a missile. He and Karen split up to try and avoid the missile. The missile split up as well.

' _Great, now instead of one missile following us through the city, we have to of them. This day just keeps getting better and better, doesn't it?'_

Clark's evident sarcasm passed through his thoughts just in time for the missile to ease up on him. The Man of Steel moved to the right where the missile moved to the left. Clark and Karen kept going around in circles with the missiles scorching through the air in his general direction.

They joined and so did the missile, thankfully. They moved towards the Jumbo Tron with Godfrey's face on it.

"NOW!"

Karen's yell caused Clark to bolt out of the way at the last second. The missile blew through the face of Godfrey and caused sparks to fly from the jumbo tron. The two Kryptonians dropped down to the ground and they took a second to regain their bearings.

"Who gives this raging lunatic a platform like this?" Karen asked.

Clark really did not know. It seemed inconceivable someone would give Godfrey a voice. He had an entire talking point about freedom of speech ready to go. His voice did not work the way that it wanted to.

The tank just barreled down the street straight for the super powered team. It prepared to launch another missile at them, and Clark groaned. They were going to have to go through this entire rat race all over again and all of the frustration which went along with it.

A green tank barreled down the street at an immense force and slammed into the back of Intergang's tank with a surprising force. The tank popped open and the field had been disrupted long enough for Clark to yank the man driving the tank out of it.

Three blasts of green light pulled the weapons out of the hands of Intergang. Clark and Karen helped their savior take them down.

The dust cleared and Lois stood there dressed in a green uniform and mask which looked good for her.

"Hey," Lois said. "So, I've been tasked with protecting Earth and the rest of this sector. Good thing that I've shown up."

* * *

The former Cadmus clone who adopted the name of Connie Kent took a moment to sigh. Her entire life had been one which had been a constant struggle to try and pull together with some level of cohesion. She began to train at the Fortress and get her mind together.

The clone of Clark and Lex, made her rather odd. She was not the only person who had been a misfit, especially on the Kent Farm. It had been turned into some kind of home for misfit orphans. She sat around the table with Alicia Baker and Tara, the three of them drinking some lemonade while watching a certain alien queen attempt to perform farmyard chores under the watchful eye of an Amazon Princess.

"So, how is your training going?" Alicia asked.

"Well," Connie said. "It's just….well, the nightmares are getting less now that Lara has been working with me through them. And Astra's keeping me exhausted enough where I just fall asleep. So, I guess her training works as well as my grandmother's therapy."

Tara shook her head and smiled. "I'd believe that….looks like Martha's doing well in Washington. Good for her, she deserves it."

"We're going to need friends in high places," Connie said. "You know how the general public is feeling about people like us these days."

"It doesn't help that the Godfreys keep stoking the fire," Alicia said.

All of the girls responded with nods. They were very frustrated in different ways. Connie heard the words of G. Gordon Godfrey many times.

"Oh, she's coming on in a little bit," Tara said. "Finally."

"You're talking about Livewire, aren't you?" Alicia asked.

Alicia shook her head. Leslie Willis made her career out of being a shock-jock on the radio. As of late, she spent a lot of time debunking a lot of the talking points made by Grace Godfrey in her hyper rants on television. It was all because of Godfrey making a slight against her, at least that was what Alicia told.

Livewire was very entertaining under some small doses, very small doses. She did hammer home some points very hard and did not let up once she had gone on a rant.

"And now, she's back once again!" Leslie called over the radio. "Never does a day go by where Grace Godfrey demonstrates her utter ignorance of the matter."

The three girls wondered what set Livewire off about Grace right now. They crowded around the radio and waited for her to go off the rails.

"The funny thing is, she really doesn't care about women's issues. When talking about women's issues and feminism became profitable, she started really hammering them home. Oh, her followers will always claim she is a champion and advocate for the rights of women. Despite the fact women have had the right to vote for a long time, the right to hold down any job they want to, the fact that most child custody cases often favor the woman, they can hold public office, they can do anything a man can do and they can do it well as well."

Livewire drew breath for a minute.

"The thing is, I keep wondering whether or not Superman stood up Grace when she tried to throw herself at him. I have no proof of this, but Grace has no proof her allegations as well. I'm not the biggest defender of Superman by a long shot. I think he's a bit too big for his britches, but still, to say that he's holding back women is fucking absurd. How many women stand beside him, willingly, to fight with him. They are pretty competent as well."

"Boy, she's been holding this one in for a long time," Tara said.

"The thing I've grown to understand about feminists, at least in this modern day is they always try and play the victim card when something goes their own way," Livewire said. "They claim that it's the patriarchy trying to hold them back from achieving their goals. Well, guess what, you just spit in the face of all of the successful women inventors, all of the successful women in business, those who built their business from the ground up. They did not whine about how the man was holding them back and they did not blame any Superman for their misgivings. There are plenty of successful women as well. You seem, I've discovered that these bedroom feminists are nothing but spoiled children, who are upset that they don't get their way!"

She finally drew in breath after this long rant concluded.

"And they think they should be given an opportunity because they have a vagina. Competence and qualifications go a long way. You want to achieve something, then you go out and do it. Don't blame people for your shortcomings and your lack of competence. Perhaps the problem isn't with the patriarchy, perhaps the problem is with you."

Livewire once again drew in her deep breath.

"There are many great women and we should appreciate how hard they've worked to get straight to the top," Livewire said. "Grace Godfrey is not a champion of any woman. No, she's a champion of herself and padding her own bank account with money. Which is fine, money makes the world go around. But she's not your savior. She's a bigger scam than organized religion. Donate your money to get saved! Donate your money to some crazed witch who will make the Patriarchy go away!"

Tara and Alicia both responded with nods at her rant. It did make a lot of sense. Grace Godfrey just popped up to make this an issue because it was profitable to be an issue.

"Men can and will be shitheads. Just like women can and will be shitheads. There are shitty people out there. Some of them who are after your money and peddle your lies. I know you don't like to hear my opinions. If you follow Grace Godfrey's words, you're all a bunch of useful idiots. She thinks she's better than you all and thinks you're ignorant. But don't believe me. Just don't come crying to me when she leaves you hanging out to dry."

Maxima dropped down onto the ground with Diana's amused expression. The voice of Livewire finally gave way to a commercial break.

* * *

Chloe finished up listening to Livewire's rant on the radio. She let out her breath in a very casual whistle and turned to Lana.

"I'm not sure that if I like her being my voice against Grace Godfrey," Chloe said.

Lana shrugged in response. "Say what you want about Willis, she doesn't hold back when she rips into someone."

Chloe would give Livewire props for saying what she thought. Half of the time Chloe heard Leslie being cut off by a commercial or the music, she could just imagine the woman being ripped into by the station manager for her opinions. Yet, she remained on the station for close to three years without being fired and she had one of the most consistent ratings on there.

"I'm surprised she hasn't been fired for hurting someone's feelings."

Chloe and Lana looked up just in time to see Lois standing there next to Clark. A surprised yell came to Chloe as she rushed over and wrapped her arms around Lois to hold her into a very tight hug. Lois smiled when deepening the embrace on Chloe.

"It's good to see you!"

"Yeah, you too," Lois said. "Hey, Lana, how are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine," Lana said.

She had not received any more visions after the Thanagarians had been defeated all of those months ago. Lana sat in the middle of the room with a prickling sensation against the back of her head at all times. It almost did feel like something was going to break through her mind somehow and some way.

"It's good to see you're fine," Lois said. "Seriously, I mean that."

"Are you back for good?" Chloe asked.

"Yeah, I am," Lois said. "My training completed just a few days ago and I've been patrolling with other members of the Corps until they released me to my duty to protect Earth and the rest of Sector 2814."

Chloe answered with a nod.

"And she showed up just in time."

Clark appeared and joined the three girls. The old gang was back together again in some ways.

"Wow, this is kind of like old times," Chloe said. "I wonder when this week's meteor mutant is going to attack us now."

Lois broke into laughter as Lana shook her head in amusement and also thinly veiled agitation. She knew Chloe was having some fun.

"Intergang's getting worse and bigger and badder weapons," Clark said. "Any luck on finding their supplier?"

"Sadly, I'm not," Chloe said. "It's starting to upset me as well. It's someone who is big time, that's for sure. I don't know how big."

Clark put a hand on Chloe's shoulder to show he had all of the confidence in the world of her piecing together exactly who this benefactor was. He had a sense that it was someone who was very powerful.

"So, how is life as part of the Green Lantern Corps?" Clark asked.

Lois just smiled and leaned to her boyfriend. "You know, there are a lot of threats out there in space. Some of them will eventually turn their attention to Earth."

A sigh passed through Clark's body. He was pretty sure that Lois was one hundred percent right because of this.

"There are some good people out there and some utter assholes," Lois said. "So, really, Earth isn't too much different from the alien races out there."

* * *

An angry gentleman stormed up the steps with rage dancing in his eyes. He just received a letter of termination through the mail. His boss was a coward who could not terminate him in person. After giving the best years of his life to line this boss's pocket with greed.

"Out of my way!" he snapped at a terrified man.

The man's dark hair clung to his face. He did not bother to wash his hair as it bubbled with an immense amount of grease. He continued to storm up the stairs. The secretary at the front desk jumped up to grab the phone to call security. The man reached onto the desk and grabbed her by the hand.

"I'm going to talk to that rat bastard and you're not going to throw me out of this office!" he yelled. "Do you hear me?"

The secretary nodded meekly as the man dumped the phone off of the desk along with her neatly stacked papers. He punched the wall and shook his head in anger.

"DAVIDSON!"

The man bellowed out the bosses name when moving towards the front door. He turned towards the balding boss who looked over him through the thick spectacles.

"Patterson, I told you not to ever come here…."

"Why did you fire me?"

Patterson reached across the desk and grabbed his boss by the tie. The boss struggled in the grip of the man.

"You have an attitude problem. I have heard a lot of complaints. We can't have people like you on this team, Patterson."

"I DON'T HAVE A FUCKING ATTITUDE PROBLEM!"

The man's rage increased when he slammed his hands against the desk repeatedly. Dents rose on the desk as Patterson punched at the desk and kicked over the waste basket.

"I don't have an attitude problem! Those assholes have an attitude problem. They are idiots who wouldn't know hard work if it was shoved up their ass! I'm not the one with the problem! I gave twenty fucking years of my life to this place!"

He pulled a knife out and stabbed the boss in the chest. Blood splattered everywhere. Patterson pulled the knife out and repeatedly stabbed the boss in cold blood to cause said blood to spurt all over the desk. Patterson grabbed the bosses head and smashed it into the desk before stabbing him in the back.

"You better have not called security. I'LL KILL EVERYONE IN THIS FUCKING BUILDING!"

Security moved in but a flash of red light caused a burning red ring to drop into the palm of the hand and merge with the body of the crazed man.

"Reginald Patterson, welcome to the Red Lantern Corps!"

The leader of the Red Lanterns known as Atrocitus observed his newest recruit be teleported off before security could reach him. Earth was the perfect recruitment ground.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 10** **th** **, 2018.**


	75. Chapter 75

There's another blog exclusive lemon for this story, featuring Clark Kent and Alicia Baker. Head to my Page of Important Links, The Web of Chaos Archives and either the Stronger Together Archives or the Blog Exclusive Chapters page. It's titled. "Tempered."

* * *

 **Chapter Seventy-Five: Nightmare in Red Part One**

* * *

Star Labs bustled with a fair amount of activity and one of those activities was a large item which had been found. Some of the employees wheeled the object in on a cart. Patricia Swann followed a few steps behind the people involved and was very careful not to upset the object as she walked behind the people wheeling in the object. Patricia hitched in her breath when taking a couple of steps.

They found this meteor and it was almost like nothing they have seen in their entire life. It could have been something amazing or it just could have been nothing at all. Patricia honestly could not tell at this particular point. All she knew was the fact it gave off a surprisingly warmth.

' _At the very least, we've found something which gives off power and energy. At the very most, we've stumbled upon the key of something else.'_

Her initial findings indicated that the meteor was most certainly not Kryptonite. She did not know what the meteor was however. It was just something else, something she could not quite figure out. They rolled it on a cart into the lab where Eliza Danvers waited.

Eliza, dressed in her usual lab coat, bent over as she half watched the news. She picked up the remote control and started to press a button to mute the news on the television screen. Her attention turned over towards Patricia who flashed a very obvious smile at her colleague.

"So?" Eliza asked.

"Make sure to get it into the lab where we can take a look at it."

The technicians all nodded and rolled the item into the lab where they could all get a look at it. Patricia's fingertips rubbed together as she looked at the item jutting out from underneath the sheet. They were dealing with something amazing and potentially something very powerful.

"I want your opinion on this."

The sheet had been taken off of a large chunk of black rock. Eliza could feel the heat pulsing from the rock the moment she stepped over. Her surprise and astonishment at the rock as it glowed underneath her gaze made her look very surprised.

"Do you think there's something to this?" Eliza asked.

Patricia threw her head back and had been very surprised at the question being thrown back at her. She endeavored to answer it the best she could.

"Sometimes a rock is just a rock. And sometimes, it's a lot more entirely."

Eliza figured about as much. Her answer made a lot of sense. They rolled the cart into the next part of the lab. A small part of the rock looked ready to chip off. Eliza swiped a cotton swab over the rock and got some particles off of it. She stepped into position with the glistening part of the rock just glowing off of the edge of the swab. She moved it underneath the microscope and leaned in.

The more she looked at the strange formation of the rocks involved, the more Eliza found herself very intrigued by what was going on around them. She was pretty much certain about something though.

"It's not of Earthly origin."

Whether or not it was anything special or a space rock was just a space rock, Eliza had no earthly idea whatsoever. Her eyes followed the edge of the rock as she maneuvered around it. Her frown deepened.

"We're going to have to run tests. And we're going to have to keep it in storage. I don't know what it is. But, my first thought is this object has some distinct energy which could be harnessed."

Patricia answered with a very brief nod of understanding. She figured about as much that the object could in fact he harnessed for something. She hoped to uncover the secrets providing the rock had any secrets to uncover. There was a chance it was just a rock.

Something in the lab started to squeal and then beep very loudly. Patricia stood up as straight as possible and almost dropped down to the floor.

"That's….please tell me that's not the scanner I think it is."

Eliza threw her hands back and moved to the other option of the lab. Star Labs acquired some equipment which helped them monitor activities. One of the pieces of equipment showed them any type of alien invasion intrusion which was about to happen. Eliza's fingers whirled on the computer to get a closer look to it. Needless to say, she frowned.

"Someone has sent a huge amount of energy past the satellites. I've never seen anything like this…there's a potential danger threat."

No question about it, Eliza had to take drastic action and this drastic action was to place a call to the Fortress of Solitude. Her fingers pressed on the button to activate the communication link straight to the Fortress. Eliza drew in her breath a moment later.

The blipping came up and she heard Lara's voice on the other side. "Yes."

"Are you getting this?" Eliza asked.

"I'm just getting that energy wave," Lara said. "Either something really big is coming through. Or a whole lot of someone is coming through?"

Both theories sounded pretty awful as far as Eliza was concerned. They understood the threats were only going to get more immense as time went on and there was really no going around that.

* * *

Lois flew side by side with Clark. She was not going to lie, this was one of the best feelings ever. The freedom of having the air just blow through the side of her face as she flew. Clark smiled when he moved back around. The two of them separated to cover more ground. Then the two of them moved back together with each other.

"This is the best!" Lois cheered.

Clark just gave her a knowing smile and squeezed her shoulder. "I figured you'd get some excitement out of this."

The brunette Green Lantern recruit tossed her hair back and smiled. Excitement? Was he really kidding? Lois pumped her hand in the air and gave a very loud cheer when moving about in the air. As excited as she was, a feeling of morose spread over the body of the thrill seeking heroine.

"I have to say though, as exciting as it is, there's a part of this which is a little bit boring!"

Clark raised his eyebrow at Lois. He was about to ask her a million questions about how she could be bored when she was showing this much excitement. Lois reached over and cupped the side of Clark's hand to hold him into place. Clark took a deep breath and smiled.

"I mean, we haven't run into any trouble. When I came home, the bar was set pretty high with those Intergang goons. You can't blame me for having some pretty high expectations, can you?"

Clark suppose that he could not blame Lois at all for having those high expectations. They circled around the city. Clark's scanned the area and found absolutely nothing out of the ordinary which mandated his attention. He did not see anything not even a rogue pickpocket or a carjacker.

"To be fair, Metropolis is not Gotham."

Lois laughed. "Wow, that's the understatement to end all understatements. I mean, Metropolis is kind of the day and Gotham City is kind of the night. You would think there would be something….."

A red glowing pure with immense heat coming off of him zipped past Lois and caught her off in mid conversation. Her mouth hung open as she followed the progress of the man dropping down onto the ground. His eyes glowed with hatred when dropping out of the way.

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?"

The man raised his hand and sent a glowing knife at one of the civilians.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lois said.

"Looks like our break is over," Clark informed her.

Clark dropped down onto the ground in front of the crazed gentlemen who appeared to have acquired some kind of strange powers. He dropped down to the ground and looked at someone who had a ring who was just like Lois which took him aback. Only the ring was not precisely like Lois, no it was a red energy ring as opposed to a green energy ring.

"That's a Red Lantern," Lois said.

"There are Red Lanterns now?" Clark asked.

Lois answered with a sigh and put her hand on Clark's shoulder to squeeze it. "Yes, there unfortunately are Red Lanterns. And Earth is one of the worst possible places for them to be, I'm afraid. They feed off of anger and….."

He slammed down on the road to send some trash cans flying which stood in his way. Lois let out her breath in a very obvious his through her teeth.

"There's a whole of a hell lot for him to be pissed off about when he's here on Earth. I think we can both agree about that."

Clark could not argue with Lois on this particular front. Another thing he could not argue with Lois on the fact of was this Red Lantern was a dangerous threat.

"If there's one, there might be several," Lois said. "Well, we'll worry about the several after we worry about this one and take him down."

The super powered pair dropped down on the ground in front of the Red Lantern. His eyes widened and suddenly, he sent a chainsaw at both of them from the Red Lantern ring. Lois avoided the attack and rolled onto her back. She blasted the chainsaw construct.

"You will not stand in my way!" the Red Lantern yelled. "You're going to die, Superman! It's people like you who make sure honest folks like me don't make a living!"

Clark could tell he was either a follower of the hate spat out on a weekly basis by G. Gordon Godfrey or he was something else entirely. Regardless of the fact, the Red Lantern threw his hand back and whipped it through the air. A burning red light shot inches from Clark as he tried to spike him.

A huge gust of super breath brought the Red Lantern flying backwards into position from Lois to grab onto him. The cage the Red Lantern entered did not serve to calm him down. It was on the contrary. The cage only served to enrage the man who howled and trashed against the bars the deeper he pushed against him. The Red Lantern's anger increased with a very obvious fever pitch when repeatedly slamming himself against the bars.

He broke free and sent Lois flying. The Red Lantern smashed through the building and moved out of position. Lois dropped down to her knees, her hands aching.

"Okay, I'm fine," Lois said.

The Red Lantern disappeared into a blast of Red light. One could almost hear the breath deflate out of Lois as she dropped to her knees on the ground. Her heart raced a couple more steps when she turned her attention towards Clark.

"But, there are more on the way."

* * *

Clark and Lois made their way back to the Fortress. Lois could not help, but smile at how amazing this place was.

"Not bad. Granted, the architecture is a bit bland, but hey, it functions."

They dropped down through the entrance into the Fortress and then came down from underneath. The array of crystals surrounding the room flashed at hyper sensitivity when glaring around them. Lois really wished she had three more sets of eyes.

"Welcome back, Lois."

Lara, Clark's birth mother, smiled when ushering Lois into the Fortress of Solitude. Lois was glad to feel welcomed. The smile on her face increased. She made her way over to see Astra standing there.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Lois asked.

"Everything is going as well as expected," Astra said. "The Kandorians remain fit as usual, although Faora is mostly holding down the field with the training on that front. And you've succeeded in your training as well. A Green Lantern, well they rarely recruit from Earth. In fact, you may be the first human recruit in recent memory. I figured you would have a strong enough will power."

"Yeah," Lois said. "They weren't fond of my attitude."

Astra put her hand on the shoulder of the younger girl.

"Sometimes, a strong and a headstrong attitude can ruffle people the wrong way. You have to be true to who you truly are, to accomplish some great things. And you can make no mistake about it, you will accomplish many great things during your time, Lois Lane."

Lois did think she accomplished something great by surviving the very rigorous and intense Green Lantern training.

"The Red Lanterns arriving might be a problem. I had no idea Atrocitus was recruiting on Earth."

Lois, Astra, Karen, and Lara realized they were not alone. Not only did Raya continue to work in the Fortress as always. Karen turned up and walked closer towards them.

"Atrocitus?" Karen asked. "Boy, that's…why do I have a feeling that name is a very appreciate one?"

Astra put a hand on her daughter's shoulder and responded with a very labored sigh. "It often is…and there are Red Lanterns now. It's beginning to get hard to keep track of the various different offshoot groups. And it's all of the Guardians' fault for all of these groups popping up."

The newest Green Lantern Corp recruit necessarily could not disagree with Astra's assessment. The Guardians of Oa most certainly picked a lot of unwise battle over the past several years. Some of them lead to their own recruits being mistrustful of everything they said. And some lead to some valuable former allies becoming their worst enemies.

' _I guess you deal with that no matter where they go.'_

"I've been able to trace the energy signature," Raya said. "And I think we can safely say this Atrocitus is going on a recruitment drive here on Earth. Three more rings have been signaled, and three more recruits throughout the world."

"What kind of person gets their hands on these Red Lantern rings?" Karen asked.

Lois took a moment to sigh. "They most certainly aren't always bad people, and they have good reasons to be angry. But, they can hold a lot of rage which Atrocitus weaponizes through use of the rings. They are not happy people any way you look at it."

"So, we're dealing with people who are just burning with rage," Astra said. "And three of them at the very least are on Earth."

"Yes," Lois said.

Atrocitus came here, Lois felt strongly about this, because Earth was a very fertile breeding ground for the type of rage which was necessary from a recruitment standpoint. The Green Lantern picked her hands off of the top of her hair and brushed said hair back with a sigh.

' _This is going to be a long one.'_

* * *

The planet Earth currently burned with people who were angry about something. There were many individuals who wished to gain vengeance on those who had committed perceived slights against them. The hatred lead to wars and general mistrust involving the people. The anger caused by certain outside elements continued to fester with each passing moment as these people grew even more enraged when time went on.

Atrocitus broke into a very grim smile at the look of the planet. He hovered with a small armada of his best recruits, ready to distribute his message. The fact a new Green Lantern had been recruited and had been sent to his planet was a declaration of war as far as the menacing individual had been concerned."

"You are perfect," Atrocitus said. "You are beautiful!"

That bellow caused all of the Red Lanterns to smile and nod. Three more recruits, two men and a woman, moved up from them. The first of the men lost his job, the second of the men lost his fortune, and the woman just experienced hardship where her children died in an attack in Gotham City by the Joker.

"And you are all beautiful as well. Your anger, and your rage is quite stunning. You shouldn't hold back on your anger. No, you should allow it to bloom, my children. And all of you are my children, the children of Atrocitus!"

They all looked forward to their leader who smiled and stared down at them like a proud father. All of them grew excited as Atrocitus looked down upon them with a warm smile, but it was under a pretext of something far greater.

"You have been ripped away from lives which has ruined you, to become better people. There's a Green Lantern here on this planet. Do you understand what the Green Lanterns are? They have caused all of this. They help the Guardians of Oa rule with an iron thumb. They've allowed countless home worlds to get destroyed because we refuse to concede that they are the ultimate home authority. Mine was not the first home world which had been destroyed, nor would it be the last that was destroyed!"

The loud cheers echoed from the long lived recruits. An attractive woman who burned with hatred moved in. Her deep cleavage was offset by the blood which splattered against her body.

"Long live Atrocitus!"

"Long live Atrocitus!"

They all moved outside of Earth's atmosphere. They all prepared to move down and to show why the Red Lanterns were made of.

"Thank you, Bleez," Atrocitus said. "Yes, you all have grown to see me as your father and as a guiding light. But, I'm much more than that. I give you an opportunity to succeed where the Guardians of Oa would have liked you all to fail. And there's a brand new world which deserves to be shown that the Red Lanterns are not to be pushed to the side.

Chanting in several different languages started up. One common thread was they all exhibited their worship for the one and only Atrocitus who broke out into a very obvious and deep smile.

"Keep your heads up and prepare for war. And we will not only prepare for war, but we will bring the war to these humans. They are ignorant for the most part of what goes on around them. They are a world which is ripe for change. And we will change that particular world!"

All of them yelled out and started to pump their hands up and down. They kept cheering even more loudly as they all mobilized in the center.

"On my word, we will strike."

Atrocitus motioned for Bleez to come over in his direction. One of his top recruits gave her master a smile as she closed into him.

"They are hungry for blood," Bleez said.

"Yes, they are," Atrocitus said. "As are you, my dear. All of what has happened to you is because the Guardians and their Green Lanterns have done nothing. And what are you going to do to the Green Lantern of Sector 2814?"

"I'M GOING TO RIP HER PRETTY LITTLE HEAD OFF!" Bleez snarled.

She had a score to settle with the woman on Earth. This Green Lantern recruit had humiliated Bleez the last time they had fought. Bleez shook as the blood lust burning through her body reached a fever pitch.

"They say there's a Kryptonian on the planet," one of the Red Lanterns said. "Shall we make their race extinct?"

Atrocitus found this bit of news to be very intriguing for a number of reasons. He did not think any of the Kryptonians survived the explosion of the planet. They were a very weak and soft race as far as Atrocitus had been concerned. They would have been ripped apart had the Red Lanterns drew their attention towards them.

' _It's a pity, because underneath a yellow sun, they would have been gods. But, if there is a Kryptonian here, they are too pure of heart.'_

A loud roar came from the Red Lanterns. Bleez in particular rocked herself back and forth in thinly veiled excitement. Her eyes flashed for a second.

"Let me at him!"

"If he gets in our way, he will be taught a lesson for his arrogance like all of the others," Atrocitus said. "All move forward upon this world. The message of the Red Lanterns will be spread as it should have been throughout all of time!"

Another loud bellow and the words "All Hail, Atrocitus" came on in. The Red Lantern in question broke into a smile as he motioned his followers to move into position to follow him.

* * *

Daisy and Alex heard of the attack. Clark sent them a message to meet them in a Metropolis park. It looked like someone smashed through the fountain the second they arrived. Daisy put the hands on the top of her head and let out a very obvious sigh.

"Okay, why do I have feeling this is going to be a lot worse than it even looks? And it looks pretty bad?"

Alex smiled and put a hand on Daisy's head.

' _I sense something…that shouldn't be,'_ the blue beetle scarab said. _'It's darkness and it decays everything it touches. I should destroy it with extreme prejudice!'_

The two women approached the scene to see Lois and Clark standing there. The Green Lantern and the Man of Steel greeted the two women with smiles.

"Wish we could have gotten together under better circumstances," Alex said.

"Yeah, no kidding," Daisy said. "I don't think this is the double date either of us would have wanted."

Clark looked up in the sky. It most certainly was not a bird or a plane up in the skies. It looked like trouble coming down to face them. The trouble dropped down onto the ground with several resounding thuds.

"Red Lanterns," Clark said.

Alex and Daisy turned their attention to the Red Lanterns. A cannon retracted from Alex as it pointed at them. Daisy's hand started to vibrate as they fought them.

"Well, more pretty little heroes who we can rip apart!" the woman yelled.

"Bleez," Lois said.

Bleez would have been an extremely attractive woman if she was not bathed completely in blood and not a raving psychopath. Those two qualities were a real turn off for Lois. She pitied what happened to the woman, of course anyone who knew her story did.

"Hey, pretty!" Bleez yelled. "You won't look so pretty when I rip you apart and tear your head off!"

A blast of energy came through the area and came inches from ripping Lois apart. Lois avoided the attack from utterly destroying her just seconds later.

More Red Lanterns dropped out of the portal as Alex, Clark, and Daisy engaged them. The numbers overwhelmed then even with the Blue Beetle scarab firing everything. Daisy rocked the ground underneath them as they tried to gain a foothold. One of the Red Lantern drilled the ground underneath where Daisy stood and caused her to land down onto the ground.

Clark rushed the Red Lanterns and send them flying. They nailed Clark with several blunt force attacks to drop him down to the ground. Daisy returned fire with an attack of her own to send the Red Lanterns hurling to the ground and just in time too by the looks of things.

A machine dropped down from one of the portals and started to drill through the pavement. Lois zipped over into position to stop the machine from doing its damage. Bleez created a wall to prevent Lois from doing so. Lois flew back so Clark could catch her.

"Are you okay?"

"It's a machine that the Red Lanterns use," Lois said, ignoring the inquiry about her own well being. "it could level all of Metropolis if it's not offered."

"We're going to have a lot of angry people if their homes are destroyed," Bleez said.

Alex and Daisy blasted their way through the field of Red Lanterns. They needed to get to that machine before it had been activated at all costs. Lois and Clark joined them. The four of them moved towards the machine. Each second was precious to their abilities to stop this evil plan.

"It doesn't take much to insight humans to hatred, does it?"

"These alien menaces should all be hunted down and destroyed!" ranted G. Gordon Godfrey, almost on cue as his loud voice blared over the television screen.

"My point exactly."

Lois nailed her hard with a large fist. Clark took on the larger Red Lantern who guarded the machine. His fists glowed as he tried to take Clark down. Clark evaded each of the attacks as his rage increased. The Man of Steel jumped down and drove his elbow into the back of the head of the Red Lantern.

Clark moved down to the Machine and prepared to rip it out before it drilled in completely. A large red blast of energy shot through his ring towards him. The energy created by the Yellow Sun sucked out of Clark's body and left him weak and down on the ground.

Atrocitus moved into position in front of Clark. The Red Lanterns all positioned themselves and created a shield around in the sky preventing any fresh energy from recharging Clark.

"So, you're the Kryptonian? I'm not impressed."

Atrocitus created an ax from his ring and prepared to finish the job the planet's explosion started all those years ago against a young man working from only reserves and determination.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 12** **th** **, 2018.**


	76. Chapter 76

**Chapter Seventy-Six: Nightmare in Red Part Two**

* * *

The Kryptonian Survivor stood up to his feet. Every inch of his body felt like some runaway train rolled over it. Determination blocked out the pain Superman felt. He would have to stand up and most important he would have to fight Atrocitus. The Man of Steel planted his feet firmly onto the ground and came up to fight the leader of the Red Lantern Corps. The other Red Lanterns buzzed around like angry bees above the top of his head.

"I'm not impressed."

Atrocitus forcefully nailed Superman with everything he could behind that violent punch. The Man of Steel struggled to his feet and took a deep breath. Superman eyed Atrocitus with a beery eye. Atrocitus came at him with a huge battle axe. Superman dodged the attack and struck Atrocitus with a huge uppercut to the side of the face. Atrocitus stepped back another inch.

He decided to use a construct of a red fist to pound the Kryptonian Survivor down to the ground. Atrocitus watched as the Kryptonian male rose to his feet. The Red Lantern threw his full force attack towards him. He flew backwards into the side of the building. Superman slid down on the building and left a skid mark behind him. His fingers curled against the ground.

"Superman, hang on!" The Green Lantern yelled.

Lois Lane pushed herself through the Red Lanterns who surrounded the weapon in the ground. She had to get to Atrocitus. Unfortunately, they were making this a lot easier said than done. Bleez dove through the air and went to spike down into Lois's chest. Lois avoided the spike from coming down into her just seconds away.

The Red Lantern moved closer towards Superman like the raging wind. Superman sucked in his breath when standing up to face Atrocitus. Atrocitus pounded him down to one knee with a spiked fist down to the back of the head.

"They call you Superman. I don't see it."

A huge blast nailed Superman so hard it flipped the Man of Steel over onto his back. He tried with all of his might to raise up to fight Atrocitus. He could not sustain the attacks for very long.

"There is little about you that is Super!"

Atrocitus beat Superman down into the ground so hard that a small crater manifested. He barely even acknowledge the battle going on around him. He only wished to rip into the Kryptonian one last time and spill his blood.

"And there's little about you that's manly."

A dazed part of Clark's mind was very amused. It was a damn good thing Grace Godfrey did not hear Atrocitus's words. The self-proclaimed feminist would have gone off like a howler monkey about toxic masculinity if she heard what Atrocitus considered to be a man.

"I don't know," Superman managed. He took in several pained breaths. His face swelled up and it was very hard for him to breath. "I might surprise you."

"There are no surprises without your yellow sunlight," Atrocitus said. "You live by the power. And you die by the power. And today, you are going to die without the power of the yellow sunlight."

The Man of Steel's expression focused on Atrocitus just seconds before the adversary brought his elbow down onto the top of Superman's head. A blur shot out of nowhere and caught Atrocitus to send him flying head over heels and crashing down onto the ground.

The distraction of the new arrival allowed Daisy to break free from the enemies who attacked her. Lois swooped in with a giant green glove and flipped her enemies up into the air. The Red Lanterns scattered. Alex stepped back a couple of feet from the scene as well to get a clear shot at Atrocitus.

' _Relax your fire,'_ she told the scarab.

Power Girl came in front of Atrocitus. Atrocitus held of his hand which flickered in simulated red solar radiation. He reared back and went for a huge punch to the head of his adversary. She dodged the attack and came back with an uppercut punch to the side of the head. Atrocitus only came back a few inches with Power Girl jabbing away at him.

A raven haired woman dropped down. Diana's eyes narrowed when she came face to face with Atrocitus. She withdrew a large sword from the sheath against her belt. Atrocitus created a red sword in response and the two circled each other. They jumped into the air to attack each other. The two weapons clashed together with them going down on the ground.

Diana's determination came through at the best possible way. She pushed her power into another attack and rocked Atrocitus back with all of her might. The Red Lantern staggered back a couple of steps and almost dropped down onto the ground. The Amazon Princess drew in another breath and jumped high into the air. Atrocitus blocked the attack with a shield.

Bleez and Lois surrounded each other. Both of the Lanterns fired their vicious attacks. Multi-colored lights cut through the air. Neither backed off from the attack. Lois's will-power pushed through Bleez's attacks and were stronger than the woman's rage.

"NO! NO! NO!"

These screams of anger flashed out with Bleez attempting to break through from where she stood alongside Lois. Her hands twitched and twisted. Lois flew into another attack and brought Bleez down to the ground. The Red Lanterns swarmed over the top of them.

Atrocitus disappeared in a flash of light. The Red Lanterns all disappeared into a flash of light. Lois flew down to the ground when Bleez nailed her with a blunt force attack. She tried to nail Lois in the ribs with a dagger made of Red Lantern Energy. Lois avoided the Red Lantern Dagger being plunged into her stomach. She fought with all of her might, her arms thrashing around as she attempted to block the dagger from slamming into her stomach.

Diana caught Bleez with a glancing shot. Bleez turned around and fought the Amazon Princess. The two brunette women encircled Bleez on both sides. Lois caught her in a green fist and forced her to her knees. Bleez broke free from the attack.

The lasso Diana carried wrapped around Bleez's arms and forced her to drop down onto the ground. Her breathing became very labored as she collapsed down to a kneeling position. The compulsion to tell the truth burned at Diana.

"What is Atrocitus planning to do?"

"He's targeted the Earth!" Bleez yelled with the scorching fury building through her body. "He's after a more potent power battery….forged out of the rage and despair of a hopeless world. And that world is….."

Bleez's body burned underneath Diana's lasso. She blacked out from the agony, the rage getting the better of her. Bleez fell back.

Karen already scooped Clark off of the ground and flew off now the sky was clear of Red Lanterns. Time was of the essence, and it was time to get him back to the Fortress.

* * *

Karen carried Clark over towards the table and put on down. Raya already had the simulated yellow solar radiation lamps ready to go. She pushed a button and the lamps activated to their full capacity. The solar energy flowed over Clark's body the second Raya got everything into place.

"You were very lucky to get him back here in time," Raya said.

The Kryptonian hero on the table did not really feel all that lucky. There was a rather frustrating feeling going through his mind. Atrocitus beat him down to the ground. Rage caused him to win the day. It should not have happened. Rage should not have been the contributing factor to this battle or any other battle.

"Just relax," Lara said.

Lara tried to remain calm. They needed to break this red shield around the Earth. Not only was it causing the vital solar radiation to be blocked, but Lara feared that given what she learned about the Red Lantern power source, it would have an adverse effect on the people in general.

"It's important for us to break it," Alura said. "The red energy taps into the most base, the most primal parts of an individual. Those most primal parts lead the individual to bouts of sudden rage. That rage will rip anyone apart if they can't handle it."

Everyone who met Atrocitus or one of his Red Lanterns saw what the rage was doing. Alura and Raya adjusted the frequency of the yellow solar radiation lamps. Clark groaned when he felt his body perform a healing ritual. His heart beat a bit faster.

Karen sat down beside him wordlessly, and held his hand.

"It's going to be fine."

"Nothing's going to be fine," Clark said.

He had been out there and fighting Atrocitus in a huge battle. He could have defeated that monster. Clark should have defeated that monster.

"Your weakness is not the problem here," Raya said. "The problem is Atrocitus and his strength. He feeds off the rage of his followers. And he only recruits those who have the biggest reasons to be angry."

Clark did not feel any appeasement from Raya's words. He just felt a greater sense of discomfort and also a greater sense of dismay. The Man of Steel locked his fingers against the edge of the bed sheets and slowly turned upon it. His heart beat a little bit more prominently as he took a deep breath.

"I'm going to have to get back up there."

A single attempt to rise to his feet only forced Clark to fall back down on the bed. Clark's eyes glazed over and his head throbbed. He could feel like something ripped apart his body and put it together back in the wrong way.

"That's not advised."

Lara look towards Clark for a few seconds. She looked at him like only a mother could look at a son. Not only that, but she was looking at him like a mother who could look at a son doing something very foolish.

"I would have to agree," Raya said. "Your solar reserves are only up to a fraction of what they should be. Those are nearly not enough for you to go out and fight Atrocitus."

It was like Clark received a stab to his own gut at these words. Raya gently informed him of the facts of the matter. Clark put a hand to the top of his head and tried to think of another way. There had to be another way for him to defeat Atrocitus.

"How much?" Clark asked.

Raya consulted the readings. She understood Kal-El's despair about as much as anyone else. He wanted to be out there and more importantly he wanted to fight. He did not just want to, he had to fight.

"Seventy-three percent," she informed him.

"Good enough."

Clark rose to his feet. The injuries were healed, but he saw a sense of sluggishness. All of the women in the Fortress sighed, and Karen just moved alongside with him without a word.

Alura returned her attention to the readings.

"With the shield up, there is not much time," Alura said. "Whether Kryptonian or human, you're going to be feeling what's happening."

* * *

Alex leaned against the wall as she waited for the next move to be made. The skies still burned red over the top of all of their heads. She felt like they were just waiting for the next shoe to drop and it was going to be ugly when it was. Daisy moved over towards the machine and crouched down against it.

The hacking skills of the girl could only override this firewall. She learned several alien languages over the years, and they had served her well.

"It's a shame the Red Lantern wasn't able to help us," Daisy said. "She's back at the DEO, and I know she won't be happy."

Alex just nodded in a second. She looked up to the sky and saw something. It was not a bird or a plane, rather Captain Marvel who dropped down onto the ground right next to her.

"I just got back from off world," Carol said. "And I see we've run into something pretty awful. Red Lanterns and they've swarmed the Earth as well."

"Yeah, pretty much," Alex agreed.

The two sisters exchanged pleasant smiles in what was proving to be a very tense situation. Carol moved closer to Alex and put a hand on hers. "What can I do to help?"

"Well, you being here is a good thing in case the Red Lanterns come back," Alex said. "They just left all with Atrocitus after he beat Superman half to death on the ground."

That particular statement floored Carol like nothing else. They always all saw Superman as someone who would keep getting back up no matter how hard or how much he had been hit. Then again, perhaps that was just some wishful thinking on their part.

"And how long have they been gone?" Carol asked.

Alex thought about it for a second before coming back in for an answer. "They've been gone for about ten minutes, give or take. Daisy has been trying to figure out a way to break in through the alien encryption."

Daisy chewed down on her tongue to avoid the rant she wanted to give from spilling out. This was one of the most finicky things she's ever seen. She looked up just in time to see their other back up coming over. The newest Green Lantern looked down, flashed Carol a smile, before disappearing into a pulse of light.

"If I had any luck, I would be….hang on I got something!"

Speaking too soon had been a problem Daisy had been trying to avoid as of late. She accessed the machine and brought the computer up.

"Maybe I can help," Alex said. "The scarab can translate the alien language."

"Oh, yeah, why didn't I think of that?" Daisy asked.

Alex just smiled and walked over. She held her arm and the energy ran over the glowing numbers. Alex spent approximately thirty seconds scanning the readings coming from the machine. They were among the longest thirty seconds of her life as she moved back.

"Oh boy, that's not good," Alex said.

"What's not good?" Daisy asked.

She had a sense of nervousness from Alex's words. And she rarely minced words a lot of the time. Alex put her hand on the side of the machine and took in a deep breath. She was double-checking to see if her calculations were on point. A deep breath came from Alex when she looked over the machine.

"They are going to drill into the Earth. It won't destroy it, but it will create a fire pit. Countless will be killed."

"And more Red Lanterns will be born," Daisy said. "Fan-fucking-tastic."

An angry buzzing rose over the top of all of their heads. Daisy, Alex, and Carol were not alone. They had company and the Red Lanterns returned to protect their machine.

* * *

Atrocitus would have to see the fruits of his labor up close. The Red Lanterns noticed the three heroes moving around the machine. His newest Red Lanterns swarmed the machine to protect their leader.

"Soon, Earth will be a fertile breeding ground for those who are going to just give into their darkest torments," Atrocitus declared. "There's nothing that's going to stop me now."

"Daisy, take care of it," Alex said. "We'll take care of them."

Alex turned her attention towards Atrocitus, while Carol moved to engage the Red Lanterns. Carol was joined seconds later by Lois. The two women dove into the pile of the Red Lanterns and sent them scattering back a few inches.

Atrocitus looked at this human government agent on the ground and he contorted into a very amused smile. He came just this close to breaking into a fit of never ending laughter at the audacity of this human girl who dared fight him. Atrocitus stepped back an inch to further survey his prey.

"You dare fight me?" Atrocitus asked her. "You amuse me, child."

"Maybe."

Alex closed her eyes and the Blue Beetle scarab clicked into place. The armor covered her body from head to toe. She held a large arm cannon towards Atrocitus and fired at him.

The impact rocked Atrocitus for a minute. Atrocitus jumped up into the air and nailed the Blue Beetle directly in the chest. The scarab absorbed most of the impact from Atrocitus. Atrocitus reared back and created a glowing red energy scythe from his Red Lantern ring.

"I will rip it off of you."

Atrocitus drove his attack down onto the Blue Beetle. She pushed her attack back.

The woman inside of the scarab felt the heat. Daisy was working off to the side, and Alex knew to keep Atrocitus busy enough to prevent him from attacking Daisy. Alex sucked in her breath.

' _Oh, I'm going to be feeling this one in the morning. There isn't a doubt I my mind that I am. That gruesome son of a bitch, he'll rip me apart if given half of a chance. Just got to…..just got to keep fighting even though the fight seems pretty hopeless right now.'_

Alex sprung up and knocked Atrocitus back a fraction of a step. Atrocitus turned and grinned down at the woman. That grin showed so much sadistic that Alex wanted to throw herself to the ground in frustration. Atrocitus reared back and tried to spike through the armor.

She returned fire with a slash of her own. Atrocitus's own blood spilled down to the ground. This only invigorated the man in front of her because it gave him something to be angry about.

Alex felt the burn with Atrocitus rearing back and nailing her with a huge heart stopping attack. She could feel Atrocitus burn into her costume.

"You will look pretty mounted on my wall, scarab. I'm not certain about your filling, but I'll rip her apart all of the same."

A thunderous attack dropped down onto the back of Atrocitus's neck. Atrocitus staggered back a half of a step and looked up.

"Impossible."

"It's very possible."

Superman, now dressed in a brand new solar radiation suit, walked forward to engage Atrocitus in battle. Atrocitus rushed towards Superman who dodged out of the way.

"Getting slow," Superman said.

"You're going to pay for…"

Superman clapped his hands and sent Atrocitus flying a little bit off. He went underneath Atrocitus and swept him down to the leg. Superman hit three vicious blows all to vital pressure points. Atrocitus's body sized up before he got underneath Superman and propelled him back down to the ground.

The energy suit worked like a charm. Atrocitus kept moving forward with a swift purpose. The anger dancing in his eyes could not be replaced by anything. Pure unbridled rage swam through the eyes of the monster which destroyed many words. Atrocitus whipped his hand back and smacked down against his enemy. Atrocitus reared back one more time and rattled his enemy with a vicious attack. The Red energy coming from the ring rattled Superman and dropped him down to a single knee.

Superman just led Atrocitus into position. He grabbed the man around the arm and hoisted him up off of the ground. Superman twisted Atrocitus around by the arm and cracked his arm back. Atrocitus fell down to the ground, the impact having caused him a great deal of pain.

"You're finished."

Atrocitus drew upon the energy around him. The energy caused the yellow solar radiation to shine back through. Superman came back through and rocked Atrocitus with some punches.

"Come on, come on!" Daisy yelled "Damn it!"

Superman blocked the red dagger and grabbed onto Atrocitus's ring hand. Superman squeezed his hand and a loud crunch echoed. Every bone in Atrocitus's arm had been crushed by the sheer force of the Man of Steel. Superman nailed him with two punches in succession and a massive headbutt.

Lois shot down from underneath him and put Atrocitus in a cage. The Red monster broke free. The usage of his powers caused his Red Lanterns all to drop to the ground. They felt the same pain that he did from the broken arm. Atrocitus refused to back off.

He swung at Superman. Superman bobbed underneath the attack and came back. Superman caught him with a punch to the back of the head. Another punch to the back of the head and Atrocitus had been rocked.

Superman extended three fingers and caught Atrocitus in the neck. Blood splattered out of his nose from where Superman's fingers connected him. He dropped Atrocitus to the ground who lapsed into a catatonic state the moment he hit the ground.

The rest of the Red Lanterns dropped to the ground. They resembled puppets who had their strings cut completely from underneath of them. All of them fell one at a time to the ground.

The final push inside of the doomsday device and Alex moved over. The tandem assault of Alex and Daisy worked together to get the machine disabled.

"Thank…well just thank anyone at this point," Daisy said. "Three more seconds and that thing would have drilled into the Earth."

They did wonder who was going to clean this mess up. An energy beacon erupted in the air and several Green Lanterns dropped down to the ground.

"Late as always," Lois remarked.

* * *

The Red Lanterns and Atrocitus were carried off to have their day in court by the Guardians of Oa. Lois returned back to the Fortress and waited for Clark to get released from his clean bill of health. She had been doing a lot of thing and Lois would be the first to tell you that her doing a lot of thinking was a very dangerous thing indeed. She brushed her hair way from her face, blew it away, and sighed.

Clark returned and put a hand on her shoulder which caused Lois to almost jump halfway in the air. The Man of Steel wrapped his arms around Lois's waist and pulled her in tight.

"I've just been thinking about what Bleez said," Lois said.

Clark raised an eyebrow and he had his share of questions. "What did she say?"

Lois put a hand on Clark's shoulder and smiled at him. "Well, there's something about her words that rang true. There's someone who sicced Atrocitus on the Earth. And you can't deny you've felt something was off for a long time."

Ever since the Thangarian invasion, there had been a sense of something dark that was coming. Clark had been mentally preparing himself for a battle the likes of which had never been seen.

"Someone sent Atrocitus here, or at least riled him up enough to think Earth could be his own personal playground," Lois said. "And then….someone is giving gang members, human gang members, these high-tech weapons which is powerful enough to take you down."

Lois absent mindedly put her hand on Clark's shoulder. Clark just smiled at her.

"Someone is," Clark admitted. "But, I really want to know, whose doing that."

"Yeah, me too," Lois said.

The two enjoyed a very quiet and somber moment inside of the Fortress of Solitude. Lois eased herself closer to Clark who wrapped an arm around her and pulled Lois in very tightly.

"You were amazing out there. We could really use your help out there."

"Building a little group of Super Friends, are we?" Lois teased.

Clark just gave her a smile and leaned into kiss Lois. It had been a long time and Lois returned to cup the back of Clark's head to kiss him.

"My father and sister, they're both freaking out right about now," Lois said. "And I'm going to have to face them tomorrow, especially Lucy. Because she saw me snatched out from underneath her nose. The poor kid's traumatized even more than she already is for having me as a big sister."

Clark cracked out with a smile. Lois put her hand on Clark's shoulder and started to rub it.

"But, we're here right now and we should take advantage of this area. And I…might be using this ring tonight for some purposes that are not officially approved by the Guardians."

The two met in the middle with another kiss. Things were about ready to get hot and steamy a few seconds later, as Lois pushed the door open and pushed Clark back. Her legs ensnared Clark's body and kissed him even more deeply than ever before. Their tongues buried together against each other in a sign of lust.

* * *

Lois pulled Clark back onto the bed. She created some extra hands with the Green Lantern ring and pulled off Clark's outfit. She folded it up, at least the best she could.

"Nice to see that laundry still isn't your strong suit."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that little quip," Lois said.

She ran her actual physical hand down Clark's body. The other hands created by the Lantern construct rubbed over Clark's chest and through his hair now. She cupped his face roughly and moved down to grab the underside of his cock. The throbbing organ rose up with Lois sliding her hand down on it and making sure it was nice and big.

"It's almost so nice I don't want to wait," Lois said. "I'm still going to make you wait, though."

Lois swirled her tongue about the top of his head and made Clark rise in height. His massive prick came close to her lips. Lois leaned down and sucked Clark's big cock into her mouth.

The Kryptonian Survivor shifted his hips off of the bed in time with Lois and her perfectly shaped mouth. She looked down at Clark with those beautiful eyes and sucked on his hard cock the deeper she went down on him. Her warm lips ensnared Clark and released him. Clark grabbed the back of her head and bucked up to meet her mouth. Lois ensnared him and released him with a hungry suck which popped around his engorged prick.

"Oh, Lois," Clark groaned.

Lois just responded by sucking on him a little more. She reached over to fondle her balls. A third hand clutched around the base of his cock to prevent any explosion from happening.

A loud popping sound released Clark's cock. It coated with salvia with Lois pulling herself up. She undid the front of her uniform with a very wicked grin on her face.

"I think I better match you."

Lois stood before Clark wearing nothing other than underwear constructed completely by the Green Lantern ring. The woman climbed on top of Clark and rubbed her body against his. The Green Lantern kissed Clark's jawline and then moved down to worship his body with more kisses.

These tormenting attacks done from Lois became too much for Clark. He reached behind her and grabbed Lois's ass before turning her over onto the bed.

Her breasts sprang free from their confinement. Clark attacked the large breasts and made Lois whimper out in pleasure. Her lust increase with Clark's hands cupping her chest and then releasing it. His strong hands rubbed all over her breasts and got her nipples excited.

Where Clark wanted to really be was right between Lois's legs. She teased him a little bit, so it was now time to return the favor. Clark would have to hold back his more primal thoughts of lust to instead grab onto Lois's chest and squeeze those breasts tightly. Lois shifted up just in time. Clark ran his hands over her warm chest and lightly rubbed her all the way down. He took her nipples in hand and squeezed them tightly.

"Oh, fuck, Clark," Lois breathed heavily.

The very second Clark touched those nipples he got Lois soaked and very much ready for more. His hands tempted her and went down to rub the heat between her thighs. Lois rose up to meet Clark's strong fingers as they prepared to part her thighs.

"You know what you want?"

"Fuck me," Lois growled.

Clark planted kisses down her body. Lois's eyes glazed over as Clark moved closer and closer. His hand cupped the back of her leg and parted them further. Her pussy dripped with arousal the second Clark moved closer to it. His warm lips touched the slit. Clark rubbed his tongue over the edge of Lois's warm pussy.

"Oooh!"

The slight vibration of his tongue bouncing in and out of Lois's slit made Clark taste her juices. Those juices coated Clark's tongue when he lapped them up. He slowed down his motions just enough to make Lois moan in need. She wanted even more and Clark was going to give her more.

Lois clamped down on the back of his head. She did not want this tongue lashing to end. Still, at the same time, Lois wanted even more. A conflict of very powerful emotions flooded through the body of the reporter the deeper Clark brought his tongue inside of her body.

The loud pop of his tongue leaving her center made Lois fall back onto the bed. Clark climbed on top of her. His throbbing hard cock just smacked against Lois's stomach. He moved it down her body and eased it to her body.

"Hold me down and fuck me like I'm your bitch."

Those words coupled with Lois's steamy glare caused another part in Clark to erupt. He positioned himself directly in front of Lois's opening. The heat pumping from her beckoned him in. One more push and Clark buried himself into Lois's pussy.

Lois threw herself up to meet Clark intruding inside of her. His massive member speared into Lois's tight center. Their hips rolled together with Lois hanging onto Clark. Her moan increased the further Clark pushed into her body. Their bodies merged together.

Clark slapped his hand on Lois's leg as it wrapped around him. He ran all the way up her leg to go down the side of her body. He reached her chest and squeezed it. Those nice round breasts pushed into Clark's hand. He squeezed them and then pushed down onto them. His hands made their way around Lois's breasts. He explored them and made them his.

A warmth spread through Lois as immediately, the orgasm came to a fever pitch through her body. She reached a peak and broke one of her nails in Clark's back. Not that Lois cared about such a thing, all she cared about was getting the most out of it. Her pussy clamped and released his rod to feel the huge push inside of her.

"CLARK!"

He drove himself deep into Lois. Their bodies merged together with Clark's hands moving all over Lois's body at the speed of light. She copied his motions, using the Green Lantern ring to shift the hands. She maneuvered one of the hands to cup and squeeze at Clark's balls as he pushed deep inside of her body.

The force of Clark's cock pushed inside of her body. He was as rough as he could be with someone like her and Lois appreciated it. She would feel the force of him inside of her in the morning. His big cock buried deep inside of her wonderfully tight womb.

"Clark!" Lois moaned. "OH CLARK!"

The Man of Steel pushed his rod deeper inside of Lois. Lois's wet pussy dripped with desire the further Clark buried himself inside of her body. She stretched around him when rising up off of the bed. Clark shifted himself completely down in her with one large push inside of her. He stretched Lois's body against his cock.

She loved the intrusion of Clark buried inside of her. His cock, his hands, everything just made Lois feel really good. And when she felt really good, it kept her out of trouble. His manhood spiked inside of Lois and made her loins tense up against his rod.

Her slick pussy dragged Clark into her as swiftly as possible. The woman underneath Clark pushed her hips up to meet his hard and throbbing cock.

"Oh, Lois!" Clark groaned. "LOIS!"

"CLARK!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Both met each other at the center. Clark's big manhood just drilled its way past Lois's juicy walls. She clamped down onto him and groaned when he shoved off.

They were both getting close to the end. Clark shifted himself back up and drove back down into Lois. Her wet pussy ensnared Clark the deeper he pushed into her.

Lois threw her head back and moaned. Her legs never left Clark's waist to hold him in tightly. Her body heated up to reach the end before exploding. She waited for Clark's turn to come.

Clark would not cum until Lois received two more very potent orgasms. The two pushed against each other with Clark's massive prick driving deep inside of her tight center. Lois flexed her pussy muscles around Clark to milk him. His balls gave a lurch and spilled their essence into Lois's very wet pussy.

Lois threw herself back down into the bed in content. Clark drained his balls into her center. She loved every single last scorching dose of his cum firing into her body. Lois brought her nails against his back and whimpered in delight the deeper Clark pushed into her.

"Thank…you!" Lois cheered.

Clark pulled out of her and smiled as Lois dropped down onto the bed. She sat up and cupped his balls and still-half hard cock.

"Don't go away just yet. We have a lot of lost time and lost orgasms I want to make up for."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 14** **th** **, 2018.**


	77. Chapter 77

**Chapter Seventy-Seven: Darker Tides**

* * *

The incident with the Red Lantern Corps opened up the horrors of the wider part of the universe. The first thing they had to do was take a side trip to Oa to talk to the Guardians. Lois drew her breath as deep as possible when preparing to walk into the portal to face them.

There was no question about it. Lois was not looking forward to this interview. Misery did love company and if she was going to be miserable, she was going to bring along plenty of the company. The company in this form was Clark and Karen. The two really grew into their roles as protectors of this world.

Lois hoped to stand beside them. She held her head up boldly and walked through the portal onto the planet of Oa. Clark and Karen followed her closer to the edge.

"So, the Guardians aren't as bad as everyone says they are?"

Those words from Karen brought Lois out of her very casual admiration of the buildings rising up over the pavement in Oa. Clark put a hand on Karen's shoulder and gave her a warning squeeze. Lois caught in and shook her head.

"It really depends on what people are saying about them, and what people are talking to them. They aren't purposely corrupt, well any more so than Earth's average politician anyway."

Karen snorted at Lois's not-so subtle commentary.

"They can be very bad at giving information and they aren't really straight forward a lot of the time," Lois continued. "They have to do everything by the book. And the book is boring and has a lot of pages. And there are a lot of past mistakes they'd rather keep buried. Until they rear back and bite us."

Lois heard some stories from the various Green Lantern recruits who heard stories from their mentors. The brunette sensed a very frustrating conversation which was coming on.

"Well, let's do this."

For better or worse, they were going to do this. Lois moved towards a couple of the fellow Green Lantern recruits. One of them stopped towards her.

"What did you do now?"

"Well, I stopped the Red Lanterns from blowing up one of the biggest cities on Earth," Lois said. "I tried to summon for back up, but it wasn't necessarily forthcoming."

One of the Green Lanterns decided to argue this point from her. "There were three other chaos level events going on at the same time. The Guardians thought Earth was a low-priority and they would only divert resources."

Lois wondered how anyone could put value on human lives. The only thing which did not make this bad was the fact that they came out okay. If they did not come out okay, then Lois would be having some words with the Guardians. And some of them were among the seven words they can't say on television.

Clark forcefully made his way inside. The Guardians of Oa all jumped up for a second. One of them blinked several times. The look on their face made it look like they had seen a ghost of some kind.

"My name is Kal-El. I am the last son of Krypton."

All of the Guardians whispered. One of them looked at Kal with a certain amount of reverence. Karen frowned and Lois just smiled in response.

"You are the son of Jor-El, are you not?" he asked.

"Yes," Clark said. "He was my father. But I never truly knew him."

"No, he kept himself rather guarded to all but his closest friends," the Guardian said. "I was happy to work with him during a short time."

"Let's not get off the subject, Ganthet," one of the Guardians sharply said.

Lois blinked. "Yeah, let's get on the subject. Like, Articitus bringing an entire Red Lantern Armada to Earth. There could have been countless lives lost. Why didn't you give me the heads up at least he was sighted in the sector?"

The mood in the area started to change for the better. The Guardians resembled a group of people who obviously had been discussing this fact for quiet some time. One of them stared at Lois.

"You are of a strong heart and an even stronger will. But you have a whole lot to learn about how to priority certain parts of the universe. We do believe that this attack was only a small part of a more concentrated assault. Because, four attacks of this nature rarely happen simultaneously."

"Is Atrocitus at least locked up?" Clark asked.

The Guardians all responded with a solemn nod. A few seconds passed where Clark wondered if he was going to get any straight answers. One of the Guardians shifted a scroll of paper very nervously before he leaned back against the wall. His breath increased before locking eyes back onto the people he was talking to.

"He is secure in a holding cell," the Guardian informed them.

"He's being backed by someone," Clark said. "One of the Red Lanterns mentioned he was promised a new power battery if he agreed to attack Earth."

The Guardians all exchanged their looks to each other. They could all agree without too much prodding that Atrocitus did not need that much prompting to attack the Earth. Although, they did fear that there was someone who was pulling the strings of the crazed Red Lantern.

"He has refused to give up any information in his backers. We can only hold him and his followers, and hope one of them gives the details."

A part of Clark disagreed with the fact that Atrocitus and his followers would give any details. He had a theory that none of them would have known.

He turned to Lois a fraction of a second later who shook her head. Clark could see why she assumed this entire endeavor to be an exercise of frustration. He walked out of this meeting with the Green Lantern Corps with a lot more questions than he did any answers and that much frustrated the Last Son of Krypton.

* * *

Lois returned to Earth after filing her report and answering a few questions. She did not get chewed out of a breach of protocol which was some amazing progress. They could build on that progress and hopefully go a little bit further. Now, Lois folded her arms and walked away.

"You look tense. It's not because you have to meet Lucy, is it?"

Chloe's gaze met Lois. The two women walked down a very nice city street. There were people who were talking with each other. One man held a cell phone in his ear which he chattered away on to someone. Lois could not really pay much attention to who the man who was talking to.

"No," Lois said. "Not her."

The Green Lantern of Sector 2814 paused for a second. Lois actually did look forward to this meeting with Lucy. She already talked to her father who had been relieved and somewhat proud at what Lois was doing, in some strange way. After all of these years, Lois finally might have earned a little bit of the General's approval and she could not help, but be pleased because of that. Chloe put a hand on Lois shoulder and made her turn around to face her.

"There's something that's been haunting you ever since you came back to Oa," Chloe said.

Lois shook her head. Chloe had that ability to read her like a book. And unlike Clark she had a little bit less tact in asking certain questions to her. Clark pretty much asked Lois how she was doing one time before she went home. Lois claimed she was doing fine and everything would be okay. Clark let the matter drop after that and that was that.

Chloe would be a little bit tougher to shake and if Lois was perfectly honest, she was not certainly sure it was a bad thing.

"Well, you know about the entire Red Lantern thing," Lois said.

"Well, yeah," Chloe said. She took a deep breath. "So, exactly how many different colors of Lanterns are there? I'm just….well I'm kind of curious."

Lois scratched the top of her head and let out a sign. "There are too many. There are way too many of them out there. Although the Red Lanterns are the worst."

Chloe let out her breath. She figured about as much. She and Lois crossed the street to the café where Lucy had been waiting for them. There had been some people chanting in the street about something until the Metropolis Police Department turned up.

"The Godfreys really are leaving their mark, aren't they?" Lois asked without skipping a beat.

"SUPERMAN NEEDS TO GO!"

Grimacing when she walked around town quickly turned into Chloe's default facial expression. Human nature showed that many people would be prone to moments of great hysteria. Chloe tried not to judge anyone too harshly that particular fact.

"LOIS!"

The younger Lane sister appeared. She looked at Lois as if trying to verify it was really her and not some elaborate trick. The moment that Lucy realized it was Lois, she rushed in, wrapped her arms around Lois's waist and squeezed her in for a hug.

Lois closed her eyes for a second to feel Lucy's tight grip around her waist. She put her hands on the back of Lucy's neck and pulled her in.

"It's good to see you too, Lucy," Lois said, with a very slight breath.

It was very good to see her sister, and Lois meant that, for all they have been through.

"You're happy to see me?"

Lucy pulled back from Lois and gave her one of those sudden little smiles. Lois just adopted one of the most stern looks possible towards Lucy which made her regret the arrogant little smile coming over her face in an instant.

"Of course, I miss you, you little twerp. But, you don't want to get too comfortable with it."

"Well, you know something?"

Lois raised her eyebrow and invited Lucy to continue. Chloe's eyes averted from one Lane sister to the other. She would say this was like a Tennis Match if it was not for the fact that she found this a little bit more exciting than Tennis.

' _Actually, a car crash might be a perfect description. Actually, a car crash is a perfect description.'_

"What?" Lois asked.

Lucy did not slap Lois like she might have at another time. She just settled for a glowering look directed at her older sister. "You damn near gave me a heart attack when you disappeared."

"Well, if it was only nearly, then I wasn't doing my job."

* * *

"And once again, another alien invader arrives to terrorize this planet. And you know something else, that alien invader, he was another male who decided that destruction and terrorizing this planet's population was the way to go. Can you believe this? And we had to wait for Superman to stand up and fight with us again. When are we going to learn, women? We need to show our strength by standing together and banning this oppressive force! We need to stop this Superman! For he is nothing but a super-powered representative of how the Patriarchy oppresses us and puts women ahead. And what's more, Superman is going to use this to inflate his already overinflated reputation. Unbelievable!"

One of the underground labs of Cadmus played the message of Grace Godfrey. Her latest contribution to the twenty-four hour a day news cycle rang out in all of its toxic glory. The woman swept around the area with a frown on her face.

Some might ask why you would glorify the words of your enemy like this? Lillian Luthor was under the impression if you needed to learn what your enemy was saying at all times for they were always plotting behind your back.

She stopped and watched the face of Grace Godfrey. Her fist pumped up and down on the television screen when ranting about it. Statistics showing crime being up in Metropolis over the past month was shown and how women were the targets of it.

"You can keep peddling your lies. I know who you really are."

"As you can see, these numbers prove that Superman is not the beacon of hope. There is a serious epidemic and it can only be stopped by swift action. Any woman who can do something about it, should push for Superman to be banished, or at least forced to have his name change. He can still be a force for good, if he becomes a staunch ally for feminism. Until that moment happens, then I'm afraid Superman is nothing but a symbol of oppression."

Lillian reached for the remote control. She finally heard all she could stand and she could not stand any more. Grace Godfrey had been silenced with one single push of the mute button.

' _It's a pity taking care of her is not that easy. The networks love her and there are politicians who are eating up what she tells them. She's really doing her job in indoctrinating a new generation of useful idiots.'_

She slid the doors open to check the progress of their science. In the chaos, they snatched one of the latest invading forces of Earth. The man, this Red Lantern, laid on the table. His face contorted.

"This man is human, but he's been corrupted by an alien force."

Lillian said no words at first. She just let her actions do most of the heavy speaking. She motioned for the drugs on the table.

"What do you know about the coming darkness?" she asked him.

"I don't know….Atrocitus just recruited me….my boss fired me….said I had an attitude problem."

"And you think you were in the right, so you killed a man, Mr. Patterson," Lillian said. "Yes….well, you're not an alien. You just allowed yourself to be manipulated by one. I would love to believe you, and help you out. Really, I would….but you need to help me out as well. There is a storm coming and humanity needs to be on the right side of history. Cadmus is our last line of defense."

One of the scientists loaded up a drug and walked over to the man downed on the table. His body constantly trashed in horror. The scientist touched the syringe at the man's chest and injected him with the burning chemical. He screamed out in horror when whipping his head back.

"And that's horrible," Lillian said. "But, it's very illuminating. That was supposed to relax people, and induce them with a state of happiness. Which is toxic for these Red Lanterns."

Lillian turned to her scientists. The man's blood curdling screams forced Lillian to turn away. She would have not had sympathy for the fact this man had been human.

"Learn all you can from him. I need to know who is behind this. And we need to know soon."

The scientists returned to her work and Lillian returned to her studies. She pulled out a copy of a journal Lionel created. She flipped to the page where it discussed a legend about how the Traveler's greatest trial would be against a darkness which could divide the world and plunge it into complete and total darkness.

Lillian had no doubt about it in her mind. The Darkness was rapidly approaching them and it might have already been here.

* * *

"There are many things to be disgusted with, by what Grace Godfrey is doing. However, one of the things that disgusts me the most is the fact she's making it extremely hard for women to gain any respect on their own merits. You know something, we are capable as any man, but we should not be just handed opportunities because we happen to have a vagina."

Leslie Willis decided to go on one of her daily rants about Grace Godfrey. It was among her highest rated segment, and gave her the most positive feedback and the most death threats per day, so she knew she did something right.

"I don't want to be coddled because of the fact I'm a woman," Leslie said. She gained some steam throughout her rant. "We got the right to vote, we have the right to hold any job we want. We have the right to be as mean and nasty, and cruel as any man can as well. And we should be called on by the fact we are bitches and we can be awful people just as much as any man. That, my friends, is equality. And that's what Grace Godfrey is trying to take away from you, equality."

The shock jock decided to go for broke in this rant. Every second she spent on Grace, she could feel the station managers get nervous, but she did not care to be honest.

"I don't want to people to be afraid to say what they think of me because I'm a woman. I can take it and dish it out in kind. Grace's lies are toxic to women because they put them on the level of infants who need to be coddled and have special treatment. We are capable of being wrong just as much as any man is. We are capable of being cruel. And we are capable of being hateful just as much as any man and prejudice against the people around us. But, you're the living breathing proof of that, aren't you, Gracie?"

That mocking nickname always annoyed Godfrey, so Leslie endeavored to keep her up. She took as wig of water from the people.

"Any man who holds back from criticizing a woman because they are a woman, is not a true man and I'll be honest, they should just end up getting the surgery, if they want to identify as a feminist! And if you want to identify as a different gender, hey, it's the current year. Go for it, just don't do it to be trendy and to get extra oppression points. Just do it, because that's how you honestly feel."

The light started to blink on, showing they needed to head to a commercial. Leslie paid it no mind.

"And I'm not the biggest Superman fan, but he didn't take any credit. He hasn't given any public statements in fact. And I heard from a few people that if Power Girl, Wonder Woman, and that chick with the green ring did not get involved, we would be having a funeral for him as we speak. But the facts are poison to someone to you, aren't they? AREN'T THEY, GRACIE?"

Leslie's eyes bugged out. She had to hold onto the underside of her desk to keep herself calm.

"Women claim they want equality, despite already having it and having more rights than men in certain areas. But let's ignore the facts, when we can be oppressed. Let's ignore responsibility, when we can play the victim card. And let's ignore the fact that you can never be more wrong. Let's just pull out that woman card, which you keep right next to your victim card, when someone calls you out. Let's just call everyone who deconstructs your talking points a misogynist to shut down the conversation, while in the same breath, shutting down about being silenced as well!"

The station manager peered angrily through Leslie's window and waved something in his hand. She pressed on.

"I've invited Grace Godfrey to come on my show numerous times," she said in a more tranquil voice. "We can have an honest discussion. I've let people come on here uncut and uncensored. But, Gracie, she refuses to step out of her echo chamber. And she also goes in national television, and she knows what she says to you, her fellow women."

Leslie brushed her finger away from her face and sighed.

"She has the gall to go out and say, that women who don't agree with her, are in fact lesser than her. They are not true women. Seems to me that someone who preaches equality, thinks that she's better than you. And she doesn't thinks he's better than men, she's better than woman. And for my final point of equality, women can be just as big of bullies as men!"

The door opened up and the station manager walked in.

"Hey, boss," Leslie said. "You…you cut me off again, didn't you? And I thought I was making some good points."

"We warned you about devoting so much time to Grace Godfrey," the station manager told her.

Leslie just answered with a very slight shrug. "Yeah, you kind of did, didn't you? But…she started it…."

"Pack your bags," the station manager said. "As of today, you no longer work here….the sponsors have complained about you and we've gotten more bad feedback about you than anyone else."

"Oh, yeah, from who?" Leslie challenged.

The station manager refused to challenge.

"I see you're nothing but a spineless weasel who caves into pressure," Leslie said. "But, you know something, I won't hold that against you. I figured there would come a day where Gracie would get to you. I just thought you'd have the balls to hold out a bit longer."

That particular statement about his lack of testicular fortitude did not endear Leslie at the station manager. "Pack your bags, I want you gone."

Leslie already had prepared to leave. She made her plans to strike out. This conversation was not over. If Grace Godfrey thought that she could be silenced by getting fired, than he was truly mistaken.

* * *

Intergang rammed into the side of the building. They had some new toys from their benefactor. One person was not pleased by their stash. Superman dropped down in front of the Intergang goons. One of them turned the cannon on Superman.

"Alright, Superman, you're going down!" he growled.

Power Girl came down and smashed the cannon of the tank. Three of the Intergang goons launched cannons at her. The green balls of fire coming out of the cannon came a couple inches away from striking her. Power Girl avoided the attacks just in time.

"I don't know where they got these things," Karen said. "Go to the right, I'll go to the left, and we'll both meet in the middle."

Superman jumped up into the sky with Power Girl following. They launched a concentrated heat vision attack which caused the weapons to heat up. The Intergang members fired one more shot before having to drop the weapons down onto the ground.

Several cables shot out to grab Superman and bring him down to his knees. Superman struggled against the wires as they dug into his back and shoulder. The Man of Steel drew in a frustratingly long breath the longer he tried to push out of his attack.

Wonder Woman nailed the attacker in the back of the head. One of the Intergang goons pulled out a pipe which shot blasts of white hot fire at the Amazon Princess. Diana dipped underneath the attack and grabbed him by the shoulder. She took him down to the ground.

One of them rolled a grenade underneath the ground. The explosion forced Diana to pull back from her attack. The Amazon staggered back and came inches away from receiving a knife to the stomach. The knife pulled back from the Intergang goon who rushed her. Diana struggled against the man who retracted two more knives from the knife. Diana pulled out a sword and connected with the attack.

"We've got what we came for! Back to the tank!"

The second tank rolled out of the building and shot a land mine up and caused it to land in the air. The Intergang rolled out of the way and forced Karen and Clark to disable the land mind.

Clark used his heat vision to remove the section of the side walk the land mine had been laid out on. He launched the pavement into the air and then hurled it up. The heat vision ripped through the pavement and caused it to crumble into dust before Clark landed back down onto the ground.

A large mace slammed into the side of the tank. Wonder Woman jumped on the tank and pulled it open. The Intergang goons cursed. One of them tried to escape only to get a mace to the face.

A woman dressed in battle attire with wings dropped down to the ground. Her green eyes flashed with a smile.

"Good to see you back," Clark said.

"It's good to be back," Shayera said. "But, maybe we should talk a bit less, and hit a bit more."

She caught the armored thug behind her with one attack which dropped him to the ground. The heroes still had a little bit of work to do to take down Intergang.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 16** **th** **, 2018.**


	78. Chapter 78

**Chapter Seventy-Eight: Growing Pains**

* * *

Shayera left for several months after the Thangarian Invasion and she finally got her head back together. She was ready to atone for the sins of her people and more importantly, to see what she can do to be a protector of Earth. The people in the city looked up in the sky to her in awe and some of them looked up into the sky at her with fear.

She smashed the tank to prevent the Intergang goons from getting their hands back on it. One of the goons fumbled through his belt to try and find a grenade. Hawkgirl pulled him out of the sky and lifted him into the air. The goon screamed out bloody murder as he dangled high above the sky.

"Clip her wings!" one of the Intergang goons yelled.

Superman blocked the arm of one of the Intergang goons who tried to nail Shayera with a vicious blast. Superman nailed his enemy hard in the chest with a huge punch. More huge punches to the chest rocked his adversary before the Man of Steel jumped high into the air. The Intergang goon threw his hands over his head and almost screamed out for mercy. None had been given the very second Superman drove his fists down onto the top of the Intergang goon's head.

He only lightly tapped the henchman across the face. One of them reached in and took out a huge black rod. Shayera came down and yanked the object out of the hands of the thug. The thug staggered back and looked up into the sky. His face flashed into pure horror the version second Shayera came down from the heavens and drove her mace down onto the chest of her enemy.

The impact rattled the goon and forced him to fall back onto the ground. The Man of Steel came down and pulled one of the thugs off of the ground. The thug squirmed underneath the attack of Superman and tried to break free. Superman was not about to drop him, not if he could help it at least.

"You wouldn't dare do this if this was a fair fight! You wouldn't be anything without your little super friends around to help you."

Two more Intergang goons flew back to the ground where Power Girl made sure they stayed down to the ground. She tied time together. The binding pressed against them tight and made it very hard for them to go away.

"You talk about fairness when you bring high tech alien weapons to the party?" she asked. "I think your sense of right and wrong might just be a little bit f…."

"WATCH OUT!" one of the spectators screamed out.

Power Girl flipped her gaze around just in time to see a blast of orange energy flying through the air from one of the laser cannons. She dodged out of the way. One of her adversaries made his last stand until Shayera swung the attack from the backswing. The impact dropped him to the ground like a ton of bricks.

"Way to go," Power Girl said.

"Thanks," Shayera said. "I can't believe I still got it after all this time."

The Thangarian woman could not do anything other than react with a grin. She was feeling so good about what happened. A few people looked at her a bit nervously when she walked by. Shayera held her hands up as if to show she was not going to attack her.

"Don't judge them too harshly," Karen said.

Hawkgirl just gave her a smile. Superman finished wrapping up Intergang in the background. Shayera observed that going smoothly as possible before turning back to Power Girl.

"They're just terrified, it's no home….."

"GO BACK HOME YOU WINGED VERMIN!"

Those words came back as a small group of men stepped forward. One of them waved a crowbar back and forth which nearly struck his fellow rioters. One of them reached into his shirt pocket and acted like he was going to pull a gun out.

"I should shoot you. It was the Thangarians who killed my daughter. You should not be allowed here. Your types should not be allowed her. Go back to where you came from and rot with the rest of that vermin."

Shayera stepped away. Her blood boiled at the fact this man held a gun out and pointed at it her. His hands started to shake and prevented the proper aiming of his gun. It looked as if he might strike an innocent bystander as opposed to her.

"They're not worth it," Karen said.

Clark moved over to join them. The protestors grew even louder and more insane. They were waving their fists in the air and one of them came this close to throwing something at Shayera. Superman stepped in the way and a car battery smashed against Superman's face.

"I'm sick and tired of you all holding us back!" one of the other protestors yelled off to the side.

One could see some of Grace Godfrey's followers moving into position as well. One of them started to shake her fist at Superman. Power Girl and Hawkgirl both looked agitated, as Wonder Woman came back around. The loud sirens of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit cut through the area.

"It's not worth it," Diana responded.

Clark would have to agree it was most certainly not worth it. They had to get out of there for better or for worse. The four heroes left as the supporters of both Grace and G. Gordon Godfrey moved over.

"Get back in the kitchen!"

"I'll fucking castrate you, you Nazi piece of shit!"

The MCU came in to spray the entire crowd with tear gas. They all screamed in protest as the MCU moved in to take out the riot. They were all upset about having their protests cut completely off.

* * *

Several gentlemen sat around in the warehouse. Of them put a large icepack on the back of his neck and applied a sufficient amount of pressure to the back of his neck. He grumbled the second that the ice pack dug into the back of his neck.

"That damn Superman!" he howled.

"And now, Superman once more refuses to engage his critics. And he looks down at women with contempt. A woman stated that he stood by and watched as Intergang harassed two women."

"Hey, hey, we didn't harass any women," one of the gang members did. "Did we harass any women? I really can't tell at this point?"

The other members of Intergang shrugged their shoulders. They really did have no clue what was happening. They watched the broadcast of Grace Godfrey. They really didn't want to keep watching her, but it was like some kind of trainwreck that they really couldn't pull themselves away from. It was an oddly captivating show.

"Hey, what the hell are you watching that shit, for?"

A dark-haired man stepped into the room. He wore a suit, with his hair slicked back. One could see his face had been put completely through the ring. This gentleman most certainly had seen some better days. The members of his gang looked up. One of them swallowed and could see how fowl of a mood he had been in.

"You watch this shit, you get brain cancer, or something," the gentleman said. "Alright, listen up, if you're going to sit around with your thumbs in your ass and watch television, don't watch some overcompensating dyke."

Bruno Mannheim reached over and turned off the television. Most of the men sitting around the room did not really protest the television being shut off. At the very least, they did not have to watch another second of Grace Godfrey, so relief was something.

"Some Fem-Nazi bitch thinks she's hot stuff," Mannheim said. "If you asked me, the only way she would look halfway decent if someone bent her over in the kitchen and had their way with her."

The gang members all laughed at his joke. Mannheim's eyes snapped towards each gang member. The gang members all swallowed the lumps in their throats. They might have gone a step or two, too far in saying something to Mannheim.

"Alright, shut up, it's not that funny," Mannheim said. "I'm going to tell you what's going on and I'm only going to tell you once, and you better all listen, because I'm not going to tell you a second time."

He spoke in a very raspy voice, years of heavy smoking having taken their toll. You would have to take up a vice like smoking. After the demise of Morgan Edge several years back, Mannheim took control of Intergang and made the organization his own personal playground.

"I'm going to tell you all something….."

Another knock on the door distracted Mannheim for a second. The other goons felt like they were getting some kind of lecture. One of the men brushed his fingers through the top of his head. He still had a rough bump rising from the top of his scalp.

"Maybe you should go to the doctor?"

"Yeah, not going to happen," the gang banger said.

"You and you, come over here!"

The two gang members would not have dared ask what Bruno Mannheim wanted from them. They just scrambled over to the edge of the room and had been eager to do what they could to help out. They moved a bit closer to the crate on the edge of the room.

"What the hell is in this thing?" one of the gang members asked.

"Who cares?" Manheim asked. "Just shut up and get the damn thing in there."

The two Intergang representatives knew better than to backsass Manheim especially when the crate had been put down onto the ground.

The members of the gang opened up the crate. The large item inside of the crate caught their attention and brought smiles to their faces. No smile grew wider and more sadistic than Bruno Mannheim.

"Well, boys, looks like Christmas has come early, and decided to celebrate my Birthday along with it. And maybe all of yours as well, if this is the weapon to level the playing field against that little crew of Superfriends."

* * *

A terrified looking female ran about as fast as her legs could carry her. Her heart was beating even faster when moving down the city streets later at the evening.

"Come on, honey, we just want your phone number."

The drunken breath of the man who followed her put this female to the edge of throwing up. She could feel the sharp and stabbing pains going through her body when running faster and faster. Her entire head throbbed the closer she reached her destination.

' _I just got go to the police station.'_

One of them found a way in front of her and grabbed her into place. The woman's self-defense training kicked in and just in time as well as she popped the man right in the side of the neck. It loosened the grip and the woman staggered down the alleyway.

"Alright, I know….I know how to use this."

She withdrew a can of mace. The gang members all laughed when coming down the alleyway. One of them brandished a very large knife and made her whimper back against the alleyway. She could not believe what was happening. They were going to kill her. Or worse, they were going to do something else to her.

"Ah, don't be scared, all we want to do is be friends," the gang member said in one of his more rough and sadistic tones. "We're just going to rough you up a little bit."

The girl's jacket had been held onto. She struggled against the grip of her potential captor. Everything around her started to go even faster. One of them pushed her against the ground. The belt of one of the men flew off as the girl tried to get back to her feet.

"What's the matter? You twist your knee? Don't worry, honey, we'll make it feel better."

The man off to the side suddenly dropped to his knees as if some mysterious force caught him around the back of the head. The other two men turned around to see some figure dressed completely in green. Her face had bene obscured by some kind of bandana.

"You picked the wrong alleyway to go down?"

"You disobedient children need a lesson in matters."

She jammed the rod between the knees of one of the gang bangers. The gentleman screamed out in pain as his crotch had been fried by the sudden pulse of energy. The woman pulled back the rod from between his legs and then jammed in between said legs one more time.

"And you will get that lesson in manners at the hands of me."

The man held out his knife. This woman did not seem too bothered by the fact she had a knife drawn on her. She returned her assault by dropping her attacker down to the ground. The sound of ribs breaking echoed throughout the area.

The woman on the ground covered her hands. Dare she look up through her fingers? It was becoming way too fast. The other two gang bangers stood their ground. Well one of them did. One fled through the alleyway towards him.

"Your friend is smart, but unfortunately that's a quality you don't have."

A hideous scream came as the gang member dropped to the ground. Finally, the woman detached her fingers from the side of her face and looked up towards her mysterious savior.

"Why didn't Superman save me?" the woman asked.

The woman put a gentle hand on her. "Superman only cares to make himself look like a savior in public to the rest of the world. Your plight did not give him that particular opportunity. Therefore, you were forsaken."

That did not sound like Superman. Then again, perhaps he had not been the hero the world thought they did. This good woman saved her life.

"Saving the dregs of society does not help Superman's image at all because they always slink back into the shadows," the mysterious savior said.

The woman could not even argue against being considered a part of the dregs of society. She had fallen upon some very hard times and it had not suited her very much.

This cloaked savior coming out of nowhere did make the woman very suspicious and also made her wonder about what intentions this woman could have had.

"But never fear, because Dear Granny will help you."

This woman held out a card for the former victim to take.

"Both homeless and battered women can find salvation at this address. They can have a new lease on life. They can have brand new hope that a Man of Steel will not give."

The former victim viewed the card with a bit of anxiety. It read "Granny Goodness's Shelter of Tomorrow" on it. She had her misgivings about such a place, but she figured, the least she could do was offer Granny the benefit of the doubt.

"Step into the light, my child. Allow dear Granny to help."

* * *

Tess, dressed in a tank top and tight black pants moved to the center of the room, with Thea. Thea dressed in similar clothing which clung to her nice fit body. The two women closed in on each other with their staffs being extended. They bowed to each other and rushed in for the attack.

Both Tess and Thea clung staff to staff with each other. Neither held the upper hand on each other, at least at first. Thea's eyes glazed over when trying to push Tess back a few inches. Tess returned fire a couple moments later.

"You're distracted?" Tess asked.

Thea did not say much at first. She just returned fire and pushed Tess back. Tess avoided Thea's attack with about as much precision as you would expect. Thea had to keep Tess one step ahead. The two businesswomen surrounded each other. Every now and then, one would get a bit rougher in their attacks. The women who got rougher took a step back.

"I'm not sure if a spar session is the most productive way to ease off your frustration, if you're feeling frustrated," Tess responded. "There are other ways to do so."

Thea did not rise to the bait just yet. She just moved in to engage Tess. Both women collided with their wooden staffs smashing together against each other. Tess and Thea rose up to engage each other in this long and physical battle. Tess almost took Thea down. Thea stood back with a wide smile on her face.

"I've been getting people threatening to boycott Queen Industries because we refuse to endorse Grace Godfrey. In fact, I spoke out against her, and encouraged people not to take her seriously, because she doesn't have the best interests of women at heart."

Tess pushed her full force against the wooden staff which brushed against hers.

"Did your business suffer?" Tess asked.

"No."

The two women jockeyed for position against each other. Thea got a bit more leverage against Tess and staggered her back. Tess readjusted her stance and kept blocking Thea. A constant barrage of wooden staffs clanging together echoed through the room. Thea was getting a bit more adept at keeping herself a couple of steps away from Tess. Tess, to her credit, gave about as good as she received.

"Even if they did," Thea said. "Even if they did, I wouldn't back off. I have principles, something that a woman like Grace Godfrey wouldn't know about."

The doors opened and Clark and Shayera stepped their way into the room. They moved past Tess and Thea who continued to engage each other. Neither Tess nor Thea did not want to give up the ground to the other.

"Three more minutes," Tess warned her.

"Right," Thea said.

Thea just adjusted her stance and blitzed through in the battle. Both of the staffs clung against each other when coming on against each other.

"Things have gotten far worse than where they were a few months ago," Shayera said. "They still….well they can't really tell the good aliens from the bad aliens, can they?"

Tess almost swept Thea's legs out from underneath her. She took pity on the Queen Heiress and pulled her to a standing position in front of her. The two staggered back against each other.

"Really bad," Tess said. "One of humanity's worse qualities is to take the most simplistic approach to everything. It's not just black and white, and I think we all know that."

"And the Godfreys are doing a good job in bringing out the worst qualities of people."

Clark's tone sounded a bit grumbly and Tess could not have agreed with him more. The Godfreys brought the worst qualities out of a lot of people.

"And the people who threatened to boycott me, they called me a lot of names which really should not be repeated in polite company….."

"Time!" Tess interrupted Thea.

The two women made their way to the couch. Tess sat down on the other side of Clark on the couch which left Thea with an armchair. Thea picked up an advertisement which had been left on the coffee table.

"Granny Goodness's Shelter of Tomorrow?" Thea asked.

Tess looked physically ill at that particular name. She shook her head to clear off the cobwebs. Tess managed to return to the conversation without any physical trauma in her mind.

"Yes, it's something Grace has been ranting on, saying that women should go there to get educated on Superman," Tess said. "Anyway can see what's going on. That place is brainwashing emotionally vulnerable women for some sick and twisted purpose. But, there's never been enough proof to shut it down."

"To be honest, I stopped listening to Grace a while back," Thea said. "I only got what I needed to know from her through Leslie Willis and she…she hasn't been on the air in a few days. I think someone finally got to her."

"No, the station manager fired her because the sponsors got upset," Tess said. "Likely because some of Grace's followers threatened a boycott. Still…you got to know your enemy."

Thea grudgingly had to agree. She looked towards Clark who had taken his cellphone out. The symbol of the DEO flashed on the screen. The red word "urgent" flashed from underneath it. Clark turned to Tess and Thea who signaled for him to go.

* * *

Clark stepped a couple of feet into a government facility out in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere. He double checked the address the DEO sent him.

' _Okay this is the place. Why doe something feel like it's very off?'_

Clark stepped into the facility. He moved past the dark spots in the wall. Even with his super powered senses, Clark felt there was way too many blindspots for his liking. He kept walking on past the hallway.

Something hissed and the lights all clicked on one by one. Clark looked around himself and did not see something right away.

"Okay, is anyone here?"

Clark prepared for himself for the simple fact that the DEO might have been compromised and how this could have been an ambush. He did not want to do it.

Finally, a crisp voice came out of the shadows. "Since you were such good friends my son, I think it's time for us to be formally introduced."

A striking and tall woman with dark hair stepped into the picture. She dressed in a three piece female business suit and carried a briefcase which struck power. Her walk had a little bit of confidence within it. The two bodyguards stood on either side of her. They were armored and outfitted with weapons.

"Lillian Luthor," he said.

"So you've done your homework," Lillian said. "Or has Lutessa been filling you in on the fact that the rumors of my demise have been grandly exaggerated."

Clark looked around for anyone other than Lillian and her two bodyguards. A woman who was married to Lionel Luthor for such a long time would have something crafty up her sleeve.

"I've been wanting to meet you for a very long time. You know my son so well…but I wonder what I can call you."

Lillian's face adopted a look of mock insight.

"Should I call you Clark? Or Mr. Kent? Or Superman? Or Kal-El? Or maybe the Traveler? How about Namen? So many possibilities, so little time."

Clark's arms folded together. He was not as rattled as she would have liked him to be from this tone of conversation. He stood up just as strong and just as proud as he ever had been.

"What are you doing here?" Clark asked her.

Lillian lifted a hand up. "I don't like the fact you stand here, and act like your some kind of symbol for good. Especially after you drove my son insane….well you and Lionel, but he got his karma in the end."

It was not quite how it went. Clark was not here to debate the past.

"If this is an ambush….."

"I would have brought more than two bodyguards," Lillian said. "I've received information regarding Intergang's backers and how they put a dangerous biological weapon in the hands of a trigger happy madman in Bruno Mannheim. Things are about to get ugly, if you catch my drift."

Lillian slid a flashdrive across the floor at Clark's feet. Clark picked up it up and studied it.

"Don't believe me at your word. Have your friend, Ms. Sullivan look over it. And despite the fact that I think that you're an alien menace and I will never forgive you what you've done to Lex, there are far greater threats than you. Lionel's words are proving true. There is a greater darkness coming. And you better stop it, for all of our sakes."

Lillian and her two bodyguards turned around and left. Clark had to let them leave because there were more pressing problems.

"Chloe?" Clark asked.

"Yeah?" Chloe asked.

"I need you to check something out for me."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 18th, 2018.**


	79. Chapter 79

**Chapter Seventy-Nine: Strange Bedfellows**

* * *

Chloe sat on the chair and waited for Clark to return. The door opened and Clark moved over with the flash drive in his hand. Karen and Tess joined Chloe in the room.

"So, do you think we can trust this?" Clark asked them.

Tess took a second to ponder all of the different angles Lillian could be going from. She really did not know where Lilian was going for this one. The woman frustrated Tess in a lot of different ways.

"We're going to have to scan the drive to ensure she didn't leave any nasty surprises," Tess said. "I obviously don't trust her as far as you can throw her."

That much had been obvious. Chloe took the drive and put it on the edge of the table. She pushed a couple of buttons which flashed against the edge of the drive. A scan moved over the drive. Karen, Tess, Chloe, and Clark waited the two minutes it took for it to scan.

"Completely clean," Chloe said. "At least we know sabotage is not her game."

Tess looked over the drive. This object looked so innocent in some ways. She moved over to the computer which Chloe fired it up. The files already opened up. Whatever information Lillian had on the drive, she wanted it to be found out right away.

' _She's using us to do her dirty work,'_ Tess said.

The information of the weapon which had been apparently shipped to Intergang around the time Clark, Shayera, and Karen were dealing with them flashed onto the screen. Chloe's mouth hung open and she double-checked the information. No way it could have been completely right.

"It's a biological weapon," Chloe said. "And it releases a bacteria which targets alien DNA and also DNA which is non-human."

"So, meteor mutants as well," Tess said. "Not good."

No it was not good at all. Tess studied the chemical makeup. They only had a partial blueprint of the weapon. The chemical agent might not even work for all they knew although they should go in under the assumption it did for obvious reasons.

"We're going to have to find a way to track this weapon," Karen said. "Do we have any information about Mannheim's latest movements?"

"I check with the usual sources," Tess said.

It became clear that Mannheim was a puppet for the person handing this weapon over. The benefactor would not have given him the weapon if there was not something to be gained out of it. She had a couple of very obvious concerns to address. One of them which Chloe pointed out straight away.

"So, how deep of a meteor infection are we talking about here?" Chloe asked. "There were a lot of people who were in Smallville when those meteors came down. They were not given powers even though they were exposed. Would the virus targeted them?"

Tess rubbed the bridge of her nose in deep thought. It was a good question. They missed one big piece.

"It might be a concern," Tess said. "Like I said, I'll look into where Mannheim might be going. If we find Intergang, we can shut it down."

Chloe, Clark, and Karen now focused on monitor in front of them. They had a really big Doomsday Weapon to come for. They had no idea how much backfire there would be. Chloe adapted her hacking to see if she could find out any more information.

"I think Cadmus has given us just a small piece of the puzzle to just see what we would do with it," Chloe admitted.

"You think they could be pitting us against a rival group?" Clark asked her.

A deep level of consideration popped into Chloe's mind. It was very possible Cadmus was trying to direct them against a more dangerous force who ended up having a more extreme version of the same agenda that Cadmus decided to have. The only problem was Chloe felt like she was missing a few pieces of the puzzle.

"The more answers we think we have, the more question sthere are. And I think that's what Lillian wants. She wants to baffle us and confuse us. It's not…it's not a good thing. And this…this is really not a good thing."

They were dealing with a dangerous biological weapon which could take out a lot of there were people out there with gifts which never had been unlocked or people with altered DNA and no abilities. Chloe heard stories of several people who were near the meteors who had just been sick as much as anything else.

"Nothing from the usual sources," Tess popped in. "We should focus trying to counteragent the agent when it's in the air."

"By the most generous calculations, it should take about three days before the bacteria really takes hold," Karen said. "And we don't know when Mannheim released the weapon."

"He received it not too long ago," Chloe said. "We should really hope that he isn't savvy enough to deploy it."

Chloe thought it might be a bit too much in the wishful thinking department to think Bruno Mannheim was not smart enough to deploy this particular weapon. She drew in a deep breath and went back to work. Any potential information they could find would be of a big help. Chloe did not know how many options they had right now. Only, they were rapidly running out of them.

* * *

To be perfectly honest, if you put a gun to Bruno Mannheim's head, he really did not hate aliens all that much. Okay, he did not like Superman to be honest. He was just very bad for business. The Man of Steel and his friends kept interfering constantly in Mannheim's operations and causing a lot of unrest. Every time the intervened was a time that Mannheim was none too happy with them.

Still, a lot of people did hate aliens on general principle or really anything that was the least bit different than him. There were a lot of racists who were operating out of Metropolis. Who was Mannheim to deny them a chance to exercise some of their darker impulses?

' _I'll be honest, some of those people scare me.'_

Mannheim saw faces of the usual mob types among the crew in Intergang. They only hated Superman because he interfered with business. Then, he saw some really scary people beyond the mob types. They would have lynched an alien on principle if they could get away with it.

' _Scary, scary, fucking bastards here, aren't they?'_ Mannheim mused more to himself than no one else in particular.

He stood atop of the world like a king. Edge's death opened a power vacuum. Everything thought Mannheim was just destined to be a lackey of Morgan Edge. He was destined to be the man's number two and had in fact been treated like that by many of the mobsters in Metropolis. Mannheim stepped up and did something.

"Alright, everyone! Hey, listen up!"

Mannheim clapped his hands a few times. The members of Intergang quit chattering and turned their attention to their leader. Mannheim's teeth curled into a snarl when looking down at them. All of them brought something to the table. Even if what they brought to the table was being a breathing punching bag while the rest of them got away, Mannheim did appreciate it somewhat.

"We've had a rough last couple of months. And we've been able to turn the tide as well. You know why? Because, we're all tough. Some of us have been through some hard times. Morgan Edge, he pushed you all down. I'm giving you a chance to rise up and to move forward. Myself and my new benefactor have given you the weapons that make you feel a little bit better about yourselves. You feel stronger than ever. And we are all stronger together!"

The members of Intergang started to rumble. Mannheim had them pretty much eating out of the palm of his hands. It was just like feeding ducks at a pond. It was much too easy for Mannheim to do this.

"We've got some new friends," Mannheim said. "Superman and Hawgirl, they really wrecked some shit a while back, didn't they?"

The members of Intergang all grumbled because of the mention of the two heroes who humiliated them the other day. Mannheim could hear them cursing the day those two were born. Hell, Mannheim did not really care all that much for them either.

"Yeah. I hear you. I hear all of you. And I know you want to gain a bit of payback on them. Those two sons of bitches and the rest of their super friends, they need to learn a lesson."

"Intergang will crush them!" the leader yelled.

"Yes," Mannheim said. "We're going to put Superman down on the ground. And between us all, I can't wait to walk up to him and plant my foot on his chest. Show the world he's just another guy no matter how many powers he has. And he's not better than me."

' _Bastard would be nothing if he didn't have powers,'_ Mannheim said. _'I'm going to bring his ass down to Earth and crush him.'_

Mannheim made a breaking motion with his hands. The members of Intergang all realized what it signified. They got louder with their cheers at Mannheim.

"Bring it in boys. We've got something that's going to finally tip the scales. And when it does, we're going to smash Superman. He's going to fall back down to Earth. And he's not going to be so super anymore."

They all listened intently for Mannheim's men wheeling in a huge crate. They wondered what was in the crate. Mannheim just tapped on the weapon with the crowbar. His teeth, rotten to the core, curled into one of the more obvious smiles possible.

"This, boys," Mannheim said. "This is what we call the great equalizer. It's going to bring Superman crashing down to his knees. And it's going to cause all of his other super friends to scream for mercy."

The members of Intergang whooped and hollered at Mannheim. He soaked in their cheers like a sponge. He could hardly believe things would have gone that nicely.

"All of the aliens and all of the freaks will be brought down. Intergang is going to run this town once again and no one is going to stand in my way."

The loud cheers came out from over the crowd. Mannheim prepared to move into the next phase of him ruling this town. He would do it at the expense of Superman. The Man of Steel would have to fall before it was all said and done.

* * *

A car pulled up outside of a well-lit and very nicely maintained building. The two doors opened and Thea stepped out of the car. Helena walked out of the car as well alongside Thea. The two women moved closer to the front steps. Perfectly grown flowers lined the pathway on all ends. Thea almost shuddered out how nice things looked in this place.

The trees off to either side of the shelter looked luscious and full of life. Someone repainted the walls and it showed very nicely. The windows were not cracked like a lot of places in this area were. The two walked up to the steps of the shelter.

"It's a nice looking place," Helena said.

Thea did not necessarily disagree. She could also tell Helena did not disagree with her. Anyone who had been brought here would want to live here for a good reason. No person would want to live in a place which looked awful. Thea did not discount this theory and she was pretty sure Helena did not either.

"It's very nice," Thea agreed. "And that's what makes it so…."

Helena only answered with a nod. She raised and fist and knocked on the door three times. Footsteps come from the front of the room and a door opened up. An attractive woman with dark brown hair opened the door. She dressed in a very professional business suit and wore a big smile on her face.

"Good morning!" she cheered. "Welcome to Granny Goodness's Shelter of Tomorrow for Battered and Troubled women. I'm so glad you could come and visit our establishment to see how swell this place."

Thea wondered what kind of person used the word swell and also what kind of person was this happy at the job. She stepped into the middle of the room and had been bombarded by bright colors. Happy relaxing music played through the area. Thea noticed all kinds of sappy motivational posters hanging across the wall.

"At the Shelter of Tomorrow, we think our guests should receive positive experiences to erase the darkness in their life," the woman explained in the most cheerful tone possible. "We want them to feel a sense of being at ohme. We want them to feel comfortable and welcome at the same time. We don't want them to feel frightened and isolated like many of them are."

The tour shifted from the front area into a hallway to some kind of area. Therapists talked to several women. Some of the therapists moved forward and gave a hug to the person. They paid special attention to an activity room which some of them worked out while others watched television and played games with each other. All of the women seemed happy and relaxed.

"It's all about creating a safe-space at the Shelter of Tomorrow," the woman said in her usual sunnily happily sappy tone of voice. "We want to make sure our guests get the most out of all of their lives. They are happy and they are ready to face the world. Routine magical examinations are held to make sure they are kept in the best physical shape possible."

All of the women moved about the area. They wore bright colors to combine with their bright smiles. Helena frowned for a second, but wiped it off of her face.

"They are well cared for it seemed," Helena said. "Who would ever want to leave this place?"

The woman nodded with a big grin dancing over her face. "It's all about creating a home for these women who have long since lost their chance to be at home."

Everything appeared to be too good to be true. A very perky blonde woman ran up the steps and waved at the two guests.

"This is Ms. Queen and Ms. Wayne, and they might be helping better our home," the cheerful woman said. "Why don't you tell them how Granny Goodness has helped you?"

"Granny Goodness is the best!" the perky woman yelled at the top of her lungs. "I was always down and wanting to kill myself because of my abusive boyfriend. But, I'm all better now, and he's….well the only thing I feel sad about is the fact he can be the better person."

"Now, sweetie, his attitude will be fixed in time," the cheerful woman said. "As you can see, these women are able to be happy in the safe space we have been provided. They are able to achieve their own identity, and are able to flourish in our home."

"They do seem pretty happy," Thea said. "And from what I've said, you're able to take in a lot of women. How do you afford it?"

"We could not have done this all without the kindness of strangers!" the woman cheered. "But, you know what they say, a stranger is just a friend you haven't been introduced to you. And I'm certain that both Queen Industries and Wayne Enterprises will help this shelter with sizeable donations. And they will help these women grow stronger."

Thea watched Helena finish up out of the corner of her eye.

"You do have a first-class institution," Thea said. "Will I ever get to meet Granny Goodness?"

"No child, unless you are in need," the woman said. "Granny is tirelessly searching out women to bring here. She comes once a night with her newest finds. I do sometimes prey there is a night where Granny does not arrive. But, every night shows how much this city has failed and how Superman and the men of Metropolis have failed women in general."

The conversation came to an abrupt halt when Thea took her phone.

"A friend of mind just called," Thea said. "She needs to be picked up at the airport."

"Of course, of course," the woman said. "I wouldn't dare stop you from trying to help another woman who is in need. Go there and see what you can do to help her. We'll be there when you decide to donate to our cause."

Helena left with Thea and the two of them walked out.

"They've been planted," Helena informed her.

The bugs being planted was only step one of a couple of steps. They would have to get to the bottom of this one way or another.

* * *

A blast of light opened up through the sky and Superman came as fast as he could. He moved with intense speed and got closer to his adversary. He dropped down to the ground and came face to face with the Intergang goons.

"It's about time!" the lead goon cheered. "I didn't think you would show your stupid red "s" around here."

Clark took full view of the members of Intergang and noticed they were arm.

"Come on, I'm not afraid of you, "the leader of the pack said. "You're nothing, you're nothing but an overhyped, overpowered, bully!"

The goon in his super powered battle suit moved into position. Several more of his friends all moved into position. They all held these weapons and pointed them directly at Superman. The Man of Steel did not falter for a minute when staring them down.

"I've got friends!" he yelled. "You can't touch me when I have friends! Friendship is magic, bitch!"

Another figure dropped down from beside Clark. Power Girl landed on the ground. Hawkgirl and Wonder Woman joined Clark on either side as well.

"Oh, that's just like you!" the leader of the gang yelled. "It's just like you to bring your little crew of super friends, can't fight a battle one on one…."

"EAT THIS!"

One huge blaster came out to engage them. Hawkgirl jumped up into the air and drilled the blaster with a full force attack with her mace. The blaster broke apart as the goon dropped to the ground. Hawkgirl rose back up into the air and returned fire with a vicious swing with her mace. The impact of the mace dropped her adversary down to the ground as fast as humanly possible.

The Intergang goons who moved into the battle were heavily armed. They started to fire at Superman. Superman dodged the attack.

"Stand back!" the lead loudmouth yelled. "He's not nothing! He's mine!"

"So, I guess I am something."

The solar powered battle suit the Intergang goon wore looked pretty dangerous and he looked about ready to smash Superman to a pulp. The Man of Steel dodged the huge punch from his adversary. Superman dodged the attack one more time.

He watched Wonder Woman wrap a lasso around the wrist of one of the Intergang goons and drop him to the ground.

"Come at me!" the lead loudmouth yelled. "Talk to my hand!"

The large arm of the battle suit swung around and smacked Superman hard in the face. The Man of Steel flung back into the building. The smoke cleared and Superman pulled himself back up. He scanned the suit for a weakness and found it.

Superman jumped up to engage the goon again. The goon fired a series of blasts from his hand at Superman. Superman avoided the constant barrage of attacks.

"I'm going to crush you!" he yelled. "Do you hear me? I'm going to crush you?"

Superman had another problem. The suit was draining energy from him and sapping his stores faster than the yellow sun could regenerate him.

Hawkgirl was in and she smashed the glowing blue sensors on the suit. The armored goon yelled out in pain as the impact of her attack just ricocheted off of him.

"You stupid bird woman!" he growled. "I'm going to rip off your pretty little wings!"

"I'd like to see you try," Shayera said.

She dodged the attempt to be grabbed. Shayera bounced off of the wall and hit him one more time. This allowed Wonder Woman to come from the other side and smash her feet into the back of the goon. His legs crumpled out from underneath him.

The two gang members with blasters fired at Power Girl. She flipped in mid-air and kicked the blasters out of their hands. One of them tried to punch her on the ground. The punch did nothing other than amuse her. She tapped the goon on the head and dropped him down to the ground.

Clark smashed the armored guy from behind and pulled him out of the armor. He disabled the exploding vest on the man and hurled it up in the air. He joined Karen in destroying the vest with heat vision. The vest had been obliterated.

"Talk!"

"Wouldn't you like to….."

The building next to them exploded and sent glass and debris everywhere. The glass sliced the thug in the back of the neck and killed him instantly. The attack forced Superman, Power Girl, Hawkgirl, and Wonder Woman all to take a step back.

* * *

The dust settled and the heroes moved in around the explosion. They choked in a whole lot of dust and it was not really good. They wondered who set off the explosion.

"I heard something."

They did hear something. A woman dressed in purple with a hood over her head stepped in front of them. The chill rose in the air at this woman.

"You are off of the path," she told the women in front of her. "I can offer the three of you salvation."

She extended a long wooden stick in her hand and pointed towards Shayera, Karen, and Diana. She looked towards Superman with scorn.

"Leave him and join your truly family where you will be treated with dignity and not as an extension of a man," the hooded woman said with scorn. "You should join us."

The three women looked at the fourth one in the hood with a very incredulous set of stares. She surely could not be asking what they thought she was asking.

"I offer you salvation in exchange for leaving Superman and walking on the proper path."

"Let me think about that for a second," Karen said very mockingly. "No!"

"Yes, not a chance," Diana said.

Shayera was less diplomatic than the first two about your response. "You can take that offer and stick it straight up your ass."

"It's a pity," the woman in the hood said. "It's a pity you didn't join our cause. And it's a pity how many women turn their back on the truth. But, you will be executed as traitors. You could have been amazing Female Furies."

The woman lifted up a box and opened up a portal. Six women dropped down to the ground. The lead women dressed in a tight black leather suit with a bandage wrapped around her face. She looked at the rest of the group with sheer contempt dancing in her eyes

"Lashina. Kill them!"

Hawkgirl rushed towards the attack with her mace swinging. One of the women grabbed her out of mid-air and tossed her to the side.

Diana engaged another woman who wielded knives. The woman stayed a couple of steps ahead in the fight against Diana. The Amazon Princess realized very quickly that this was going to be a very intense battle.

Power Girl rushed towards them. She received an electrified shot when one of them went down.

Lashina stepped into battle to go face to face with Superman.

"Looks like it's just you and I, handsome."

She whipped out her electrified whip and wrapped it around Superman's neck to force him down to a kneeling position.

"You're a distraction," he gasped. "To allow Intergang to employ the weapon."

Lashina smiled as she prepared to have her way with her new toy. And eventually, she would break him. Superman broke free from the attack and caused her to stagger back. Superman dove at her and the two struggled in combat with each other.

"I wanted to be nice. But, I guess your Kryptonian blood is going to have to flow."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 20** **th** **, 2018.**


	80. Chapter 80

**Chapter Eighty: Stand Together or Fall Apart**

* * *

The moment Lois Lane returned back to Earth after making a trip into space, she could feel something was really wrong. Lois moved into position down onto the ground. She could hear the screams of people. One of the Intergang goons rushed down the scene of the battle as fast and as far as his legs could carry him.

Lois pushed her ear piece into her ear. "Okay, Chloe. What's the situation here?"

"I'll try and get you caught up," Chloe said. "Intergang's got a new weapon. It releases a virus which affects people who are not completely human."

A few seconds passed with Lois pushing her fingers back and touched the top of her dark haired. Lois dropped down to the ground and heard the thumping off to the side. "Define the term not completely human. Because there are a lot of empowered people out there with the meteors, not just aliens like Clark and Karen and…."

A couple of seconds passed with Lois taking a second to adjust her thoughts. She realized that Intergang was just was being used by the person who gave the weapon. Lois looked from her left and noticed a truck rolling down the area. She moved closer into the back of the truck.

"No matter what, don't you dare let anyone get ahold of this truck!"

The two goons off to the side nodded. They clutched their weapons into each other. All Mannheim told them to do was to make sure to hold onto whatever was in the back of this truck.

"Hey, boys!" Lois yelled. They looked up in the sky in time for Lois to smash one of the weapons out of their hand. "Sorry, too slow."

The gang member disengaged the blaster and fired at Lois. The Green Lantern flew off to one side and came back into the top of the armored shoulder of the Intergang member. Lois flipped the gang member over onto his feet and forced him to land onto his back with a large crash.

"Yeah!" Lois yelled. "You're going to have to…."

One of the Intergang goons on a building fired a net at Lois. Lois dropped to the ground to be ensnared by the object. She struggled against the net with Lois ripping her way out of the net. The attacker went to fire another gun. An arrow caught the back of the blaster and it exploded.

The Green Arrow descended back down to the ground. She fired an arrow through an open window. Tear gas filled the area and the goon rushed out of the area. The goon swung his fist at the attackers. The Green Arrow blocked the attack and caught her enemy with a repeated series of punches to the head. She snapped her fist back and sent the goon flying back down to the ground.

"Duck!" she yelled.

Lois ducked the dagger coming an inch away from parting the back of her head. The goon caught the dagger back into her hand. The goon summoned the dagger back and flipped it into the air. The dagger exploded down onto the ground off to the side of Lois.

A bright seal of green energy brought the dagger down to the ground. The Intergang goon rushed towards the goon. An arrow fired down onto the ground. The Green Arrow drew back the bow and propelled another arrow at the goon. The blast knocked the Intergang goon back.

"Keep them away from the truck!"

One of the attackers had been flipped up into the air and ascended up. The loud crack echoed with one of the goons being dropped down. A figure dressed in black moved through the shadows. The Intergang leader followed the attacker moving out with the scope of his gun.

Batwoman flipped into the air and grabbed the goon around the arm. Both of them struggled against each other with Batwoman catching her attacker repeatedly with a series of elbow smashes. The final elbow strike cracked the goon down to the ground. She flipped back up behind the attacker.

The attacker fired two bullets at Batwoman. She disappeared into the light just in time for Lois to nail the attacker with a construct. The Green Arrow shot the weapon out of his hand. The Intergang member dropped down to the ground with the breath driven out of her.

"They're setting up one of the relay stations!" Chloe informed them. "There are three of them in total to release the bomb. You're going to have to stop them."

Lois viewed three of the goons putting down a large tower on the street. The tower sunk in the ground and burned into the ground. Lois backed up to get a closer look at the tower.

"Yeah, I can see it," Lois said. "What do we do to stop it?"

* * *

Supergirl hovered high above the sky. She twisted back a couple of inches before leaning back down onto the ground. The van containing the DEO agents rolled up.

"I think that if we shut down one tower, we can get the other two to fall," Daisy said. "But, it's just a shot in the dark."

Agent Alex Danvers stepped out of the back of the truck. The hairs of the back of her neck prickled up in the worst possible way when looking around. She sensed something bad was going to happen if they made one wrong. Daisy's shot in the dark was going to work.

"There's, it's the relay tower," Kara said.

Daisy lightly rocked the ground underneath them. A mine exploded from underneath her quaking hand. The heat emitting from the ground made all of them step back.

"They lined their mines with lead covering said," Daisy said. "That explains why you didn't see them."

It took a minute for Daisy to locate all of the mines. She disabled the second mine and then the third mine. She ran over the ground which had large holes in the ground after blowing up the minds. The two Danvers sisters moved in. Alex's body covered with the armor and she prepared to get to work.

"I'll break down the walls," Alex said. "And why I break down the walls, you can do what you do best and hack the technology."

Daisy nodded, Alex pretty much took the idea out of her mind. She rubbed her hands together and prepared to get to work. Alex leaned down meanwhile and studied the shield.

' _It's a standard shield,'_ the Blue Beetle scarab informed her. _'If I'm not interrupted, I should be able to get in here in a couple of minutes. If I am…well you won't be able to run fast enough. And whatever bacteria is inside of this bomb is going to go off and kill everyone it touches.'_

The matter of fact statement from the Blue Beetle did not jar Alex. She moved into the edge of the object.

' _Knock out the first tower and the other two won't be able to uplink, right?'_ Alex asked.

' _Correct,'_ the Blue Beetle said. _'Unless they trigger a manual explosion of the bomb. But, surely no one could be that reckless, because of the potential fallout it could be cause.'_

Alex realized they would have to secure the bomb because people were in fact that reckless. She keyed her way into the side of the bomb. Alex drew in a breath. One step in and several more steps to go.

All three girls tensed up. Daisy had to be right next to Alex to hopefully uplink to the other towers. She heard a loud rumbling in the distance. A huge robot moved over with one of the Intergang goons riding in the front of it. It held two laser blasters on either arm when directed at the heroes.

"Do you think you can stall him for a minute?" Daisy asked.

"Right, stall," Supergirl said. "Hey, ugly, I'm up here!"

The Intergang member turned his attention to the Girl of Steel as she hovered up in the sky faster than a speeding bullet. The goon pointed the weapons up. Supergirl deflected a punch off of the shield. She bounced back and lead the Intergang member back away from the tower.

"You just wait, little girl!" the Intergang member yelled. "I'm going to stomp you! It's going to be sweet when I put you down onto the ground."

Supergirl avoided the Intergang goon from trapping her in a glass bubble. She bounced high into the air and struck the goon down onto the back of the glass ball. The goon staggered and swiped a blast at Supergirl. Supergirl repeatedly withdrew her attacks and pound at him.

The Girl of Steel adopted an approach of two punches and one dodge. She continued the ritual with several swipes. Kara floated back, forth, and all over the map. The large armor wearing goon approached Kara as fast as he could go. He clicked the two cannons into place.

"Oh, you're going down!" he yelled. "I might not be able to take down Superman. But, you're just as good."

Kara caught the underside of the armor with a blast from the heat vision. The attacker turned left for Supergirl to smash through the robot. She hoisted him high into the air and hung him up on the ledge of the building. The mad scrambling from the goon only caused Supergirl to smile.

The two Intergang goons moved their way to secure the tower. Kara corkscrewed down to the ground and landed right in front of them. Her fist impacted the ground and rocked the goons back. One of them withdrew a glowing knife at her. Kara blocked the hand and wrestled the knife away from her attacker.

' _I hope you can do it soon.'_

* * *

Lashina gritted her teeth when cracking the electrified whip. She tried to ensnare Superman's ankle with the whip. The Man of Steel broke free of the whip and landed down onto the top of the head of the Female Fury.

Another Fury ran over Superman with all of the force of a truck. Superman crashed down to the ground and looked up just in time to get a good look at the Female Fury leaping up high and almost stomping his face in. Superman blocked the attack from the Fury and pushed her up.

The large Female Fury staggered back into Diana. Diana reverse-bearhugged her from behind. The two women wrestled with each other until Diana took the Female Fury on one way trip to Suplex city by driving her down onto the ground.

Diana did not have enough time to bask in her triumph. Two of these vicious women grabbed Diana around the head. Diana elbowed one in the face and grappled with another one. The Female Fury slammed a huge rod into Diana's face which doubled her over. The redhead Fury's eyes flashed with blood red furry.

"It's a pity!"

She smashed the rod into Diana's face and dropped her down onto the ground.

"Granny Goodness would have enjoyed someone like you in her camp," she said. "But, now you're going to be underneath the ground where you belong!"

Power Girl flung the enemy she fought over towards the enemy Diana fought. The two enemies collided together. Power Girl watched them tangle together in a mess of hands and feet. She wordlessly dropped down and helped Wonder Woman rise to her feet.

"Thanks," Diana said.

Karen returned a never nervous grin. She noticed the Female Furies trying to push themselves back up off of the ground. As much as Karen thought she would have been very pleased with what happened, they were most certainly far from behind out of the woods just yet.

"Don't thank me yet."

Diana and Karen stood shoulder to shoulder with each other preparing to fight the two warrior women. They had no idea what happened with Superman, but at this point, it did not matter to them. They would have to fight as much as possible.

An energy tube entered. Karen popped her gazed over her shoulder and opened her mouth very wide. A figure dropped down on the ground in front of the Furies.

"You!"

Barda appeared dressed in battle armor. The last time anyone saw it had been leaving War World. She wasted little motion in smashing her fist into the chest of one of the Female Furies to drive her enemy down to the ground. The wind knocked completely out of the enemy from the impact.

The other Female Fury jumped on Barda's back and started to hammer away at the woman. Those fists did pretty much nothing. Barda spun around and caught the Female Fury across the face with a huge punch to drop her down to the ground. The Female Fury covered up with Barda dropping back and punching her opponent as hard and repeatedly as possible.

Lashina stepped over to face her former field leader and grouped.

"So, it's the bitch!" she snapped.

"So, it's Granny's former lapdog," Barda said.

She matched Lashina's voice with the same amount of fury that she delivered. A none too happy Lashina dove in to engage Barda. Barda blocked Lashina's hand and twisted it down to the ground. The smaller woman landed down to the ground with a solid pop.

Lashina spoke a nasty comment in an alien language and rushed towards Barda. Barda blocked her and pushed her down onto the ground. Lashina struggled with Barda forcing her down underneath her boot.

No matter how many times Lashina moved in for the attack, Barda pretty much had a counter for everything Lashina had. Barda smashed her foot down into the top of Lashina's head and further cracked her down onto the ground. The wind knocked out of the Female Fury with each successive punch and each stomp as well. Lashina's fists curled up against the ground as she struggled and scampered for a standing position.

"And this is why I'm still the best around," Barda said to Lashina.

Lashina against struggled to her feet. She rushed Barda one more time. Barda deflected another Lashina attack.

Superman popped into position past one of the Furies. The Intergang goons standing around the weapon completely scattered. A brave thug tried to shoot Superman in the back. Hawkgirl put a stop of his attempt to be shot down with a vicious mace to the back of the head.

Barda grabbed Lashina's head and pushed her down to the ground. Lashina gasped with Barda putting the pressure underneath the chin of Lashina.

"You're good," Barda said. "I say you're very good. But you won't be great until the moment you stop being Granny's bitch."

Lashina struggled out of Barda's grasp and flew down against the ground.

"Please tell me that's being disabled," Superman said.

"Actually, we're almost good to go," Chloe said. "You can safely remove the power core out of the machine now, because the automatic relay won't trigger."

Superman tossed one of the Intergang members off the side. He landed firmly into the dumpster and hit like a piece of garbage.

"That's good to know," Superman said.

Two strong hands whipped out the power core and resulted in sparks flying everywhere. The Man of Steel leaned back with a smile on his face. He was pretty pleased.

The woman in the purple hood dropped down. A very morose expression spread over her face as she looked from the left and to the right.

"Children, it's time to go," she told them.

Lashina scampered to the ground and looked back at Barda. She slammed her whip on the ground to cause an electrified barrier to flash up. This resulted in Barda taking half of a step back.

"Next time, Barda!" she yelled. "Next time, I'm going to get you!"

The Boom Tube opened up and the Furies scampered through, their work having been done. Their plan did not succeed, unfortunately.

The woman in the purple hood made her way through the portal. Superman grabbed her around the head and the two of them struggled.

The hood only came off for a scant moment. The moment was long enough for Superman to get a clear look at the face of one Grace Godfrey. Godfrey's eyes bugged out in anger just one second before she stabbed Superman in the chest and departed.

Power Girl rushed over to check on him. Superman waved off her words with a gargling tone in his voice.

"I'm alright…it was Godfrey….Grace Godfrey!"

* * *

Chloe always hated to breathe easily before everything was completely verified. She did a quick run of the computer system back at the tower.

"Clark took out the energy core," Chloe said. "And the DEO is moving in to take command of the relay towers, and they are also going to take the virus and study it. It's not going to be released. And Mannheim lost some serious manpower and weapons."

She would have judged any day when something like that happened to be a good day. A day which Chloe could take a long drink of her coffee without any problems, and just bask in what just happened.

' _It was pretty close,'_ Chloe admitted to herself. _'It was way too close what happened.'_

Another second lost and they would have been infected. Many people, not just aliens, would have been infected. Chloe watched Tess approach her out of the corner of her eye.

"I'd say we did it," Tess said. "But, you know there's still a lot of work to do."

"Yeah, I know," Chloe said.

She took a long drink from her coffee. Tess took the chair which Chloe offered her along with the cup of coffee Chloe offered her. Today had been a long day and something that Tess just wanted to sit down. Tess took a second to collect her thoughts.

"I'm glad Barda returned home," Tess said.

"I think all of us are glad," Chloe said. "They weren't expecting her."

Tess shook her head and took another long drink of coffee. "And now, they will be expecting Barda, unfortunately. And they're going to be prepared for her to come at them."

Chloe had to admit Tess had a point. Still, they did have another very powerful warrior on their side. She really could not argue that was a problem. Not that Diana, Shayera, Karen, and anyone else, they could not hold their own.

"Mannheim's feeling the heat as well," Tess added almost as an afterthought. "He's going to be out of commission for a while."

One problem was off their hands. Unfortunately, with one problem being off their hands, there were still a couple more obvious problems to go. Tess brushed a strand of hair out of her face and contemplated what the next move would be. And the next move might be something interesting as well.

"Grace is connected to Apokolips," Tess said. "And this coming war…she's here to divide the people and spread propaganda. Unfortunately, there are people who are too afraid to call her out right now. Or maybe she's blackmailed them."

"And if she's connected, her brother's connected to," Chloe added.

Tess finished off the rest of her coffee with a long drink.

"Obviously," Tess answered. "Obviously."

They still had a lot of work to do. They knew that Grace was an obvious phony and likely her brother was as well. The veil came down off of her. There still was the matter of exposing their lies to the general public and that was a big problem. Until the general public wanted to listen, they were still going to believe what they wanted to believe.

The phone off to the side of the desk rang. Tess knew who could be calling after today of all days. She picked up the phone.

"Yes," Tess said curtly.

"You should sound happy about the work we've done together," Lillian said. "I know you don't trust me and you trust my intentions even less. We have the same end goal to make the world a better place. We just have a different methodology of getting there."

"Obviously," Tess chimed in through one of the simplest and most casual tones possible. "Obviously, our methods are always going to be different."

"Don't be upset with me," Lillian said. "The truce continues until the moment our mutual enemies are taken care of. We have to stand together, or we will fall divided. Goodbye, Lutessa."

Tess did not even bother having the call traced. She knew that Lillian did not call from any place which could be easily tracked. They were back at square one and it was most frustrating.

* * *

Barda watched as Clark did some squats without his shirt on. She would have been lying if she did not admire the scenery around her. Barda's tongue hung out for a moment before retracting back firmly into her mouth.

"Did you find anyone?" Clark asked her.

Barda returned back to the conversation at hand and shook her head.

"I found….I found a few people who could be interested," Barda admitted. "But, unfortunately, after Granny's done a number on them, there's no walking back from that."

"In time, they might be able to see the light."

The wound Grace gave Clark almost healed. She was as cutting with her knives as she was with her words.

"And now she's doing it with women at their most vulnerable," Clark said. "How are we going to stop her?"

"I'd say we break down the doors of that shelter and find her," Barda said. "But I somehow know that something like that really isn't in your playbook."

"You're right, it isn't," Clark said. "We're going to have to let the people know there's no reason to be afraid of us. It's not going to be easy."

Barda watched as Clark moved over in front of the crystals. The Fortress flashed through with some lights which performed some kind of routine medical examination or something which brought Clark back to life.

"No, it won't," Barda agreed. "And Darkseid has sent two of his most powerful persuaders to Earth. Everyone is going to be divided which means…there really won't be a very unified front to stop him."

The story had been the same several times. A planet divided could not stand up against Darkseid. One united really did not have much more of a chance, but they at least could stand taller. Darkseid thrived on making worlds as miserable as his very existence. It was a very awful quality for a very awful individual.

"Is he coming?" Clark asked.

"Yes, he is," Barda said.

"We'll be ready."

Barda caught Clark with a smile and would have liked to say that his naivety was charming. She brought her hand up and put it on the slight scar on Clark's chest from when Grace stabbed him.

"I'm going to tell you this, you're never going to be ready for Darkseid. He will come at the moment when Earth is at it's lowest. But…given all that I've lost, I'm more than willing to stand beside you. Maybe you will be the one to break the cycle."

The two drew even closer together as if by some force just drawing them together. Barda put her hands on the back of Clark's head and offered him a smile.

"You have to be the one to break the cycle," Barda said.

Clark put a hand on Barda's back and the two lingered closer together. Barda took a second to consider her next couple of actions. They could define her.

"I never have had a chance to thank you for opening my eyes back on War World."

The next action done by her mouth was not words, but a kiss. A kiss which smashed against Clark's lips. Barda had to lean down to give Clark the kiss. She moved her hands over the back of his head and grabbed onto his hair. Their tongues pushed together with Barda just barely winning the dominating battle of their mouths.

Barda tore Clark's pants away to leave him naked from the waist down as he was from the waist up. She moved back and ripped off her battle armor.

Clark marveled at the amount of female flesh and given that Barda was over seven feet tall, there was a large amount of female flesh for him to grab onto.

* * *

The Man of Steel pushed Barda back into the room. She grasped on his throbbing cock and gave it a hard squeeze. The manhood rose in Barda's hand as Clark backed her off near the bed.

The two dropped down onto the bed on the Fortress. Clark took control of Barda's amazing breasts and gave them a squeeze. The juicy orbs squeezed into Clark's hand and wiggled.

"I'm not going to want to wait for long," Barda said.

"You're not the type of woman who waits around, are you?" Clark asked.

Barda had been tormented by thoughts of this god on those cold nights when she traveled the universe for sympathetic ears. Clark's manhood rose up completely for Barda to grab her hand around and give it a very hard squeeze. Barda curled her fingers around Clark's hard rod and then pushed her hand down around it. Clark groaned the second Barda played with it.

She put him into her mouth and sucked on Clark for a few seconds. The heat of her mouth made Clark extend. His cock, as hard as an iron rod, pushed past Barda's lips and into her mouth.

Barda really pulled herself up to his lap. Her breasts were level with Clark's eyes. Clark took them in his hands and grabbed them on her not so subtle encouragement. His hands moved down to grasp her ass and position Barda over him.

One large drop brought Barda down onto Clark's hard cock. She filled herself up so much that Barda needed to repeat the process not only once, but a third time. Each time, Barda felt Clark's cock enter her deep. Her womanhood stretched with a very delicious feeling from Clark entering her body.

"Yes!"

Barda slammed herself down onto his crotch. His manhood shoved deep inside of her body as she took his large impressive cock into the depths of her powerful body.

The feeling of Barda stretching her walls around him made Clark groan. Barda's pussy muscles flexed around Clark when squeezing him and releasing him. Clark reached over to grab Barda around the back and lower her down onto him.

She came very suddenly and gave Clark's cock muscles a work out with the sheer force of her orgasm. The bed's reinforcement also got tested with how forcefully.

"You must have really wanted this," Clark groaned the second Barda dropped down onto his cock.

"You have no idea," Barda said.

Clark had some idea. He squeezed her nipples which Barda gave a squeal of excitement for. She rose and dropped repeatedly on Clark's massive prick. She took Clark into the depths of her cunt and hung onto him. Clark grabbed every inch of flesh he could while burying himself into her.

"You have no idea…how much I need this!" Barda cried at the top of her lungs. "Give me your cock…give me all of your cock!"

The two lovers matched each other with Barda working herself to another orgasm. Clark pushed himself deep into the strong warrior woman.

Strong flesh smacked against each other. Barda dug her nails into Clark's shoulder and almost drew some blood when pushing down onto him. She threw her head back and moaned. Barda released him and then took him inside of her. She could feel the need to have that seed pushed into her body.

"KAl-EL!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Barda pushed down onto Clark's hard tool. She stretched down onto his long cock when pressing inside of her very tight and very able cunt. Clark's manhood stretched her completely out and made Barda squeeze Clark's manhood with her tightness.

Every time Clark went into her, it was like a new and very tight adventure. He was only barely aware of the pair of eyes watching her. Clark's muscular body smashed into Barda's. Her breasts surrounded Clark's line of sight. He buried his face into her chest.

"Suck them," Barda said. "Suck them really good!"

Clark put his hands on Barda's lower back and pushed down on his cock. Her body stretched around Clark's hard cock and slammed down onto him.

"Closer!"

The bed might have been close to reaching its finish too. Clark could not really tell. He put his hands on Barda's back to try and slow her down. Barda was just plowing through and more importantly plowing his cock.

Several orgasms later, with the bed barely remaining standing, Clark reinforced his will just enough to bring Barda to another orgasm. Barda's screams could wake the dead. Clark nestled himself between her warm breasts as his balls lurched forward.

Powerful alien seed shot deep into Barda's body. His balls shot their load through her body. Barda pushed up around him and then released him with a few hard pumps.

Barda almost had been dazed by the sheer force of seed in her body. Clark held onto her back and slammed himself more directly inside of her.

"So good," Clark said.

"Very hot as well."

Clark pulled out of Barda only to see Karen's beautiful face closing in on his recovering member. She had her shirt off and two very nice breasts out. Karen took Clark's cock in hand and slipped it into her mouth. She sucked on his manhood to make it strong and long one more time.

"Perfect," Karen said. "And now let's see….."

Karen shoved her fingers into Barda's pussy and drew the combination of juices from her. The fingers came from Barda's cunt and straight into Karen's mouth. She sucked on them and drew a favorable moan when doing so.

"Have to have more."

Clark got a full view of Karen taking off her pants and exposing her black thong. Her ass swayed when crawling on top of Barda. The two powerful women shared a kiss. The sight of their breasts pushing together resulted in the blood rushing from Clark's head straight into his cock. His throbbing member desired taking both women and pretty much having his way with them.

He moved over and pulled Karen off of Barda. He pushed Karen over onto the bed and straddled the top of her. He grabbed Karen's chest and squeezed it to make her feel pleasure.

"Take me, please," his cousin begged him.

Karen's thighs spread apart for Clark to take. The Last Son of Krypton aimed his cock at her and submerged himself directly into her scorching heat. Clark grabbed onto Karen's chest and pulled almost all the way out of her and drove deep into her body.

"Fuck!" Karen yelled. "Oh, that's good….great RAO, that's fucking good! You're fucking cock is the best, Kal-El!"

She pushed her thighs around Clark to push him deeper into her warm pussy. Clark held onto Karen's chest and squeezed it. Her eyes glazed over the very moment Clark drove hard and fast into her. Karen rose her hips up off of the bed for her.

Barda watched Clark appear and disappear into the woman beside her. She was getting a bit frustrated. Clark's fingers reached over and drove into her pussy. It quelled Barda's fire at least for now.

Karen wrapped her legs tightly around Clark's ass and made sure he did not leave her center. The first eight inches slid into her while the remaining four inches teased her. Clark pushed deep inside of her body and then pulled out of her. The bed rippled underneath her.

"OOOH, YES!" Karen screamed.

Steady thrusts gave way to more rapid-fire thrusts with Clark pushing into Karen's body. Karen received Barda's pussy on her face.

"Use your tongue to give me relief!"

Barda's demands had been answered by Karen. She used this act of attempted dominance as a way for Barda to submit to her. The warm tongue vibrated against Barda and made her bounce up and down on her face.

Clark groaned at the very hot sight above him. His cock strained as it buried as deep as possible into Karen's very warm and powerful sheath. He groaned the second he slipped inside of Karen. He pulled almost all the way out and drove his big cock inside of Karen's tight body one more time. Her walls closed around Clark and stretched against his organ.

Moans coming from Karen's throat vibrated through her pussy. Clark held onto Karen's chest for leverage and dropped down into her. His big cock submerged into her body. Their bodies molded together in the dance of pleasure. Clark pulled almost all the way out of her and drove down into her.

He became closer to the edge and closer to cumming one more time in her. Karen just retightened her grip around him.

The feeling of sweet release just blasted through Karen's body the moment Clark drove himself into her. His balls slapped against her.

"If you need a break, I can pick up the slack."

Barda just needed him even more than ever. Karen shoved her tongue inside as if to say she could handle him the rest of the way through this round. Karen ensured that Barda would have another extremely powerful orgasm.

Renewed vigor spread through Clark's being as he plunged into Karen. Her pussy ensnared his hard cock and released him with her walls. Karen pushed against him and drew Clark deeper into her body with constant and never ending thrusts.

Clark only had so much time to give. He made sure Karen finished her orgasm. Barda also came all over Karen's face at the same time. Clark caught a glimpse of Karen's face. His beautiful blonde cousin had her face soaked by another woman.

The Man of Steel drove his huge cock inside of Karen and spilled his warm seed into her. His massive balls clenched and released to coat Karen with their gift. Karen flexed her walls around him as Clark poured his seed into her body.

The bed remained standing even though it wobbled a bit more. Clark pulled away. Seconds after he left Karen, his cock entered Barda's mouth. Karen shifted over to suck on Clark's balls. The two women gave him a very sloppy tandem blowjob.

They were really for more, and Clark was within less than thirty seconds. The night would be long and it would cause them to blow off some steam.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 22** **nd** **, 2018.**


	81. Chapter 81

**Chapter Eighty-One: Contact**

* * *

The last couple of days had been very interesting for Clark to put things mildly. After, Intergang's latest failed scheme, they went mostly dark. Mannheim in particular had been underfire from what Clark could find out.

"He's going to wiggle out the charges, just barely," Chloe said. "At least that's what my source is saying. He's not going to be able to act against you."

A small smile popped over the corner of Clark's face. He won a battle and the war was going to go on. He flew across the skies and the fields of Kansas. Clark listened in for any trouble. It had been second nature for months and months on end to deal with a meteor mutant every week.

Over the last couple of years, they trickled completely down. Clark still felt the need to visit Smallville, even though he spent a lot of time in Metropolis. His mother was returning this weekend to check up on the farm so today appeared to be a good time for them to get together. The other reason Clark wanted to be here was to check up on Maxima, and also, Connie, Alicia, and Tara to see how they are doing.

She dropped down to see Connie piling some wood into a wheelbarrel. Clark's younger sister flashed him a smile and moved over to hug him.

"Hey, how have you been?" Connie asked. "You've been keeping busy, haven't you?"

Clark just gave her a smile and helped her haul away the last bit of the firewood into the wheelbarrel. "Yeah, I have to keep busy after everything that's happened."

"Okay, I think I've got it fixed," Alicia said. She shook her head. "CLARK!"

Alicia teleported right in front of Clark's body and she wrapped her arms around him. The two moved closer to each other and met in the center with a very passionate kiss. Connie shook her head and even Tara, who just poked her head out of the barn seemed amused.

"It's been forever since you've been over," Alicia said.

"Actually, he was over here about two weeks ago," Tara said.

One dirty look from the older girl towards the younger girl made Tara just flash a smile at Alicia. Alicia moved over and held her hand against Clark's.

"I thought about coming to visit you, but there's a lot of work to be done here with the fall harvest coming, and…well you're busy enough without worrying about me," Alicia said.

"I'll try and stop by more often," Clark said.

Alicia just smiled. She thought about seeing what she could do to step out on the field and help out Clark and his ladies. Unfortunately, she hit a mental stumbling block. Alicia's nightmares about her death became less and less, but she didn't want to push herself.

"And when you're ready to go out, you'll be ready. Don't force yourself."

The Meteor Mutant flash a brilliant grin at her boyfriend and leaned in with a quick kiss. She pulled back.

"Maxima is back behind the barn," Alicia said. "I'm not sure if we should have left her alone."

Clark moved behind the barn and saw Maxima ripping several weeds out of the ground. Her hands plastered with dirt and her teeth gritted together. Maxima tugged the plant roots out of the ground and shredded the weeds in half with her bare hands.

' _What did those weeds ever do to you?'_ Clark asked.

The droning voice of Grace Godfrey explained everything.

"Every single day, I'm going to rally the call to have women stand up and stand together. All women have to stand together to fight the toxin influence Superman corrupts young women and girls with. They consider him to be a beacon of height. He seeks to destroy everything we have accomplished. He's a disgusting individual."

"And you would know, wouldn't you?" Maxima spat scathingly.

Clark approached Maxima a little bit further. She turned around on instinct and smiled. Maxima threw her arms around Clark and almost lifted him off of the ground with one of the most potent kisses any woman could ever give. The two indulged in each other for the next couple of minutes before Maxima pulled away from here.

"I wish to ask you for permission to go to this Grace Godfrey and teach her a lesson," Maxima said. "For, she's disrespecting my King, and I cannot allow this to stand. She must be taken care of."

The fierce determination in the eyes of the warrior woman made Clark very amused. Clark put a gentle hand on Maxim's shoulder

"We can't do that," Clark said. "I know it's very tempting to do something to her. The truth is going to come out sooner or later, and Grace is going to be disgraced. You have to understand that's going to happen sooner rather than later."

Maxima looked like she would respect Clark's wishes for the moment. She personally thought of Grace as nothing but a lowly peasant who belonged no higher than the bottom of the boot. And the fact Grace tried to tell her, the Queen of Almarac, how she should be able to think as a woman made Maxima want to rip her spine completely in half.

* * *

A punching bag rocked back and forth. Barda wound up high and punched at it. Another couple of punches caused the bag to swing back and forth on the chain.

The door opened and Tess watched Barda for a long couple of minutes. Her series of punches drilled into the side of the bag. Tess could see the fire in Barda's eyes. She understood and recognized that particular expression very well. The same very danced in her eyes on a constant basis. She followed the progress of Barda pulling her arm back and punching her.

"We're one of the two to escape her pull."

Barda stopped punching on the bag. She turned around to go look towards Tess who stood before her. Barda respected Tess as a fellow warrior and a great survivor. The two of them locked eye to eye with each other.

"I went to one of Granny's orphanage's here on Earth and I've blocked a fair bit of it out of my memory," Tess said. "You know how her abuse is mostly psychological, even after you esecape."

"Even after you escape, she has her imprint on you."

Barda bent down and did several stretching exercises. She hated that so many women had been under Granny's pull. Yet, despite Barda's hatred for Granny, there was something far more sinister coming around. Barda recalled the true monster in this game.

"We escaped her, we are one of the lucky few who were able to escape her and live to tell the tale," Barda said. "There were others who were not so lucky. There were many who Granny ripped apart when they tried to get out from underneath her heel."

"And many she crushed just as well just to prove that she could," Tess said. "She's a sick woman and we both know there's something wrong up in that mind of hers."

Tess offered Barda a water bottle. Barda opened up the water bottle and downed it in one swift drink. The cool refreshing taste relaxed her in a few seconds. She dropped down onto the workout bench and Tess followed her.

"That Woman's Shelter that Granny has opened on Earth, it's only a front," Barda said to Tess. "It's just an excuse to create more Female Furies. And it might not be the worst idea if we end up shutting it down."

Tess could see that fire in Barda's eyes once again. She knew what Barda had in mind to shut down that particular place of operations. Tess would have been a liar if she had not been considering taking some of the steps that Barda did.

"We're going to have to expose them all," Tess said. "Granny and the Godfreys…and we're going to have to do it in a way where the people can't do anything, but understand that they are the monsters they are. The court of public opinion is swinging towards their favor."

People would eventually believe anything after a constant wave of propaganda even though the propaganda was complete bullshit. Their crusade against aliens was a point which resounded with a lot of people because it played off of their most base fears that something really bad was going on.

' _If the world only knew they were aliens,'_ Tess thought.

The phone off to the side rang and Tess wasted very little time picking it up. Barda raised an eyebrow, but wisely said nothing as she allowed Tess to conduct her phone conversation in piece.

"Yes," Tess replied. "Yes…oh, it's been approved. That's great…and we want to make sure she remains on the air. She's the strongest voice against them and the most that people listen to. Thanks."

Tess hung up the phone and could have smiled.

"Leslie Willis is back on the air," Tess informed Barda. "She was against the Godfreys pretty much since the moment they started their campaign. And now, she's going to jump back in."

Only one sponsor backed out of the deal from sponsoring Leslie's radio show and as always, the management began to get a sudden case of cold feet of being behind her. A bunch of so-called Women's Rights Groups also complained about how her content was toxic and harmful for them, and there were some hit pieces written about her by the mainstream media, which Leslie was not shy about deconstructing live on the air.

"Trying to silence her has made her only more popular in some circles," Tess mused, more to herself than to Barda.

"They don't like voices of discontent," Barda said. "I'd keep my eye on this woman."

Tess intended to. It would be amusing to see what would happen. She expected Grace to double-down on her propaganda at the very least because that's what extremists always did when their backs had been put against the wall.

* * *

Clark stepped into the kitchen at the Kent household and he could hear his mother moving around the kitchen. It was almost like time had frozen and Clark returned to a much more simpler time in his life. Well, about as simple as Clark could have been in his life. Those days fighting the meteor mutant of the week in Smallville might not have been as simple as Clark thought they were.

Martha moved her way to the front and fixed Clark a plate to eat and something to drink.

"So, how's Washington, Senator?" Clark asked.

Martha just shook her head. "Clark, when we're both at this dinner table and this house hold, it's still Mom."

An amused smile filled over the face of the Man of Steel as he had been reprimanded by his own mother. Martha had a plate ready for him just like old times.

"And to answer your questions, we're constantly talking about what to do with the current problems in the world," Martha said. "And also at home, the budget, terrorists, and what to do with visitors of other world's….some people unfortunately believe everything they hear and rear in the news."

Clark knew she was talking about the Godfreys.

"They have been relentless over the past couple of months," Clark said. "It's almost enough to make you scream."

"I know," Martha said. "You must not let it get to you."

An argument about how Clark was not letting it get to him formed on the tip of his tongue. One look from his mother stalled that argument before it could fly out the gates. He was letting it get to him, wasn't he? Clark just nodded his head in understanding

"You shouldn't let the vocal minority get to you," Martha said. "There are still people out there who get behind and believe in their heroes even though they don't show it a lot of the time. You should not allow yourself to be taken down by the vocal minority."

Martha took a deep breath and patted her son on the shoulder.

"Those who appreciate are often more tranquil. Actions speak louder than words. Those who have something to complain about, often just speak more loudly, because they have no actions. They have nothing other than their complaints."

Clark understood what his mother was telling him. He took a large drink of the orange juice at the table and a smile came across his face.

"You're still a symbol for many people out there," Martha told him. "And the best way to answer your critics is to keep doing what you're doing and show that they won't drive you away. Your father always said that a measure of a man is how he goes about his business, despite people going against him."

No question about it, Clark would have to agree his mother had a point. His parents always had been a source of wisdom.

"Yeah, I would have to say she's right."

"Chloe, come in!" Martha called. "How have you been?"

Chloe just smiled and stepped into the room. She hugged Martha in greeting.

"Well, I've been doing good enough," Chloe said. "I think we'd all be doing better if we can stop this onslaught….Clark mentioned to you what the Godfreys truly are."

"Yes," Martha said. "And I believe you and I hope you find the proof to expose them to the rest of the world."

Chloe moved over to the table and slipped her hand onto Clark's knee. Clark responded with a brief smile directed to Chloe as the two moved together against the table.

"Your mother has a point," Chloe said. "If you stop being you, then all of them have won. They don't like you? That's fine, because there are a lot of people who appreciate what you do."

The two long-time friends and lovers joined together. Chloe put her hand on Clark's knee and gave him one of those smiles of hers.

"I know I do," Chloe said. "We all do…some loud mouth like Godfrey, both of them, isn't going to define what Superman means for the world."

"Thanks," Clark said. "And I know."

He put a hand to his cheek. The now very visible scar Grace carved into his cheek served as a constant reminder of everything Clark had to go against. He had a lot to do.

Chloe pulled away from the conversation and held the cell phone which was buzzing. She moved into answer it.

"Chloe, you should turn on the television, you're not going to believe what is happening," Lois said. "There's trouble. Big trouble."

Now, Lois's words stirred Chloe's unfortunately notorious curiosity and she wondered what the hell was happening. She supposed it would be only a matter of moments before she would find out.

* * *

Several delegates at the United Nations argued with each other. They had a new problem which they were going to have to deal with. And this was not going to be a very easy problem for them to handle by any stretch of the imagination.

Several figures appeared at the edge of the entrance of the United Nations. Several of them dressed as guards which resembled giant beetles of different colors. The leader dressed in a set of white robes with a golden beetle mask who stepped in front of the delegates.

"Do not be alarmed," the ambassador said, her voice very soft and calming when she spoke. "We belong to a group of aliens known as the Reach. And you can be assured that we're not here to find. We are here to help benefit humanity as it moves into its next stage of evolution."

"How do we know you're not like all of the rest?"

The Reach Guards remained tranquil and passive underneath the voice of such accusations. The Ambassador just broke out into a light smile and decided to address the facts of the matter to them.

"I understand. We have been visitors of many worlds where the inhabitants have been distrustful of our intentions. However, there is no need for alarm. We will not harm the people of this planet. In fact, we intend to do the exact contrary. We will help the people of Earth become much better and much stronger. We are willing to share our technology and our advances to make Earth a much better place."

The woman decided to correct her tone.

"And from what I've seen of Earth, it's already a very beautiful and strong planet," the ambassador said in a soothing voice. "However, we can always make things better. You strike me as a race of people who want to be the very best you can be and anything less than your best is an insult."

The members of the United Nations all spoke. The members of the Reach released a sphere into the air. The delegates in the United Nation received a blast of light from the spear. All of them sighed and felt relaxed.

"So, tell me how do you all feel?" the Reach Ambassador asked all of them.

"I don't know about you, but I feel great!"

The other delegates in the United Nations all broke into similar statements of appraisal. The Reach Ambassador broke out into a slick little smile. This had been more than too good to be true. They appreciated their technology.

"Yes, but this is only a small sample," the Reach Ambassador said. "This device healed many of your ailments and turned back the clock on the process of human aging by a few years. Just by this small exposure, the Reach has expanded your life by at least five of your Earth years."

"And you can do more than that?" the American delegate asked.

"Oh, we can do much more than that if you give us a chance. We should not horde this technology. It should be shared with the universe for we can help those."

"And there you have it!"

The scene of the United Nations cut away and one look of the face of G. Gordon Godfrey flashed on the television screen.

"These people have done more in one hour on Earth than Superman has done in all of his years living off of this world," Godfrey said in his usual rough tone of voice. "This group, the Reach, decided to come and visit the leaders of the free world, our representation. They were up front about their intentions and they should they had the best thoughts in mind."

Godfrey's face came up to the television screen so any viewer would get a bit too much of a look at Godfrey.

"Now, tell me something," Godfrey said. "Is Superman sharing his technology? Has he showed us anything he might use? Has it shared any of his advances with the human race? Has our Kryptonian hero, our man of tomorrow, made any headway of doing anything to help humanity."

Two red words flashed upon the television screen and flashed the words "Absolutely Not!" for the entire world to see.

"Superman hordes his technology at his supposed Fortress. He claims that it's a place for him to be alone, but what is he really planning up there? He's unwilling to share his technology to help humanity grow. Which leads me to one conclusion, he's planning to utilize that technology to enslave us once we grow too dependent on him!"

Godfrey's last few words flew out of his mouth with a disgusting amount of spittle coming across the television.

"Superman is Adolf Hitler posing as a boyscout as far as I'm concerned!" Godfrey yelled. "He's fed you lies….and I appreciate the Reach for showing us how a group of aliens who is up front about their intentions. Who come in and do the right thing. They share their technology with smiles on their faces, instead of putting themselves all the way up here beyond the rest of the world."

Godfrey stretched his hand up high to showcase what he meant. The television journalist's face contorted into one of the more obvious sneers possible.

"Not one single Kryptonian advancement has ever helped anyone on this planet. And if you ask me, that's a shame. The world leaders should grow a set of balls and force Superman to comply and share his technology with us. And if he's unable, and unwilling to do that, then we should hunt him down like a war criminal before he enslaves our planet!"

They went to commercial with the camera panning in on the disgusting face of G. Gordon Godfrey.

* * *

Clark arrived at the DEO and moved past the security checks as quickly as possible. Several government agents moved around the area of the big television screen. They saw the Reach showing up. And immediately, none of them were very happy about this.

"Can you really believe people are buying this bullshit?" one of the agents asked. "I mean, I know the United Nations would buy this bullshit, but seriously, normal people buying this?"

Daisy faced Clark the second that he walked into the room.

"So, how's the situation here?" Clark asked.

"Well, as you can tell, it's not good," Daisy said. "We can't afford to let the Reach make their move. And it's putting Alex on edge, or rather her plus one on edge."

"Can…can I go and see her?" Clark asked.

Daisy consented to Clark's request and led him down the hallway towards the gym area. They opened the door and came across Kara putting her hand on the shoulder of a very agitated looking Alex.

"Alright, calm down," Kara said. "I'd…say it's going to be okay, but considering it's the Reach…."

She could only imagine Astra's reaction right about now. It would be foolish enough to think Astra would not know about the Reach as they showed up.

"You can say it's fine, but it's not fine," Alex said. "They're here. I can't believe that they're here, but they're here."

' _We should go after them and destroy them,'_ the scarab said after a few minutes pause.

' _No, we can't do that,'_ Alex thought. _'Not until we show the people what they truly are.'_

' _It's already begun, just like it's begun on several other worlds,'_ the scarab said. _'This is my purpose. My purpose is to take down the Reach…they must have found that I'm here.'_

"Alex, promise me you're not going to do anything reckless," Kara said.

Alex Danvers could really not make that promise because her other half was really wigging out at the moment. Daisy grabbed Alex's shoulder and held her back.

"You know something, I'm fine," Alex said. "I'm just fine….I have this under control."

Her arm retracted into a large cannon which could have blasted through the door at a moment's notice. Alex held her breath and counted to ten and the armor retracted back to normal, although there were a few more sharp points on it.

"The Reach is already beginning their invasion and they're doing it under the guise of diplomacy," Kara said.

' _Yes, that's what I'm saying!'_ the scarab yelled. _'Every minute we waste on this planet on courtesy is a moment that….'_

"It can't be a coincidence that they're here," Clark said. "Think about it for a second. Godfrey needs something to make me into an even bigger scapegoat for his rants. And suddenly, this supposed peaceful alien race shows up and yes, I know they're not peaceful, but….they show up and Godfrey can just double down on his hit pieces."

Alex nodded, biting down on her lip.

"So, you think Darkseid could be behind the Reach as well?" Kara asked.

The very thought terrified her.

' _The Reach are normally not pawns,'_ the scarab said. _'But, Darkseid might be one of the few that could…manipulate them accordingly.'_

These words failed the scarab just seconds after they had been spoken.

"It's possible," Alex said. "And we're going to have to prepare for the worst."

Clark had been doing that way too much as of late.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 24** **th** **, 2018.**


	82. Chapter 82

**Chapter Eighty-Two: In Our Reach**

* * *

Large crystal screens in the Fortress of Solitude showed the broadcast of the traffic going around the United Nations. Astra adjusted a couple of settings on the Fortress. Lara, Alura, and Raya watched the woman very nervously. It was very surprising she kept her composure now. The three women just waited for the other foot to drop and for Astra to say something.

The fact she said nothing at all and only gave a glowering look when directed through the screen at the reach. Astra pushed her ear piece in.

"Faora, the moment the Reach looks at anyone cross-eyed, I want you to take them out," Astra said. "We'll deal with damage control later."

The only reason Astra did not really say a single word or signal for an attack just yet was because she wanted to see what the game of the Reach soldiers were just yet. She walked over towards the front of the fortress.

"Is Kal at the DEO?"

"Yes, he's there," Lara said. "We don't really know what the Reach is planning."

Astra figured they would know what they were heading to Earth for instantly. She racked her brain to think of the resources that the Reach could be after. The only thing Astra could think of was the blue beetle scarab which was the ultimate weapon to be used against them. And Astra had her doubts about that. She would have sooner sealed the beetle and it's holder in a vault until the invasion passed.

' _And it begins,'_ Astra thought to herself.

The members of the United Nations greeted the Reach representatives with big smiles on their face. It sickened Astra how much these people could turn on a dime. Yet, what do you expect from politicians?

"We have shared the people of Earth some of our technology," the Reach Ambassador said. "And we will share you much more soon enough. We have brought advances to his planet far beyond your wildest dreams. But we also bring you something else. We bring you knowledge. Knowledge of a great threat which comes to you far beyond the stars and threatens to infect every inch of your planet."

A few seconds passed as Astra waited for the other shoe to drop. Alura grabbed her sister's arm in warning. Astra settled back down for a few seconds and waited for them to drop. They all had a sneaky suspicion of who the Reach was going to implicate with their words and their accusations.

"His name is Darkseid."

That was among the last people Astra would have expected. The rules of the game changed a whole lot now compared to her expectations and now Astra wondered what in the name of Rao was going on her. Lara, Raya, and Alura wore various stages of surprise. The delegates of the United Nations all muttered to each other.

"Darkseid is one of the most vile forces ever to watch the universe," the Reach Ambassador said. "He seeks to subjugate many planets in exchange for the Anti-Life equation. A fiendish equation which can rewrite reality intoany image that Darkseid feels the need to."

Astra now was very curious as to where the Reach was going with this plan.

"This menace will be coming, but fortunately the Reach has advanced knowledge," the Reach Ambassador said. "We have brought forth more inventions. We are currently commissioning, with the permission of the world leaders of course, a water filtration system, which will lead to cleaner water at a cheap and efficient cost. And we are building a tower which will reduce air pollution and restore Earth to a more comfortable atmosphere. We hope to combat the problems and enhance the strength of humanity."

' _Yes, because slaves who drop dead before you get all that you can out of them isn't going to serve your agenda, is it?'_

The United Nations watched the plans get drawn up. They all nodded and pretended to know what the Reach was talking about. The ignorance of these delegates could be the Earth's downfall. All involved received some really bad flashbacks to the downfall of Krypton.

"All we require is one more thing to help us repel Darkseid. We humbly ask one of Earth's protectors, Superman, to relinquish his Fortress of Solitude."

"And now I understand," Astra bluntly stated.

Everyone understood where the Reach was coming from now that the information had come on the news. They wanted their hands on the Kryptonian technology. They would not be able to reach the Fortress of Solitude on their own accord, not without any assistance they would, anyway. Alura brushed her hand back from her face with several very obvious thoughts entering her mind at a rapid fire rate.

' _They want the Fortress,'_ she said. _'And they're going to begin to paint us as the enemy, to guilt us into handing it over. It's not going to happen. Not if we can help it.'_

They had a lot of work to do and now it was going to be time to expose the Reach to show the people what they were truly all about. Astra could see them and the problems they caused more clear than anyone.

"We better be ready," Astra said.

* * *

Superman hit the skies of Metropolis. No matter what, he wanted to give people plenty of assurance that he was up there high in the sky and out to save the day no matter what the circumstances. And when a group of Intergang members attacked a scientific research facility, it was high time for Superman to get involved.

"I'm closing in on them. Two minutes and counting!"

That declaration was the last one Clark had a chance to give before something caught his attention. Several armored beetles stood in front of the tank Intergang brought out into the city. One of the beetles launched an electrified mine underneath the tires and forced the Intergang goons to retreat.

Another pair of Intergang thugs, this time dressed in bodyarmor, were all the ground. The Reach electrified the armor and dropped them down to the ground. The nervous people cheered just as Superman dropped to the ground.

"Everyone stand down!"

The leader of the army told the Reach to stand down. They all backed off as Superman came there. They did not show any aggression. Superman was most certainly not going to show the first signs of aggression especially in such a very public venue.

"The Son of Jor-El, it's an honor to meet you."

One of the scientists from the Reach stepped out and extended his hand for Superman to shake. The Man of Steel stood back and waited for the other foot to drop. He reached in and very cautiously took the hand of the Reach Scientist before shaking it. Both pulled away from each other at this particular instance.

"I know you might have heard some mistruths about the Reach," the scientist said. "We are in the same boat….I believe we may have heard some half-truths propagated about your mainstream news media. I know, as I sure you do too, that we should believe what we see, and not believe what other people tell us."

Superman crossed his arms together and nodded. The two individuals, both the Reach Scientist and Superman, stood side by side with each other. Neither wanted to be the one to speak the first word.

"The Reach is here to help," the scientist told Superman. "But, we're concerned that you're not helping the people of Earth by leaving your Fortress of Solitude locked. We can do a lot of good by preventing Darkseid from heading to this Earth."

"The technology in the Fortress can be too dangerous….."

"So, wait, are you saying, are you admitting for the entire world to see, that you have dangerous alien technology which you can use to enslave humanity? Is that what I'm hearing from you?"

The only and only G. Gordon Godfrey appeared on the scene as if someone dropped him out of the shadows from mid-air. Several of his supporters crowded around. One of them held a crudely drawn sign with the Planet Earth on it and a picture of Superman with a large boot drawn by his ass as if it symbolized him being kicked off of the planet. Godfrey shoved the microphone in Superman's face.

"Do you think your Kryptonian people are a master race?" Godfrey asked with his usual bulldoggish look baring down on Clark. Clark stepped back to see Godfrey's eyes locked onto him. "Do you think you're superior to everyone else? Is that why you think your technology is too dangerous for us humanity?"

Superman refused to answer Godfrey's questions.

"Transparency is important," Godfrey said.

"Yes, but the truth will be revealed before too long," Superman said.

"And the truth isn't revealing yourself to be this beacon of hope, isn't it?" Godfrey asked. "I have nothing to hide, but can you say the same thing? They say, don't trust the Superman, and you are the pinnacle of this. You have weapons, you have them, and you're going to use them on us. I'm not going to rest until you're off of this planet."

"GO HOME YOU FILTHY ALIEN!"

One of Godfrey's supporters threw a battery at Superman. The battery bounced off of Superman's face and did not affect him any way.

"It's your fault that I can't get a job, you jerk!" a Hispanic gentleman yelled while shaking his fist at Superman.

"Yeah, go back to where you came from!" a dark-skinned man yelled.

"You are a fucking dickhead!" a white man yelled.

The rioters all yelled and pointed their fingers at Superman. They all chanted him to go home. Superman shot up out of the sky. The Reach already had gone before the riot started. Godfrey stood in the middle with a very smug smile on his face before walking out and getting into a car. He left the rioters in the middle of the street. Some of them hurled rocks, bottles, and anything else they could get their hands onto up into the sky at Superman. The Man of Steel noticed the SCU arriving on the scene.

They released canisters of tear gas into the area and Superman moved back.

"Okay, we've got something," Daisy said. "And are you okay?"

"I'll be fine," Clark said. "It's just…they've been riled up."

One of them wielded a noose in his hand and screamed incoherently what he would do with Superman if he got his hands on him before he had been shot in the shoulder with a tranquillizer dart and dropped where he stood.

"Leave Superman alone!"

One of the rioters moved over to attack a young child who screamed this before the SCU tackled one of the men to the ground and subdued him. Everything was breaking out into chaos and it was most certainly a situation Clark was not used to dealing with.

* * *

Leslie Willis, back in the air, finished showing a clip of the riot scene which had been stirred up by G. Gordon Godfrey. Then, she showed another clip of a citizen being trampled and stomped into the ground.

"This poor guy, he was taken to the hospital, and he has severe injuries which has left him in a painful critical state!" Leslie cried over the broadcast. "And all of it is thanks to G. Gordon Godfrey! Godfrey, I know I talk about Gracie all of the time, and you sit on different ends of the political spectrum. Your sister riles up a bunch of ultra-liberal lunatics who are interested only in social justice and virtue-signaling. You on the other end, you represent the very worst of the ultra-extreme far right!"

Now back on the air, Leslie had been broadcasting through a wider audience. So many people watched her broadcast that they crashed the server.

"You might represent an entirely different extreme then your sister," Leslie continued. "But, that doesn't mean you're any less responsible for anything that's happening! There's blood out there and it's on your hands, Gordon! And after months of railing on aliens, you are suddenly buddies with a group of them, you're buddies with the Reach. I'm not buying it for a second, pal! I see your agenda as clear as day."

The words came out as Leslie sternly looked forward.

"Anyone who has sense, should take a close look at what the Reach's technology is really doing," Leslie said. "You might be pretty surprised, and you might be horrified to see what these people are really doing. I don't trust them. They played their cards as far as I'm concerned when they claimed they wanted Superman's Fortress. Oh, of course it's for security."

Leslie took a second to scoff at these words.

"This is the same assbackwards logic that gets our phone lines tapped because it's to protect our freedom. Let's be honest, the only thing you or anyone else can be secure about is the Reach is taking over every corner of our lives. They want the Fortress because they are afraid it could stop them."

The woman clicked her tongue for a second.

"And Gordon, Gordon, Gordon," Leslie said. "The Reach is doing the exact same thing you're accusing Superman of doing. The exact same thing, and your big talking point is that Superman will make humanity dependent on him. Well, guess what, you're endorsing an entire race of people making humanity dependent on them. I think this proves without a shadow of a doubt how much of an utterly hypocritical piece of shit you are!"

Leslie needed to take a long drink of water to cool her nerves. She really had been riled up with this rant and nothing was really going to stop her, not if she could help it.

"But, everyone who listens to my podcast, they know the truth," Leslie said. "And I want to thank you all for following, for sharing, for tweeting, and putting the squeeze on these extremist fuckwits from both the left and the right. They need to be called out on their actions and their lies. I'm just one bitch with a forum, but together, all of us, we can make a different."

The woman brushed her tongue.

"And you saw Gracie's latest fairy tale feminism fantasy video, and how it got panned," Leslie said. "She's just going more manic. The forum's still open, Gracie, for you to come on my show and we can have a talk. I swear, I'll be a good girl and I won't rip you a new asshole. I'll just let you bury yourself."

The latest hits came in and Leslie had been very pleased with them, extremely pleased in fact. She could not have described how pleased she was in mere words.

"I would like to conclude today's broadcast by thanking my supporters, my fans, and most importantly, I'd like to also shout out to the lunatics out there for giving me so much material to work with. And Gracie, you have my phone number, you have my e-mail address. Time to come out of your safe space and talk to me, sweetie."

* * *

Clark noticed the second he turned up by the entrance of the DEO how hard they had been working. They had been working some heavy overtime to try and get everything they needed to do, done. Clark took those first few steps out and let out a very careful breath.

Kara moved her way into the room. She noticed Clark standing in the entrance. Kara rushed over and took Clark's large hand into his and pulled him forward.

"I saw what happened with the Reach and Godfrey," Kara said. "Are you okay?"

"I'm physically fine," Clark admitted.

Seconds passed and Clark tried to pass onto the one thing that really did bother him. And there were a couple of things which really did bother him if he was perfectly and completely honest.

"I'm more worried about the people. They spoke out against me and they paid for it. Godfrey's supporters were vicious to them. One of them was going to attack a child before Maggie and the rest of the SCU jumped in and prevented it from happening."

Kara could see everything was tearing Clark up in side.

"They've gone too far," Kara said. "They've gone much too far."

Clark swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. People always had the right to their beliefs and the right to their own opinions. However, when their opinions and beliefs went too far and put civilians at risk, Clark was going to have to question whether or not things were fine.

"How's Alex?" Clark asked.

Kara reached over and poured herself a cup of coffee. Normally, she did not need one. These days, Kara needed a nice little pick-me up to get her going.

"Well, her other half is still on edge," Kara said.

Clark figured about as much. The moved forward with several DEO agents moving forward. They had their scanners locked onto the tower as they attempted to deduce what the Reach was up to. Clark thought that was a good question to be perfectly honest. He did not have any answer to what the Reach was doing.

"So, I'm here."

Carol Danvers stood in the back entrance of the DEO.

"Hey, Carol!" Kara cried.

"Hey, sis," Carol said while reaching in to hug Kara. "Clark."

She greeted him with a short, but extremely passionate kiss on the lips. Carol pulled back to leave Clark hanging against the wall.

"So, they're still trying to figure out what angle to tackle this entire Reach problem with, aren't they?" Carol asked. "Things are getting bad out there…and I've heard that the military might attempt to take the Fortress by force."

"Astra's going to see that as an act of war," Kara said.

Carol sighed at her sister's statement. She was not certain it was an act of war. The Reach kept claiming Earth's defense was necessary and the Fortress was needed. The only truth to their words was that Darkseid was coming. Pretty much everything else had been a well-placed fabrication.

"And I don't see her being as wrong, unfortunately," Carol said. "So, where's Alex?"

One swift point from Kara directed the attention of her older sister directly to the war room. Carol and Clark both followed Kara. Alex sat, complete in blue beetle armor, in front of a computer monitor. Images of the Reach tower and the headquarters they had been set up flashed in front of her face. Daisy typed away off to the side to try and pull up some information. Her fingers moved at a blur across the keyboard.

"You think that they have something hidden?" Daisy asked.

"I don't think," Alex said. "I know. They were here for months before they announced themselves. And if we reveal them now, we might be able to shake the people's confidence that they are these beings."

Daisy looked up and invited Kara, Carol, and Clark into the room.

"We're waiting for the DEO to get ready," Daisy said.

"By the time the DEO's got in position, it's going to be too late," Alex said. "We're going to have to strike now!"

Daisy could find it hard to tell whether or not it was Alex talking or the blue beetle. Then again, the two interfaced very closely on this situation.

"If you're ready, I'm ready," Kara said.

No other planet was going to die on Kara's watch. She looked towards Clark, who nodded in response. Carol stood up straight and ready for battle just as much as Daisy did. Alex stood higher than ever in the armor which was designed to take down the Reach.

"We need to stop the Reach before they recall their fleet," Alex said. "And there will be a fleet. There are going to be hordes of ships."

"Are you in position?" Daisy asked.

"Yes, always," a modulated voice stated over the other end. "Ms. Mercer suggested that I do some work and I've already made some preliminary scans on the Reach's tower. I'm going to have to get inside when we're there. I'll meet you there."

"Good," Daisy said.

Alex's gaze dropped to her girlfriend for a moment. Daisy turned back around with a soft smile going across her face.

"What?" Daisy asked. You're not the only one that's making plans."

Carol, Daisy, Alex, Clark, and Kara moved out to investigate the tower. They would have to get to the bottom of this and hopefully piece together the Reach's inventions.

Something more personal filled Clark's mind. After today, and after what happened with G. Gordon Godfrey, Clark would have liked nothing better than to expose his cruelty to the entire world. Everyone needed to see the type of man Godfrey was.

And if the Reach had been exposed, then Clark thought that they would be going a long way to doing that.

* * *

A stealth ship left the DEO, and made their way through the tower. Carol piloted the ship and did it about as well as one could expect from her. The Reach would expect someone to come poking around and would be prepared for anything.

"If they spot us," Alex said. "We're going to have to fight."

' _And we're not going to have to fight,'_ the scarab chimed in. _'We're going to have to fight to win. And more importantly, we're going to have to fight to destroy our enemies.'_

This one single word coming from the scarab just brought a smile and a shake of Alex's head off. The ship flew into position and landed outside. The scanners picked up a lifeform moving around the outside of the ship.

"Indigo," Daisy said.

"And she's not alone."

Several armed guards made their way around outside of the ship. Daisy sighed and exited the ship, with Clark and Kara following her. She kneeled on the ground and the ground rocked underneath the Reach guards.

Kara took them out with stealth and speed. Clark moved over to pick up one of the radios that the Reach guards dropped and hold it over his hand.

"That's going to be perfect."

Indigo stepped behind them. She interfaced with the radio.

"We only have five minutes before the next guard shift changes," Indigo said. "But, this links into the Reach's entire communication network."

She slammed a wire through the top of the head of the downed beetle guards and absorbed the access codes necessary to access this network, or at least the part of the network where this beetle guard had credentials to.

"The tower has a signal on standby," Indigo said. "And the signal, it has a signal leading deal underneath the Pacific Ocean."

The worst fears of the entire group had been realized. Alex took in a deep breath. Her over half managed not to overwhelm her.

' _So, they've been here for a long time, underneath our noses,'_ the blue beetle said.

"They must have slipped in, to prepare their invasion ever since the Thangarian invasion," Alex said. "They were under our noses the entire time. They just waited for the entire time to strike."

"But, how does Darkseid figure into this then?" Clark asked.

"Maybe…maybe the Reach is afraid of him just as much as the next person," Kara said. "Or they're unwilling pawns in whatever game he's playing."

"She has a point," Carol said. "Both of them are good actually."

"Two minute warning," Indigo said.

Clark was well aware the time had been running out. He really did have to figure out what to do now.

"Can you see if you can trace the location of the central Reach headquarters?" Clark asked.

"I'm in the process of doing so right now," Indigo said. "When the guards come, you're going to have take them out before they radio home."

"Don't worry, they won't make it," Alex said.

This trick could only work once, but it bought some time. Alex sent out a dummy distress signal to a Reach ship halfway across the world. It would buy them at least an hour and make the Reach think that Superman was there, instead of here at the tower.

"Accessing core tower database now."

It was time to unmask the Reach and show the world what they really were.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 26** **th** **, 2018.**


	83. Chapter 83

**Chapter Eighty-Three: Deep Cover Part One**

* * *

"The depths of which Superman will sink to exert his power and dominance over those who perceives to be less than him shows know bounds. He keeps hiding in the shadows and then only swoops down when he can show he is a strong and powerful man. Is this the man who you want your young daughters to look up to? I think we should discourage such deplorable behavior from this man. And link hands together as women so we can show how toxic he is. He's spreading his influence to the world and it makes women think it's acceptable to scream for a strong man to save them. No self-respecting woman would ever dare yell for Superman to say them."

Chloe's stomach turned in knots. Every single one of Grace Godfrey's words caused Chloe's lunch to almost escape out of her mouth with dinner and breakfast racing to join it. Grace's intentions had been suspect at best. She thought at first Grace was only out of the money and using feminist talking points as an attempt to line her own pockets.

The moment the truth popped out, it showed that Grace was far more deplorable and disturbing than Chloe even realized. Grace's face looked very manic when it flashed over the television screen. Her nasty teeth gritted together as her fist shook together.

"Yeah, I want to put something through the television."

Chloe turned over to see Tess had rejoined her in the Clocktower. It had been a LuthorCorp offsite facility which they used to monitor the situation. Chloe watched the image of Grace and finally muted it. She only could take so much. Putting Grace on close captioning and showing her words was slightly less bothersome than hearing her shrill voice scream about how much better she was to all men and wome.

"Don't take it out on the television. It's done nothing wrong."

A small shadow of a smile passed over Tess's face. It was really true, the television did not do anything wrong. It was just the means to show Grace's disgusting diatribe to the rest of the world. Tess bent her hair back and allowed strands of red hair to flop away from her face.

"No, I suppose it hasn't," Tess said. "She's really much worse when you realize how off her intentions are. And she's doing a good job in planting those seeds of discord."

Tess took out a couple of blueprints Indigo sent over with what she could find out about the Reach. They were seeking the mothership now.

"And speaking of discord, the Reach really is looking like the heroes," Tess said. "They want to better humanity."

Chloe pulled a face at the thought of the Reach. The only truth they spoke was Darkseid was about ready to invade Earth. That much could be verified by them previously. The Reach swore they needed the Fortress which made Chloe wonder if there was some shadow of truth to that.

"Do you think the Fortress could stop Darkseid?" Chloe asked.

Tess dropped the cup of coffee on the desk. She poured herself a glass. Seconds passed before Tess mused upon Chloe's answer.

"Maybe."

No other words could be needed. Tess was certain that Lara, Alura, Raya, Astra, and everyone else inside the Fortress knew a lot more than she did. The Reach must have had a strong idea they could use the Fortress to make the Earth protected against Darkseid.

"I wonder if the Reach knows that Darkseid's agents are already on Earth," Tess said.

Chloe almost dropped the pen clutched between her fingers. Tess raised a pretty good point and one that Chloe did not even consider until she brought it up. The Reach might have been used as pawns to weaken the Earth's defenses. It added another layer.

"It's funny, "Chloe said. "I…."

"You thought the Reach were willingly working with Darkseid?" Tess asked.

Chloe answered with a nod. Tess just responded with a slight shrug and returned to drinking her coffee. She looked at the woman across from her.

"Maybe they are, maybe they aren't. I guess you might say they're either willing pawns or unwilling pawns. Pick your poison. Both as likely."

Chloe figured about as much. She watched as the words flowed across the television screen. Grace's words grew more manic and almost a parody of a feminist talking point. Maybe that's what she was doing. Grace was ridiculing everyone while claiming to be a feminist, especially the feminists.

"She thinks men and women are sheep to be manipulated and pushed aside when necessary," Tess said. "And given the world where she comes from it's hard to disagree."

A signal started to beep sent from Indigo. Tess decided to go over to the screen and get to work before Chloe had a chance to catch her breath. The skilled computer hacker threw her arms together with a pouty expression. Tess would have looked amused had she not started frowning.

"Uh, oh," Tess whispered.

"What?" Chloe asked. "Uh oh?"

"Mmm, hmm," Tess said. "She won't be happy that they have a fleet of ships submerged deep under water."

* * *

Clark felt they were getting the runaround for some reason. Kara walked a couple of steps behind him, Carol hovered off to the side. Daisy and Alex brought up the rear. Every step brought them closer to the Reach Mothership. Alex pushed her ear piece in. Her other half remained silent, at least for the most part. She hoped it would stay silent for some time to come. They were already in a tense enough situation without the Beetle being trigger happy.

"Where are we going?" Daisy asked.

"This is where Indigo said we could find the Reach's main mothership here on Earth," Clark said.

The five stood on the edge of the beach. Water slapped across the waves from where they stood. Clark, Kara, Daisy, Carol, and Alex moved in. They all waited something to come out on the other side.

"There's nothing here, though?"

Kara scanned the edge of the island. She sounded uncertain. Something hit Kara across the side of the head and caused her to stagger back. Carol reached out to catch her sister before she dropped down onto the ground. Kara brought out her deep breath and wiped a drop of blood off her face.

"Maybe there is something there?" Carol asked. "Okay?"

"Fine," Kara said. "I'll be fine…once the ringing stops at least."

The ringing started to cease. Kara pressed the side of her ear. Alex moved over and scanned the edge of the island. The Beetle armor around her clicked and made Alex shudder. Something was going to happen and she could feel it. Carol put a hand on the shoulders of both of her sisters.

"Something there," Daisy said. "I figured about as much."

Daisy put one finger into the water surrounding the island and sent a vibration through it. The backlash fired Daisy back and almost made her land hard on the ground. Clark helped her up and Daisy took a couple of deep breaths.

"There's something really strange about this island," Daisy said. "I don't know what, but it's not…."

"The Reach is using some kind of cloaking field to disguise their ships," Alex said. "We're going to have to break it open and see what we can find inside."

Alex moved over the edge of the island with a hand extended back. The others moved back to allow Alex to get to work. She knew what she was looking for and knew what had to be found. The lights flashed over the island as Alex located the item in question. It was a normal looking tree at first.

"Kara, Clark, heat vision it right at the center," Alex said.

The Kryptonian cousins did not hesitate to do what had been asked of them. Two bolts of white-hot light shot out of their eyes and connected with the side of the tree. The tree burst out into flames from the impact being delivered without any problem. Clark and Kara stepped back to smell the smoke coming off of the tree from where they were.

The island shifted and turned into the Reach Mothership. The facility had been compromised. Alex moved onto the ship with Daisy, Kara, Alex, and Clark all following. She knew this facility the best thanks to the connection to the Blue Beetle Scarab so it was best to let her lead the way.

"You know where we're going?" Daisy asked.

Alex didn't say anything. A large blue key jutted out of one of her fingers. It overload the security system and allowed the doors to crack open to bring Alex inside the room. She stepped in with Clark following, Daisy following, and then the others following in front of them.

They opened up the doors and noticed several vats full of a substance. Clark stepped inside and put the scanner from the Fortress up to it. The scanner beeped a couple of times before showing Clark what they had to deal with.

"So, what's the deal?" Daisy asked.

"The Reach was telling the truth about what's in here and lying at the same time?" Clark asked. "The nutrients in here are very healthy, but they have extremely addictive properties. People can take them once and improve their lives, but they have to keep taking them. And eventually, they can't stop taking them. The Reach could withhold them, ot make people compliant."

"Good health always comes at a price," Alex said.

"I don't think the Reach has gotten to that step of their plan," Carol said.

The ship shifted underneath them. They all wondered what the hell the Reach was after. There were so many questions yet to have been answered. And the footsteps coming around the corner just made them even more on edge and very nervous.

"We got to find the main core and shut it down," Alex said. "If we find the ship's core, we take out the Reach."

* * *

A brilliant smile came over the face of the Reach Ambassador. The people of this planet were much like children. They could be lead by the most shiny of things. They followed the strong voice who told them what they wanted to hear and gave them what they wanted to hear. She saw them as the type of people who would throw their freedom away for the biggest sense of security possible.

The invasion plan was on schedule. Unfortunately, the Kryptonian had been less compliant as she figured. The Reach were not ignorant to the potential that Fortress held. They needed to have it in their hands and show the power of it. They would bring all of their enemies to their knees.

The story they spun about Darkseid's interest really did put them into a panic. The Reach always invoked a name of a powerful conqueror to get to they want. And as always, a planet's media presence played very nicely into the palm of their hands. Everything was coming up precisely as planned and soon the Reach would achieve their goals.

"G. Gordon Godfrey is a perfect platform to spread our message," one of her underlings told the Reach Ambassador. "He's a pawn, a perfect pawn."

"Yes, and we don't have to manipulate him," the Ambassador said. "He's willing to implicate Superman on any matter of items. Soon public opinion will force the human governments to act and seize all of his assets including his Fortress."

Earth would be the new base for the Reach, humans would be very willing and very fertile slaves for them to spread their power, and the Fortress would be the ultimate weapon to tie it together. Anyone who was strong enough to resist would have been crushed by their enemies. The Reach prepared themselves for this battle.

The Ambassador walked a couple of steps to come and meet with the Reach Scientist. The Reach Scientist dropped to one knee before the Ambassador. The Scientist extended a hand to tell the Reach Scientist to rise and the Reach Scientist did in fact rise.

"It will be ready to be marketed on their planet soon," the scientist said. "It will hit those with this…as the human scientists have referred to it, meta-gene."

One calculating smile spread over the face of the Ambassador. She had to have the meta-gene people most of all. They survived a meteor shower and gained extraordinary powers. Those extraordinary powers had to be under the control of the Reach and nothing more. They could hardly wait for the next phase of their plan.

A signal started to beep through the room. The Ambassador moved over to the central console of the ship and began to type in commands. The woman's eyebrows rose and lifted when trying to lock onto the ship as it was. She drew in a deep breath.

"No, that's impossible….."

Strange coding appeared on the screen. The Reach Ambassador locked into the protocols to attempt to bypass the images on the screen. The coding continued to flow down at a certain level and bamboozle them all. The Reach Ambassador bit down on her lip and kept working feverishly to try to break whatever hacking had been done.

"No, it can't be!" she yelled.

"No one could have bypassed that security protocol without help," the Reach Scientist said.

The Reach Scientist put his fingers on the edge of the console. The Ambassador's face turned into one of the more obvious scowls possible.

"Yes," the Reach Ambassador said. "No one could have broken free without help…they would need Reach Technology to get around the ship. And that can only be one person."

They of course referred to the unspeakable one. The rogue scientist created the Blue Beetle as an attempt to take them down. The Reach lost track of the rogue element which did not put them at ease. It just raised so many more uneasy questions. They prepared to deal with it in due time by creating something to take it down.

"It's….I don't know what to make of it," the Reach Scientist said. "It's finally found a champion worthy of holding it. and now…it could compromise everything if we're exposed."

"No, it can still be salvaged," the Reach Ambassador said. "Is there any way that the Blue Beetle can be converted and subverted into serving our cause?"

"Always possible, but I'm not sure how much I would advise it…."

"I would advise crushing it."

The two Reach representatives turned around just in time to see a large and imposing figure. The Black Beetle stood taller and prouder. The ultimate enforcer in the Reach looked down on them with glowing red eyes which even terrified the Reach Representatives. Their hold on him had been slippery at best.

"Let me crack it open and see what is inside. The meat inside won't be able to survive."

"Get to it and take it out and bring it back here," the Reach Scientist said. "I want to know how that scientist circumvented all of our safeguards. I'd prefer it to be in one piece."

"I make no promises."

* * *

A large kingdom rested deep underneath the ocean with imperial palaces and castles as far as the eye could see. The kingdom had wonders which could not have been seen on land. Atlantis had been lost to the world, but over the past several years, they returned and it had been shopping.

Queen Mera sat on the throne of Atlantis. She took in a deep breath when looking out to the sea. She sensed something was very off. The past several days had been an exercise in frustration. She personally visited the United Nations and told them it might not have been a good idea to trust the Reach at face value. The Reach were like many conquering races. They were much too benevolent to the point where they were beginning to overplay their hand. Mera clutched the side of her face, nails digging in.

Footsteps came from outside. Mera wondered if this would have been the information she had been waiting for. Much time passed before a striking tall brunette girl stepped through the front way. She wore a very grim expression on her face when coming to Mera.

"Queen Mera, you're…you're not going to like this."

Mera turned towards the girl who fluttered over. The medallion on her neck flashed in light. It allowed her to switch between walking on two legs and also swim through the waters of Atlantis. Mera reached in and put a hand on the shoulder of her young aid.

"I've seen much on this day I do not prefer and do not care much for. Please enlighten me on the latest news, Lori."

The girl, Lori, drug in a deep breath. She took out a box and placed it in front of her queen. The box opened up to reveal a large metallic orb which shined bright in the light. Mera's gaze fell upon the orb and a deep frown came over her face.

"The guards found this, lying on the sea floor."

Mera did not recognize the technology. Foreign technology being placed in the sea rarely ended up leading to anything ideal. She flipped over the technology in the palm of her hand and spent the next couple of minutes studying it.

"Someone's planning something," Mera said.

The nervous shift of her young mermaid assistant made Mera stand up a bit straighter. "You mean…you mean someone….one of the enemies of Atlantis, they're trying something?"

Her voice grew a little bit higher and a fair bit more frustrated. Mera shook her head.

"No, not an enemy of Atlantis. An enemy of the world…and it's as I've always said….."

"An enemy of the world is an enemy of Atlantis," Lori repeated.

Mera nodded. The people of Atlantis, especially the Royal Council, disagreed with her way too many times. They thought the land dwellers problems should not have been something that the people of Atlantis should burden themselves with. Mera disagreed with them constantly. It had been a constant source of friction and argument.

However, if they had found a way to plant something at the bottom of the sea, well it now became a problem for the people of Atlantis. Mera rose up to her full height and Lori took a very nervous step backwards. She looked at the Queen who stood to her highest height.

"I want a full scan of the sea," Mera told her guards. "I don't want a single inch of it untouched, do you hear me?"

The guards nodded and took this threat seriously which pleased Mera. She wanted to properly assist the damage. Lori shifted against the wall one more time.

"Do you have something to ask of me?"

Mera's eyes fell onto Lori with a very gentle stare. She opened her mouth for a brief second and nodded at her Queen.

"Who do you think it is?"

Lori gave a pretty loaded question and to be honest, Mera had no idea who was behind this. Well, she had an idea, but it would be unwise to say who it was without any proof. There were way too many people who threw accusations at people.

That being said, there were many groups of people who she did not trust.

The guard came back with a detailed scan of the scene. The stony look on the man's face told the story. The man had been terrified pretty much out of his life and Mera could do nothing to appease him if she wanted to.

"You're not going to believe this….there's an entire invasion force of alien ships…."

The images shown to Mera told the story. An entire invasion force of alien ships of similar design to the one which the Reach Ambassador and her fellow representatives arrived in. Mera very nearly applauded them for slipping them in under their nose for so long.

It was very galling how she spent so much time in front of the United Nations to argue the Reach was not as good as they put themselves in. At least now she had proof of an invasion force at the bottom of the screen.

"I'm going to deal with this."

Mera picked up a trident and stepped from the palace and moved outside. About six guards followed her. The Queen did not bother to slow down so they kept up. She merely just walked with a purpose.

* * *

The crew took their steps through the lab. They knew every second was a second more that the Reach could enact their plans. The radio interference down there became immense. They had been cut off from technical support.

"It was bound to happen sooner or later," Daisy said. "I don't like it but I guess we're going to have to be doing this blind."

None of them liked where they were going or the fact they had to do this blind. They moved around the bottom of the ship. Alex held out her hand and the scanning for the power module continued. She felt the energy cascading into the palm of her hand.

"Are we close?" Kara asked.

"Close, but this is where I think they could spring a trap."

' _And we'll crush them when we do.'_

The Blue Beetle's bloodlust almost terrified Alex at times. She moved down the hallway. The Blue Beetle tensed up.

"Someone's coming," Alex said.

Daisy, Kara, and Carol all turned around. Clark hovered across the sky at them.

A blast of golden light came inches away from striking Clark in the head. He dropped down onto the ground. Daisy slammed her fist through the air and a sonic blast knocked the two guards with guns off of the ground. Daisy moved over to try and take them out before one of them called for reinforcements.

"Company's coming!" Daisy yelled.

Kara zipped in front of the metal door and shoved it shut. She had no idea how long it was going to hold or if it was going to hold completely at all. The door started to rattle on the other side with Kara holding it. Sweat rolled down the side of her face.

The wall on the other side blasted open. Debris filled the hallway as a large hulking figure who resembled a giant black beetle stepped in with several more smaller guards in red battle armor which resembled red beetles. The Black Beetle stepped in with a sadistic grin on his face.

"Good afternoon, meat," The Black Beetle growled.

' _Okay, what is that?'_ Alex asked her other.

' _He's the Black Beetle,'_ the Blue Beetle said. _'The Reach created that scarab to take me down, much like my creator created me to take the Reach down.'_

The Black Beetle held out a cannon and blasted Carol down to the ground. The Black Beetle grabbed Carol by the back of her head and curb-stomped her down onto the ground. Daisy tried to attack the Black Beetle. The quake powers absorbed into his armor and then ricocheted back against Daisy to knock her down on the ground.

"You're not worth my time…."

Superman came down to the ground. Black Beetle blocked Superman's attack and flipped him down onto the ground.

"Blue Beetle's mine! Deal with the rest of this meat!"

The two moved face to face to square off with each other. The Blue Beetle and the Black Beetle stuck out their arm cannons and walked around each other. Neither was willing to back off from the other.

"You're going to rejoin the collective in your proper place."

The other guards moved in to engage the others. Carol, Daisy, Kara, and Clark braced themselves for the fight of their lives against these Red Beetle enforcers.

"You're just their pawn," Alex said.

The Black Beetle's arms retracted into two razor sharp swords and he rushed Alex. Alex jumped into the air to engage the Black Beetle. The two clashed together with Alex dropping down to the ground.

' _We're going to have to not hold back against him.'_

No sooner did that big of advice be delivered, the Black Beetle pounded the Blue Beetle in the face and knocked him back.

"And here I thought this was supposed to be the ultimate weapon against the Reach. I suppose it's only good as the meat it has in the middle."

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 28th, 2018.**


	84. Chapter 84

**Chapter Eighty-Four: Deep Cover Part Two**

* * *

One of the guards stepped forward to engage an adversary with Superman staring down at him. The cannon aimed towards the Man of Steel and fired a glowing orange orb at him. Superman evaded the attack with swift precision and dipped around the attacker with a series of attacks. The attacker returned back and slashed two large knives at Superman. The Man of Steel blocked the attack and pushed back with both of them going back and forth.

The attacker jumped straight into position. The Red Beetle aimed a cannon down onto the ground to rock Daisy. Daisy put her hand into the ground and rocked the ground underneath the attacker. The attacker staggered a slight bit forward until Daisy reared a hand back and caught her attacker flush across the face with a vibration. Daisy slammed her fist down on the ground with another attacker.

Kara and Carol stood side by side with each other. The two girls did not say any words. They watched when the Red Beetles charged towards them. Kara caught one of the Beetles around the head and flipped it down to the ground. The Girl of Steel struck the Beetle with the full force of a punch. The armor protected the enemy from a full attack. Kara drove up and nailed it.

"On your right!"

One of them flashed through the shadows at Supergirl and tried to take a shot at her. She came up and rocked her enemy with an huge uppercut punch to the chest. Two more of them grabbed Supergirl around the head. Her knees bent with the creatures trying to grab onto her.

"You will submit to your superior, Kryptonian."

"Hardly!"

A loud crack resounded with Supergirl pushing away. The Red Beetles recovered and the guards aimed their attacks at Supergirl. Carol dropped down and grabbed both of the Red Beetles around their heads. They were hoisted off of the ground and smashed down against each other. They cracked into each other with a resounding thud. Carol dropped them at the next move.

Daisy chanced a glance over her shoulder. She brushed her hair out of her face and sighed. "Don't look now, but there are more on the way. We better be ready."

The Blue Beetle flew back at the hands of the Black Beetle. The large enemy packed a huge punch with rattled Alex inside of her cell. She drew in a deep breath and looked up high for the Black Beetle to come down onto her. The Blue Beetle blocked the Black Beetle and pushed him back.

"You're going to succumb to us! You're going to succumb to the power of the Reach."

Both teleported onto the balcony high above the battle. Blue Beetle struggled to get underneath her adversary and blast him as hard as possible. The Blue Beetle knocked the Black Beetle back several feet before aiming a cannon at him. The energy blast grew intense when firing against the Black Beetle.

' _It's not enough,'_ The Blue Beetle warned her.

Sweat beat down the top of the Blue Beetle's face as the struggle continued. Her teeth gritted together when trying to push forward.

"I've been sent here to crush you. And I'm going to bring your broken body and lay it at the feet of my masters. Without the Reach's technology, you're nothing but a scared child."

The Black Beetle smashed through the Blue Beetle's energy attack with an energy attack of his own. The Black Beetle smashed his fists into the body. Alex felt like a mouse trapped inside of a tin-can being punched around. She dropped down with the breath, pained as it might be, barely able to go through her body.

"Stand up and face me!" The Black Beetle yelled. "Come and face me!"

One blurry eye opened with Alex holding herself up and standing as firm as possible. The Black Beetle cracked both on his fists down across the back to force her to wobble and almost collapse down. The Black Beetle impacted the side of the armor and rattled her something fierce.

"Is that as hard as you can hit?" The Blue Beetle asked.

The Blue Beetle flipped up and slammed down onto the back of the Black Beetle. Several punches followed having been chained together in an never ending succession. The Blue Beetle knocked the Black Beetle down onto the platform and tried to break through the armor.

' _It's like trying to break through an iron gate with nothing but a toothpick.'_

Alex preserved through the attack and kept smashing against the armor. A series of punches rocked the Black Beetle. The two of them edged deeper into the platform and they were underneath a lamp.

' _We have to get out of here….it's an electromagnetic chamber…it's going to shut down…'_

Black Beetle forced his hands on the back of Alex's neck and forced her down to her knees. Alex thrashed and struggled as the Black Beetle put the pressure on. No way she could get out no matter how much she tried and Alex tried to break out.

"I'm willing to take one for the team…now!"

A burst of electro-magnetic energy shot through the area and shot down both of the Black and Blue Beetle scarabs. They all dropped to the ground with a sickening impact being heard by all.

Three Reach Scientists pealed the Blue Beetle off of the ground. The human who wore the suit had been sealed inside for the moment thanks to a failsafe function. It did not matter they would break it open and take out the creamy center from the inside.

The Blue Beetle would be one of the Reach's top soldiers one way or another. They would refuse to allow anything less.

* * *

The images of G. Gordon Godfrey could be seen on the television screen. Godfrey wore a very big smile on his face. He stood by the Reach's tower with a pair of Reach guards standing on either side. The Reach's Ambassador had a big grin on her face.

"Today, we begin the next step in humanity's evolution," Godfrey said. "You hear about every liberal on the planet saying that we should do what we can to stop climate change. Yet, no one offers any solutions to the matter, only offering complaints. Well, we don't have complaints, we only have solutions with my new friends in the Reach. Isn't that right, Ambassador?"

The Ambassador nodded with a big smile popping over it.

"Yes, the future is now. We're filtering the toxins out of the air. People can breath easier. In time, you can drink out of the water."

"That's quite the feat," Godfrey said. "Although, the biggest infestation in the entire sea needs to be taken care of before the people of this planet could breath easily."

Godfrey's eyes locked onto the camera with a very nasty smirk on his face when locking onto everyone watching.

"I'll tell you who is the biggest infestation in the entire ocean. The People of Atlantis, they think of themselves to be higher than humans and they live under water. They claim the entire ocean is their territory. They don't respect the countries around them. If you ask me, they should be all forced out of the sea."

Behind Godfrey out by the sea, a redheaded woman dressed in a skin-tight green outfit rose all the way out of the sea behind the man in question. The Reach Ambassador noticed her rising and looked a bit tepid. Godfrey had gone on one of those rants.

"Mera dares storm up to the United Nations and tries to cause trouble. She claims that the Reach should be not taken at face value. Yet, where she was to complain about Superman? She should be brought up on charges for treason against the entire human race and if I had any season about it, I'd tell you what I'd do to her…."

"What would you do to me, Mr. Godfrey?"

Godfrey turned around, his mouth opened, and no sound came out. He locked eye to eye with the Queen of Atlantis herself who did not look too particularly pleased with Godfrey or the Reach at the moment.

"You call the Reach benevolent. Let me ask you a question. Is this the action of a benevolent race?"

Mera ripped several large war ships out of the sea on bubbles. They all had a similar design with the Reach ship which arrived outside of the United Nations.

"They are all armed and ready to be launched upon the Earth once your guard was down," Mera said. "Or at least they were until I dismantled them."

"You can't do this!" The Ambassador yelled.

"You also might be interested on an island a little bit out to the coast which is a huge battleship, armed with Reach Soldiers," Mera said. "I bring before you proof that the Reach has conspired to invade."

"The fleet….the fleet was there because Darkseid's coming!" The Reach Ambassador managed in a shaky voice.

"Oh, is it?" Mera asked. "Well, maybe people would have been a bit more secure if you told them that fact up front in the first place. After all, you said there were no secrets to your new friends on Earth. The Reach was nothing, but transparent, were they? Having a fleet buried in the ocean and having it there for months before you made your presence known is not the actions of someone who is transparent."

Godfrey was gobsmacked, his supporters were all looking terrified at having their worldview shattered, and the Reach Ambassador glared at the Queen of Atlantis with a fury.

"And in the future, keep your junk out of my sea!"

Mera crushed the ships one at a time and the Reach Ambassador almost looked faint.

The expression on the face of G. Gordon Godfrey resembled one of absolute terror. He stammered and stammer and stammered some more. He tried to get the words out.

"You're just like the rest of them!" Godfrey bellowed out. "You deceived humanity. You've fooled us with lies! You are deceivers! You are traitors to humanity! This just proves that aliens like Superman cannot be trusted. This just proves that….."

"This just proves how you got caught with your pants down."

A small group of anti-Godfrey protestors, with Leslie Willis in the middle stepped up. She wore a headset and looked on at Godfrey with a grin popping over her face.

"So, tell me, Gordon, how does it feel to look like a fool? Because, sixty million people just watched to look like a total idiot. They saw you with your pants down. You spent the last several weeks prostituting yourself for the Reach and this is what you get."

All of them jeered at Godfrey and a couple of seconds passed with Godfrey looking even more angry than ever before. The fists of the talk show host clutched together. Leslie held the microphone out in front of him.

"So, do you have any words for every one of the sixty million people watching my broadcast who just saw your façade be exposed? How you're nothing but a lunatic?"

Godfrey grew very red in the face.

"Get her out of here!" Gordon yelled. "Get her out of here."

"So, I'm going to take that as a no comment," Leslie said. "Well, G. Gordon Godfrey will have to work double time in spinning this one folks."

Security formed a wall. The Reach Ambassador slipped out through the confusion of the situation. Gordon hurled his headset on the ground and stormed off. He had been made a fool out of, not only on national television, but all over the Internet.

And once something went on the Internet, it never came off.

* * *

Kara watched her sister be kidnapped by the Reach off from the distance. Rage flew through the eyes of Supergirl. She pushed forward with both arms extended and rocked the Red Beetle with the most vicious pair of punches possible. The Girl of Steel stepped back and grabbed one of the Beetles around the head and knocked him down to the ground.

Carol had been jumped by about six of them in succession. They all held Carol down to her knees and there was a struggle where she tried to pop back up. The glowing lights came inches away from Carol's face. One of them retracted a huge blade and almost stuck it into the back of Carol's neck.

"STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!"

Supergirl exploded into the scene with fists of furry and feet to match. The Girl of Steel dropped back down to the ground and waited for the Reach to get back to their feet. The Beetles scrambled around. Kara knocked the Reach Soldier hard with a vicious punch with doubled him over. More sickening punches from Kara rocked him about the area of the chest and the back of the head.

Daisy moved her way through the door. Panic set in. Daisy lost track of pretty much everyone else. She raised a hand and started to rock the door open.

"Damn it!"

The entire place would come down on their heads if Daisy tried to rock it open that way. One of the Reach soldiers came close to attacking Daisy. Daisy blocked it and knocked him back against the wall. The latest attacker came down.

Kara, Carol, and Clark all fought the Reach Soldiers which caused Daisy to focus on the door. She clutched the side of her face deep in heavy contemplation. The more she studied the door, the more Daisy realized something.

' _I'm going to have to do this the old fashion way.'_

"Can you hear me?"

A voice in Daisy's ear caused her to jump about three feet off of the ground in and into the air. She did not really expect to hear anyone right about now. Daisy stretched back a fraction of an inch.

"Yeah, Chloe, I could hear you. I swear, we lost connection when you got disconnected."

"To be fair, we kind of did," Chloe said. "Indigo has been working around the clock to try and take down the Reach's dampeners. And I think it's safe to say, she did."

"Yeah, pretty much….I'm plugged into this port. Alex has been captured."

"Yeah, we should really get those doors open," Tess said.

The Reach's forces might have been depleting rapidly, but Daisy knew that there would be more on the way. The door was beginning to get hacked in. Several minutes passed before the doors sprung open.

"Let's….."

The gust of wind from a blur shooting in the direction towards the door almost knocked Daisy over. Daisy came very close to landing on her face on the ground from something going past her.

"Go?"

Clark knocked three of the Beetles back and they ended up trapped in cages on the ship which were intended for prisoners. Or maybe rogue Reach agents as well, it was very hard to tell.

"We better hurry," Clark said.

Carol followed an instant later ,with Daisy and Clark moving in. Kara already had gotten a head start and there was no easy way to see where she might have gone.

* * *

A very groggy Alex Danvers opened her eyes. She could tell instantly what kind of situation she had entered and it was about what she expected.

"Soon, she would be the ultimate warrior for us. The Blue Beetle is a powerful weapon."

"This process could kill the person inside of the scarab," one of the scientists said.

Another scientist waved his hand. "It's just meat in there. The person inside of the shell is of no great importance. We need to make sure our priorities are in line. We can't be worried about the plight of meat."

The Reach Scientist nodded and took out a drill. Alex's eyes flickered open. The table flipped over and she laid on her front now. They were preparing to access the back port of her costume.

Her other had been silent for this entire time. Something crackled deep inside of her body. Alex could feel the system rebooting. Alex took in a deep breath.

"Soon, the Blue Beetle will return back home to the fold of the Reach. Prepare to enter the system. Prepare to enter the mode."

The Reach Scientist plugged into the back of the Blue Beetle scarab. Laughter came from the occupied inside of the suit a second later. It was very muffled, but clear as day it could be laughter. Said laughter confused the scientist.

"Do you not understand, meat? This will lead to your end."

"No, this will lead to the Reach's end," Alex said in a tired voice. "And Indigo, they acted just as you predicted. They could not resist taking the Blue Beetle bait."

"Naturally," a distorted voice said. "Now that you are hooked to the main ship, I can take over."

The Reach Scientists discovered, perhaps a bit too late, that their ship had been compromised. Indigo worked her way into the ship. She could not get in completely without having someone assist her along the way. And Alex was that someone who could assist her a hundred percent of the way.

"We can't get back into the system!" the Reach Scientist yelled. "Everything's been shut down….the Blue Beetle has installed a virus."

"Yeah, you don't really want to plug strange technology into your main frame without knowing where it came from. Even us primitive humans know that."

The Island started to rip up off and start rising up out of the water. The Blue Beetle scarab completely engaged. The Reach and several of their soldiers stepped into place. The entire mothership rocked back and forth as they had been lead off of the ground.

' _You're back, right?'_ Alex asked.

' _Yes,'_ The Blue Beetle said. _'I would say go after the Reach, but they have bigger problems than us right now.'_

"You either can find a way to get out or get your revenge on me."

The Reach Scientist saw a very important navigational component of their ship begin to smolder over their shoulder. There had been no question about it. They would need to get out of here in due time.

"I vote revenge."

The Black Beetle jumped up onto the deck and came after the Blue Beetle. The Blue Beetle retracted the arm cannon and pointed it at the Black Beetle.

"Seriously?" Alex asked. "Because, you know, we don't have time for this and…."

A super fast blur of light shot through the doors and knocked the Black Beetle over the railing with a thunderous force. He flew down to meet a power core which sizzled and coasted the lights of the ship to flicker on and off. The downed Black Beetle was looked.

Supergirl popped in and looked down at her. Both of the sisters smiled. Clark, Carol, and Daisy came out as well.

"You okay?" Supergirl asked.

"Fine," The Blue Beetle said. "The plan worked just fine."

This was the first Kara heard of any kind of plan. She would have to let it go for a moment as more explosions rang out all over the ship. Several loud hisses and several more loud crashes followed. She turned to Clark who already scooped up Daisy underneath his arm. Kara scooped up Alex, and Carol flew solo. They all made their way through the front exit of the ship. All of the doors sprung open.

"Thanks, Indy," Clark said.

"You are quite welcome."

The five passed through the edge of exit of the ship. The floating island fortress ripped out of the ground along with the Reach ships as they rose out. An energy portal opened and several escape pods shot from the island. They all vanished without a trace.

Mera lifted the remainder of the Reach's fleet out of the ocean. The Queen of Atlantis wore a determined look upon her face. Anger flowed over every inch with the ship rocking above her head. The island ripped in half and dropped down to the ground. Several ships had been deposited out on the field.

"I've transported the Reach to the furthest corners of the universe," Indigo chimed in. "They won't be back. Not for a long time anyway."

"And I've got some good news as well," Chloe piped in. "The Military has rounded up the few members of the Reach here on Earth, along with Godfrey. He's going to be raked over the coals big time for championing them."

"So, that's one down," Clark said.

Godfrey actually being rounded up was an excellent bonus to today's events. At least one of them, his sister was still active and as nasty as ever. Clark supposed that he could not have everything in life, no matter how ideal that would be.

"And the Reach Ambassador is not among the captured," Tess said. "We don't know how many Reach ships Indigo ported off or how many Reach soldiers were on those pods."

Some people would call today's events the end. Clark disagreed with these people in saying today was the end. No, it was just the beginning.

* * *

The Reach Ambassador prepared to run and get out of there the moment the charade was up. Once she received word the main ship had been infiltrated and infected, it was time for her to escape.

Escape was not easy especially with two robed figures dragged her across the round. The terrified Reach representative had been plucked from Earth to a hellish nightmare word. The skies rained with blood and fire shot out of the ground. Said ground looked like no life could be brought upon it. The barren ground made the Reach Ambassador terrified of where she might have been.

"Look, I can give you anything…we have treasures…just take anything. Please, we've suffered enough today."

The robed figures seemed unmoved by the plight of the Reach Ambassador. She knew where they were taking her and fear gripped the woman when being dragged down across the ground. The heart-stopping next stop would be at the feet of the feared one.

The Reach Ambassador crash-landed to the ground. She adopted a very terrified hands and knees stance on the ground with the Ambassador trying to get up to a standing position.

"You've failed."

That graveling voice came from the shadows. The Reach Ambassador had a number of excuses burning her tongue to spit out. She knew that none of them would satisfy the person in question. That stare of supreme hatred locked down on her from above. She felt chilled, colder than anyone.

"You failed, and at the same time, you served your purpose."

The Reach Ambassador did not dare ask the reason why this entity thought of it.

"Discontent and distrust has been planted among the people of Earth. My Glorious Twins fanned the flames, but the Reach made it work. Humanity is now more divided them ever. And if they stand divided, they will fall. And division causes the darkness to seep in."

A whimper came from the woman on the ground. She was too petrified to stand up and those demonic eyes in the shadows

"Humanity's heroes will fall one by one. And then, Kal-El, he will fall as well. There will be nothing in this world left. There will be nothing other than the darkness."

The sinister voice dropped down to a very chilling calm.

"There is nothing left other than Darkseid."

"Please!" The Reach Ambassador yelled at the top of her lungs.

"You've outlived your usefulness. You've only served it for a fleeting moment."

The terror gripping the Reach Ambassador was even more so. She finally found it to stand up and face the darkness.

"I can give you anything. The Reach has riches beyond your wildest imagination. Anything you want…anything….anything you can…just take it…take it all."

One Omega blast from the shadows incinerated the Reach Ambassador where she stood. Dust fluttered to the ground after she disappeared. The offer had not been entertained.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 30** **th** **, 2018.**


	85. Chapter 85

**Chapter Eight-Five: Setbacks**

* * *

The Reach Invasion only broke the door open for something bigger. Tess knew it. Godfrey had been under an immense amount of heat, but the damage was already done. While some people started to slowly open their eyes, and started to question what Godfrey said, others did not. Tess could hear on the news people debate back and forth.

"Sure, the Reach ended up deceiving us. But, do you think that Superman is any good? I don't think Superman is any good at all. As far as I'm concerned, he could be just as bad if not even worse. And who says that the Reach were not pawns of his to make himself look bad?"

"Godfrey's a nut, but let's face it, he brings some good points up. Superman hides his technology and a secret powerful Fortress where humanity cannot benefit from it? I think if we gave him a right to live on our world, we are entitled to have access to his technology. To understand and to study it, because if we don't know what he has available, how can we trust him?"

The buzzwords the mainstream media latched onto always interested Tess and anyone else watching it. The word "trust" amused Tess given how the media used it. They spun their narratives and only gave the slightest bit of evidence. They offered no evidence Superman planned something conquering the world. They only gave mindless rhetoric and hammered away at this talking point.

Those who believed Superman to be a hero, they only regarded this with as much distrust as normal. Those who looked for a reason to disregard Superman and paint him as a villain, they latched onto these talking points.

' _Confirmation bias at its finest,'_ Tess thought.

Grace did not say a peep as of yet after her brother had been censured. Tess expected her silence not to last very long. And speaking of silence lasting not very long, a knock on her door brought Tess up out of her thoughts.

"It's unlocked."

The door opened and the stunning redhead stepped into the office. Mera dressed to impress in a female business suit which would allowed her to fit on land about as much as the next person. She crossed the office and locked fingers with Tess with the both of them shaking hands.

"Good afternoon, Queen Mera," Tess said.

"I have something for you," Mera said. "Where is Superman?"

Tess almost answered until a whoosh behind her brought Tess out of the conversation. Superman dropped straight down onto the ground off to the side behind Mera. The businesswoman just broke out into a very slight smile and inclined her head with a nod towards the Man of Steel.

"Ask and you shall receive," Tess said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again," Superman said.

Mera took the hand of the strong man and nodded. She had been in this mess with the Godfreys about as much as Superman was. It gave Mera some twisted sense of appreciation to see G. Gordon Godfrey hauled away and prepared to be raked over the coals for questioning. It could not come soon enough. The trash Godfrey talked about aliens and also the people of Atlantis made Mera just smile and be content.

"Yes, it is," Mera said. "I just wish we did not have to meet when we are at the edge of a war."

The people in her kingdom disagreed how much this war affected them until the moment where an entire fleet of alien ships had been found on the ocean floor. Mera showed them how much it affected them. The war affected them big time and they would not stop.

"I have several crates of technology my people managed to salvage. I think you agree that it's best if we keep it out of the hands of any government."

Clark and Tess made eye contact and would have to concur. Mera clapped her hands and a group of six guards carried three large crates in them. The Reach's fleets were stripped down and all of the vital components have ben grabbed.

"Some of these they could be used against Darkseid," Tess said.

Clark had a question or maybe it was a concern. He figured it would be best to voice it now and get out of the way. "Are the United Nations going to be pleased with what you've done?"

A small smile came over the face of Mera. She took a seat on the desk to ensure that everything was in the boxes.

"I don't think they will be. But, that doesn't matter. The Untied Nations aren't pleased with a lot of what I'm doing. And the feeling is more than mutual most of the time?"

The Man of Steel thought it was a fair enough assessment. When Clark was younger and more naïve, he put a lot of trust in the government. Now he realized they were susceptible to mistakes and lapses of judgment and emotional calls just as much as the next person. These qualities failed to make a person malicious, but ignorance caused harm to people.

"Thank you," Superman said.

"I should be thanking you," Mera said. "Superman keeps the entire world safe and that includes the seas."

"And Darkseid coming threatens everyone," Superman said.

Mera nodded in response. She knew it, they all knew it. The coming of Darkseid was not going to be something they were going to easily have to deal with.

"If you need any help, the people of Atlantis will be there and we will be ready to do what's necessarily."

* * *

A modest looking sports car came down the street. Leslie Willis made her way down having been proud to beat the rush hour traffic. She got herself a couple of burgers and a shake and would have had a quick bite to eat before doing the afternoon podcast.

Leslie stepped out to the side parking lot of her apartment. She had been set up with half of the building thanks to having friends in pretty high places. She stepped up to unlock the door only to stop short from opening it.

' _Shit.'_

Someone already had been there and Leslie's keen sense to spot trouble hit a very high level. She reached over to send a quick call to the police before stepping further inside.

Leslie leaned in to get a good glimpse down the hallway and search out the smashed bits of glass on the ground. Someone broke open the door of her studio. Leslie stepped inside to survey the damage and took a good long look at several damaged pieces of equipment. Everything looked pretty bad from where she stood. Leslie put her hands down and peered into the distance.

Something fell over in the hallway behind the studio. Leslie threw open the door and followed pursuit.

"Hey, you motherfucker, get back here! You think you can just wreck my shit and not have to pay for it!"

Leslie raced down the hallway in hot pursuit after her. Another figure grabbed her around the back of her head. She fell down onto the ground with the goon pressing something against the back of her head.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!"

The controversial radio host tried to grab a knife she had on her at all times for protection. After Grace's followers threatened to beat the shit out of her if they saw her in public, Leslie prepared herself for a fight. The large goon's grip around her shoulder pushed Leslie down and a stun gun brought Leslie down.

"How do you like that? You're nothing but a piece of human garbage! You think you can talk bad, harass, and bully feminists! How do you like that? You stupid cunt!"

Two more masked figures kicked and punched at Leslie and tore at her clothes. The woman on the ground showed how much of a scrappy fighter she was by pushing away from the attackers. They all kicked and punched at her. Leslie struggled against them.

A blur came down the hallway and Supergirl dragged two of the attackers off of Leslie. They came down the hallway as fast as they could. The third woman looked ready to throw down and fight. She swung the baseball bat at Supergirl. The bat cracked against Supergirl's chest and broke it in half.

The mask came off to reveal a rather butch looking woman with a purple Mohawk. She angrily rushed and pounded at Supergirl.

"Alright, calm down," Supergirl said.

"We're going to rip down the Patriarchy!" the loudmouth yelled. "DEATH TO ALL MEN! DEATH TO TRAITORS! WE WILL BE STRONG! WE WILL SURVIVE!"

Leslie stunned the loudmouth with her own taser gun. The butch broad dropped to her knees. Leslie grabbed her by her earing and pulled the woman up.

"If the Dyke Lord wants to say something to me, Gracie can say it to my face! Gracie thinks she can just send her flunkeys in to fuck with me. I don't think so. I'm not going to let her push me around."

The door opened and three members of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit stepped in. The butch woman stood up to her feet and spat in the face of one of the officers. They moved in to restrain and cuff her.

"THIS IS ASSUALT!" the butch woman yelled. "THIS IS OPRESSION! YOU DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"

"You have the right to remain silent," the officer said. "Anything you say can and will against you in the court of law….."

"Your court is just another symbol of the Patriarchy we will dismantle!" the loudmouth yelled. "This ain't truth, this ain't justice. We're not going to be silenced. You can't stop us, you can't stop us! YOU CAN'T STOP US!"

She gritted her teeth and bared them at the police. Maggie Sawyer stepped in. She looked very agitated as if this was not the first time today she had to deal with some nutcase Grace Godfrey supporter.

"You all are a bunch trash!" the loudmouth yelled. "You're nothing, but straight white cis scum, and you all should die. Someone show put your asses down and you wouldn't be so privileged, would you? Grace Godfrey champions the oppressed. The only good cop is a dead cop! DEATH TO ALL PIGS!"

"Cool it," Maggie said. "I'm Lesbian and part Hispanic, and I think you're out of line. So cool it, alright."

The loudmouth finally shut up. Maggie thought she defused the situation for now.

"Are you alright, Ms. Willis?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Leslie said. "She thinks she's going to shut me up though, Gracie has another thing coming."

Maggie put her gaze on the girl. She was not the biggest fan of Leslie Willis either and she stirred up a lot of trouble. The woman made some good points, but these were points which anyone who had sense could make. Maggie thought that Leslie just riled up her enemies because she relished the controversy.

The MCU officer knew she might have been fighting a losing battle to try and get Leslie to understand how dangerous her actions were. Maggie resolved to try the best she could.

"You should back off for your own safety," Maggie said. "Grace might go the way of her brother. You just got to be patient."

"Oh, no, now's the time to strike when the iron's hot," Leslie argued. "I've got a big broadcast at Metropolis Square. I've even invited Gracie to show up in person so we can have a face to face chat. I doubt she would have the spine to show up, but you never know. I think we know she won't step out of her safe space to face me."

Boy Leslie did know that there was going to be not a chance in hell Grace would show up for a meeting. She just wanted to plow that final nail into the rapidly sinking credibility of Grace Godfrey.

"Look, I don't agree with what Grace is saying either," Supergirl said. "But, maybe you should listen to Detective Sawyer? She only has your best interests in mind."

"Yeah, so did my mother, and I didn't listen to her either," Leslie said. "Look, if the MCU have their panties in a knot, let's arrange some extra protection. I'd look like a punk if I cancelled now. You can either help me or back off, but I'm not going to step back."

Maggie threw her hands up into the air in the universe sign of defeat. She could not get through this thick woman's head no matter how hard she tried.

"Are you pressing charges against the attackers?"

"Sure, let's throw the book at them," Leslie said

* * *

Clark returned from his encounter with Tess and Mera. He stepped outside of the DEO and walked through the security checkpoints. He passed the inside of the hallway and smiled at the security. They greeted him with the same courtesy as well as he walked passed.

Daisy, Carol, and Alex wanted to meet with him. They acquired some of the Reach's technology. Daisy called Tess and already was making plans to meet with her at LuthorCorp.

Kara dropped down right beside Clark. Instantly, Clark noticed a very agitated flash in Kara's eyes. He reached over and grabbed her hand forcing her to jump up.

"Sorry," Kara said. "I just got back from meeting with Maggie Sawyer. She's not in the best mood after dealing with Willis. And I can't say that I blame her."

"What did Leslie Willis do now? "Clark asked.

Kara did not want to go down the road of blaming the victim or anything. Clark placed a hand on her shoulder and it calmed her somewhat.

"Some women attacked Leslie's studio and they were beating Leslie when I found them," Kara said. "She gives about as good as she receives. The ringleader was about three times her size. Big beast of a woman."

At least, Kara thought it was a woman. Sometimes you could never tell with some of these people these days. Another figure moved in and Karen appeared next to both Clark and Kara. The three Kryptonian survivors walked down the hallways.

"Godfrey has been fired, not that he would have been able to come to work being in government custody," Karen said. "But, Grace, she's doubling down on the hate speech towards me, especially Superman."

"I'm shocked," Clark said in complete dead pan.

"She's also saying that Willis orchestrated the attack," Karen said.

Clark had been shocked by this even less.

"And since her equipment was damaged, Leslie might not be up and running for a couple of days," Karen continued. "That gives Grace plenty of time to hammer on her narrative until she's blue in the face."

The three made their way through the final corridor of the DEO. Kara took a couple of deep breaths. Humanity was at each other's throats, which was what Darkseid wanted. They needed to find some way to rally together and keep standing despite all of the hate, lies, and fake news which was being propagated by the mainstream media.

"The alternative media is being shut down," Clark said. "Leslie's an acquired taste, and she can be a bit extreme. But, doesn't she deserve to have a say?"

"She's going through with the rally, despite the fact Maggie strongly suggested she shouldn't," Kara said. "And I can't say I really disagree."

Kara just imagined something very distract happening to Leslie while at that rally. She could not put her finger on exactly what it might be. She just imagined them staging another attack and putting countless people in danger. Leslie claimed it would be the day that the final nail had been driven into Grace's credibility.

"Maggie's arranged for support, but I don't think it's going to be enough," Kara said.

"We'll be there," Karen said. "All three of us…we should be able to give her enough protection."

Clark hoped that Karen was right. The three crossed the hallway and moved to meet with the DEO the latest intelligent report.

* * *

A trip to Smallville to relax for a couple of hours sounded like something Clark could get behind. He moved over the fields of Kansas and past the sign which designated Smallville as the Meteor Capital of the World which stood strong for almost twenty years as that designation.

The Man of Steel kept moving. The DEO prepared for the next wave of the invasion. This rally of Metropolis Square that Leslie held where her Livewire Podcast would be a potential target. Leslie insisted to anyone who would listen the broadcast would go on as planned. The provocateur invited Grace to show up and anyone else who wanted to defend, including any of her "White Knight Cuckhold male fans."

Both sides were reaching the apex of this war of words. Clark feared someone was going to get caught in the middle and that someone could unfortunately be an innocent person.

He looked down where Lana walked down the path between the Potter House and the Kent Farm. She looked up with a smile. Clark signaled that he would come to see her in a minute. Lana waved her hand as if to tell him it was fine and she would wait.

The Man of Steel dropped down right next to a field. He caught sight of Maxima crouched in a battle pose. The powerful warrior queen came eye to eye with Diana. The two circled each other in a moment before Maxima charged forward.

She moved towards Diana with a fury dancing through her eyes. Maxima backed Diana back with a huge punch which caused her to stagger back. Maxima swung her hand back and went for another punch at Diana. Diana blocked the punch once again and hoisted Maxima off of the ground. The Queen flipped off of the ground and landed on her feet.

The two warriors circled each other for a moment. Clark watched the battle with a certain amount of appreciation dancing in his eyes. Maxima and Diana kept circling each other, neither wanting to back down from the other. They locked up one more time for battle with Maxima flipping Diana down to the ground which surprised and also pleased the Amazon Princess.

"Good," Diana told her. "You're doing much better."

Diana placed her hand underneath Maxima's chin as she bent down and shoved her back. As much as Clark could and would watch this battle all day, he had other rounds to make on the farm. He looked around for Connie. Clark did not have to search the farm for too long as Connie popped out of the barn. She rushed over with a smile to her face and also a hug.

"Good to see you, after all that's happened," Connie said. "So, how are you feeling?"

"I'm hanging in there," Clark said. "How about you?"

Connie responded with a very light shrug of her shoulders. She could not really complain all things considered. The two of them walked over where Alicia finished pulling some weeds on which had overtaken the path on the farm. She stepped up, wiped the sweat off of her brow. Her expression brightened a little bit the second her eyes locked onto Clark's. Alicia's arms threw over his neck and she moved in for a passionate kiss on him. Clark held the back of her head and deepened the kiss. It was a nice exchange between both of them, if he had to say so himself.

Tara swung her fist at a bag by the barn. Barda, who stopped by, held onto the bag. She gave the younger girl an encouraging smile.

"So, the big one's coming up, isn't it?" Alicia asked. "What can we do to help?"

"I need someone to be ready to defend Smallville," Clark said. "Do you think you girls are up for it?"

Alicia and Connie both nodded, unable to believe they had been given such a task of great power. They would not mess it up, not if they could help it at least. They moved over to meet Barda. Barda stepped into position and greeted Clark with a nod.

"You might only have a matter of weeks before the next move now," Barda said. "You locked up his chief of propaganda, but that's only one thing out of the way."

"Do you think the Reach worked willingly with him?"

Barda paused for a second and shook her head.

"He was able to use their visit on Earth for his advantage, to make humanity nervous," Barda said. "It's very…."

A loud scream came from up the pathway, and Clark jolted his attention towards Lana. Lana looked very faint before dropping onto her knees. She gave two screams and then a terrified whimper. Clark rushed over and put a hand on Lana's shoulders.

"Lana, are you okay?"

Connie rushed into the barn and got Lana something to drink. Lana rose up and nodded in response.

"Physically, I'm alright," Lana said. "Mentally, that's another matter entirely….you won't believe what I saw."

Clark steered Lana into a lawn chair. Connie returned with a towering glass of water. Lana gulped it down and relaxed just a tiny bit at the feeling of the water coursing through her body. It was the best feeling, the best test for sure.

"I saw Superman in chains," Lana said. "You were kneeling at the throne of Darkseid, Earth went up in flames, and Darkseid…he was awful. He stood in the ashes."

He never once relinquished Lana's hand. Lana took a deep breath. Maxima and Diana had been broken away from their sparring session by the screams.

"It's almost time," Barda said. "You'll know when he arrives."

* * *

Clark returned to see Chloe. Chloe walked around in a night dress and a pair of panties. She had been monitoring the DEO's satellites to see if they could find anything on any invaders. Chloe bit down on her lip for a second.

"Well, so far, nothing yet," Chloe said. "Once Darkseid invades, well, you'll know. If Lana's promotion is correct, he's coming straight for you, and he's not going to be subtle about his intentions at all. I don't think he's completely done softening up Earth for the attack."

"What's his next move?" Clark asked.

"I couldn't even begin to guess," Chloe said with a shrug.

Clark pacing back and forth made Chloe a bit wary. Him being wound up like this was not going to be a good thing for the future survival of the people of Earth. Chloe popped up to her feet and looked Clark straight in the eye.

"Beyond knowing where Apokolips is, there's no chance we could strike first," Chloe said. "You could ask Godfrey, I suppose, but that would involve you breaking into a government institution. And I doubt he would even help you in the first place."

Clark supposed Chloe had to be right. Chloe reached in and took his hands .

"Don't worry about what Lana saw," Chloe said. "I don't know why, but if…if you work to prevent that from happening, you might cause it to happen. You're going to be anxious and you're not going to go with what's natural. And that's what you should do. You should go with what's natural."

The two long-time friends and lovers enjoyed the moment of silence. Both the silence and the peace was not going to be for long.

"I guess you're right."

"Aren't I always?"

Clark could not help, and smile at the expression on Chloe's face. Chloe lightly pushed her fingers against the side of Clark's face and leaned in.

"You should relax," Chloe said. "Or let me find a way to relax you."

He had been opened for suggestions. Chloe leaned against Clark before following up with a very passionate kiss on the lips. Clark held the back of Chloe's head. Her eager hands moved a bit lower and undid Clark's belt.

"And good thing there's one way to reveal tension."

* * *

Chloe had Clark's cock out of his pants and into her mouth after a second. Her ministrations brought it up to its full length in a little bit. Chloe performed a prolonged make-out session with Clark's head while cupping his balls and giving them a nice firm squeeze.

A warm seal surrounded Clark's very big cock. He sighed when Chloe sucked him hard and fast. Clark threw his hands around the back of Chloe's head and worked his cock into her warm cavern of a mouth. He looked down with Chloe giving him a very passionate blowjob. Her warm lips encased Clark's prick and released him with a couple of very prominent sucks. The loud popping sensation around Clark's cock before he had been released made him feel really good.

Chloe thought Clark's cock deserved worship more often than it was given. Her lips passed over the head and down to the base. She cradled the young man's balls and squeezed them. Chloe pulled him out of her mouth before going back down onto him.

"You're amazing," Clark grunted.

With her confidence spiked, Chloe went to town on Clark's big cock. Every single inch of her warm lips caressed and pulled on Clark's member. She rocked back a tiny amount and sucked him harder than ever before. Chloe's nose pushed down to the base of his cock and then released him. Clark grabbed the back of her head and pushed deeper inside of her mouth.

"Fuck," Clark said. "Oh, this is amazing."

Chloe sucked him down with an amazing look of lust dancing in her eyes. Her vibrant eyes locked onto Clark when she sucked him.

After a few minutes, Chloe rose up. She wanted more than just to suck his cock. He pulled off her night dress to reveal a nice set of round breasts. Clark got the hint and grabbed onto Chloe's ample chest. He scooped up his friend and pushed Chloe down onto the table off to the side.

Clark returned the favor from earlier, worshipping Chloe with kisses. Her body received the full court treatment of Clark's very able lips. His tongue came down from her cleavage, past her belly button. Chloe's panties came off at a the speed of light. Clark rotated his warm tongue against Chloe's pussy. The taste of which drove him completely mad and made him want more.

"Take me," Chloe said with a breathy moan.

Her hips came up all the way off of the bed to meet Clark and his tongue. Clark delved deep inside of Chloe and it made her feel really good. She almost lost all sense with Clark rubbing his tongue into her warm body. Chloe clamped down onto Clark's head.

Clark got her cannel nice and slick. He sucked on her nether lips and made Chloe breath. Her entire body shook and Clark was throbbing because of the taste of her perfect pussy.

The two lovers enjoyed the moment before Clark's mouth left Chloe's perfectly warm pussy. He climbed on top of Chloe and aimed his cock against her entrance. Chloe gave a deep breath of pleasure the second Clark pushed himself up against Chloe's very moist entrance. Chloe spread her thighs out for Clark and prepared to take his cock. She prepared to take all of his cock inside of her tight body.

"Do it!" Chloe encouraged him.

Lust overtook both of them. Clark's throbbing balls needed relief and they came at Chloe's pussy. He drove down into Chloe. Chloe reared up and almost broke her nails on Clark's back. Her enhanced body came up to meet Clark.

Clark watched her breasts jiggle when driving into her. Her sexy legs wrapped around his firm ass. Clark reared back and pushed down into her.

"You're cumming already?" Clark asked.

"Are you really complaining?"

Chloe tightened around Clark's cock and no, he really was not complaining. He brought his throbbing hard cock deep inside of Chloe. Their flesh smacked together as Chloe's orgasm rose to a fever pitch. The two grunted when pushing into each other.

It became obvious that Clark was not the only one who had been very frustrated. Chloe tried to turn Clark over so she could ride him. Clark smiled at her attempt which she deflated on the desk. Clark pumped his rod into her and lead her to another orgasm.

"Sorry," Chloe breathed. "But, I really want to ride you. Please…let me ride you! PLEASE!"

Those begging yells only made Clark drive his hard cock deeper into Chloe's snug quim. She grabbed onto him tight, with each thrust bringing them both to a more lustful round of pleasure. Chloe tightened up around him and released his throbbing hard cock.

"Good things come to those who wait," Clark told her. "You better get ready to cum again."

Chloe's pussy gave way and milked Clark all the way inside of her. The two connected with each other. Clark gripped Chloe's legs and gave them a working over. The more Clark worked over her legs, the harder she was cumming. It was very intense the way her pussy grabbed onto him and released him.

"Give me more!" Chloe yelled. "Give me more!"

More had been given. Chloe's body contracted and released her juices. She exploded in a lustful shriek one more time. Clark buried himself deeper inside of Chloe. Her insides molded against his cock the further he pushed into her. His ball thick balls kept bouncing and working their way inside of Chloe.

"More will be given just if you ask nicely."

The content feeling Chloe experienced had been beyond all joy. She took his cock hard.

Clark now pulled out and floated backwards to the computer chair. Chloe walked over towards him and mounted his big cock from behind. She jammed herself pussy first down on Clark's glorious prick. It filled up her body like there was no tomorrow!

"Oh, fuck!" Clark yelled.

"I know the feeling."

Chloe bounced up and down on Clark's lap to drive him deeper inside of her body. She needed this cock and needed it more than life itself. She had been sustained by the depths or rather the heights she would go for this cock. Clark grabbed Chloe's firm ass and pulled her down onto him.

Sensual smacking of flesh filled them. Clark pushed his cock up to meet Chloe's eager loins. Their bodies fought together for dominance. Clark held onto Chloe's chest. A few squeezes of her breasts made Chloe more eager and more willing to debase herself for Clark's sake. Her warm loins closed in on Clark. Her entire body flushed with lust when moving up and driving herself down.

Chloe knew everything would be reaching a fever pitch sooner rather than later. Her heart raced the deeper she drove onto Clark. His massive prick stretched out her body. Chloe squeezed him inside of her walls and released him with constant rises and drops. She drove down onto his lap with a pleased moan coming form her.

"Getting closer," Clark said.

He grabbed Chloe's firm ass and guided her down onto him. Their loins pushed together the deeper and faster Chloe dropped onto him. It looked as if lust burned through Chloe's eyes with her driving down onto his prick. Clark gave another groan to feel Chloe ensnare him.

Chloe did not want this ride to last. Clark now hovered off of the chair when she rode him. Chloe tightened her legs around him and leaned back. Clark attacked her breasts with vigorous sucking. Chloe encouraged this behavior. Never had a feeling like this been so good. Clark really knew what she wanted and gave it all to Chloe.

Juices trickled down past Clark's crotch and dripped all the way to the floor. Chloe grabbed onto Clark and rode him like there was no tomorrow. Their loins pushed together the further Chloe rose and dropped down onto Clark. She engulfed Clark deep into her body. The feeling of lust dancing through her eyes only spurred Clark on. He buried his massive rod deep inside of Chloe and pulled out.

"Getting closer," Chloe murmured to reflect Clark's words.

Chloe received immense amounts of worship on her immense chest. She drove down onto Clark, working over his meaty cock. Their thighs slammed together with huge amounts of lust being evident.

Eventually, something had to give. Clark's balls throbbed the deeper he rammed into Chloe. Their thighs connected together with lust being evident. Clark never once let up on Chloe.

They indulged each other to relieve their frustrations with Clark driving himself into Chloe. His balls sized up and started to send a load of cum deep inside of Chloe's clenching pussy. Chloe grabbed Clark's rod hard and drove down onto him to milk him of everything in his balls.

"Yes," Chloe gasped out with thinly veiled pleasure obvious in her eyes. "YES!"

Chloe spiked herself down pussy first onto Clark's big cock and milked him of every single drop she could. His balls emptied their way into the feisty blonde.

She came several times as well before they settled down. Clark floated them onto a bed where they rested.

At least until the second round. For now, Chloe had been content to put her head on Clark's shoulder.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on January 31st, 2018.**


	86. Chapter 86

**Chapter Eighty-Six: Power Up Part One**

* * *

Helena Wayne slipped off from the shadows, with her hands folded slightly over her side. She looked off to the side just in time to catch a glimpse of Leslie Willis who had been prepared to go up on the cage. Quite a crowd of supporters came up to greet her for this charity benefit and live podcast. Helena noticed none of her detractors showed up.

The Metropolis Police Department turning up might have had something to do with the lack of turnout from Grace Godfrey and her followers. One of the guests of honor, Supergirl, hovered off to the distance. A visible Kryptonian might have made some people gunshy.

One final element made it very unlikely there was going to be any trouble caused. The Mayor of Metropolis stated anyone causing trouble would be brought in on charges and arrested on the spot. There would be no exceptions to this rule.

Helena moved closer towards Clark and Karen who sat amongst the people in the crowd. She prepared to jump on anyone. Thea, in full Green Arrow gear, positioned herself on the rooftop. She could get a good clean shot on anyone who stormed the stage, if the Special Crimes Unit didn't get to them first.

The beautiful sunshine shined down without a hitch in the sky. The day was perfect, almost too perfect. Clark turned his attention towards Helena. Helena replied with a very slight nod directed to the top of the stage.

"We're going to see what happens," Helena said. "I think we might not have too many problems though."

Her fingers crossed at the very least. The loud rumbling on the stage brought Leslie Willis into the forefront. She stood on the stage to gaze out at all of the people who watched. Leslie maintained a profession demeanor which surprised many of her. A small smile on her face almost made Leslie see her.

"Today, all of you are awesome!" Leslie called out. "I don't want to seem too sappy, but to see all of you out there, maybe not supporting every word that comes out of my mouth, but supporting the spirit of which it is said, there's just something really righteous about that which warms my heart. I have to thank each and every one of you for the support, for all of the letters, for the tweets, and for the shares and likes on my podcast. We have blown the lid open off of the mainstream narrative. Despite the fact there are those who want to shut down alternative news media sources, I'm confident that as long as we stand tall, we are going to win this battle!"

Leslie took in a deep breath.

"The mainstream media fears change and they put their talking heads to cram the narrative of the day down your throats," Leslie said. "Anyone who doesn't toe the line, well they are silenced. Hit pieces, smear campaigns, you name it. I know there's plenty of bullshit on the Internet."

Everyone laughed at Leslie for a minute.

"But, don't think the mainstream media is immune from bullshit either. No, they're guilty of spinning their fake news like a spider spins a web. And they catch poor people who don't know any better."

Everyone most certainly had a lot to think about. Clark did not agree with some of the ways Leslie went on about her points a lot of the time. However, there was something in the overall context of them which he could agree on even if the words were not exactly the most tactful.

"Today, I invited Grace Godfrey to stand beside me on this stage. So, we could have a live person to person conversation in front of all of you."

Some of Leslie's supporters started to boo and one screamed out "fuck that cunt" which caused Clark to raise his eyebrow. Leslie shook her head.

"I wanted her to come here so we could have a discussion, "Leslie said. "Deep down I knew it would never happen. I've been saying for months what kind of person Gracie is. We know she doesn't value people she thinks beneath her. And she thinks poorly of her supporters. It's sad that most people aren't in on her con. She profits from real victims, while crying out she is one, oppressed by man or in her case, by Superman."

One could also see Leslie's eyes shift and nearly roll into the back of her head.

"I wasn't going to dominate the conversation. I wasn't going to yell at her or call her all sorts of awful names to her face. I was going to let her make her points and when she was done, I was going to deconstruct them. I was going to tell her all of the reasons why I thought she peddled a bullshit narrative and how it's toxic to everyone including young women and girls…which would be ironic given that's the buzzwords her crowd uses."

Some angry sounds had been made. Leslie did not really say anything more.

"But, Gracie did not show up," Leslie said. "I'm sure you're going to hear everything from her in the coming days. How she felt threatened by showing up here, saying that I would ambush her or have thugs beat her up."

For one second, Clark thought Leslie would rip into Grace for the incident at her apartment studio just the other day. The reprimand did not come however.

"All of my supporters standing beside me, I appreciate it," Leslie said. "I might not know you all personally, but you are good hard-working people. The type of people who Gracie can't stand looking at because she thinks she's better than you. She looks up upon you from a position of privilege. How much money has she donated to charities that actually help women?"

The question hung in the air. Everyone made some angry sounds.

"Men, women, everyone here, you're all part of something great. Thank you for all of the support, all of the tweets, all of the shares, and we're going to continue to debunk the lies of Grace Godfrey and her disciples. We will expose modern third-wave feminism for what it truly is, a hate mob and a supremacy movement by women who feel like they are entitled to have everything handed to them just because they have a vagina."

Leslie's blunt statement was prone to ruffle a lot of feathers. Helena watched her on the stage.

"She has some valid points, even if she could use a little more tact," she commented.

Clark would have to agree. So far today, so good, as Leslie continued her podcast at Metropolis Square on this perfect sunny day.

* * *

Clark stopped by STAR Labs. They had a brand new super suit ready for him. Given Darkseid's incoming inevitable arrival, Clark would want all of the advantages possible to take down the conqueror. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see Alex pop in next to him.

"Hey," Clark said.

"Hey, yourself," Alex said. "So, how did things go with Leslie Willis?"

"Pretty peaceful," Clark said.

Alex knew it would not be the end of it. She knew far better than to even assume the end would happen. Clark noticed the frown cropping up over her face.

"You think it's the calm before the storm?" Clark asked.

"Well, we had a nice sunny afternoon, but it's supposed to rain before the evening," Alex said. The look on Clark's face made Alex almost break out in an amused snort. "Oh, you mean with Willis? That's a good question, and I really don't know."

Clark and Alex stepped their way inside. They moved over towards Patricia who had been looking at one of the pieces of Reach technology which had been left behind. It did not seem to do anything of value from what she saw.

"Clark!"

Patricia slid the orb back into the box. She moved over to him and greeted Clark with a nice hug. She decided to move one step closer and kiss Clark on the lips. Alex put her hand on her hip and waited for Patricia to pull away.

"I'm almost upset that I didn't get a greeting like that."

A small mischievous smile popped over Patricia's face. She moved over and wrapped her arm around Alex's waist and pulled her in. Alex had been surprised and caught with the kiss from the older redhead.

Clark watched the two of them meet together tongue for tongue with each other. Their nails scrapped against the side of each other's face as they indulged each other in one of the most passionate kisses either could manage. They pulled apart from each other.

"Oh, you meant, Clark, didn't you?"

A snort came from the younger girl. She moved over and stole a quick kiss from Clark before pulling away.

"We better not leave my mother waiting," Alex said. "She's not the type of woman you want to leave hanging."

Clark stepped into the room. The suit had been out and ready to go. Eliza finished adjusting one simple component in the suit. She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"It's going to be ready in a minute," Eliza said. "I've been busy lately. I've been keeping an eye on the satellites. Barda's helping me recalibrate them for Boom Tubes."

"Any luck, yet?" Clark asked.

"No," Eliza said. "The suit's best worn close to the skin, so if you don't…."

Clark stripped out of his clothes and got onto the suit. All three women appreciate the brief glimpses.

"I've heard from Astra your speed and stamina has improved tenfold, and your strength as well," Eliza said.

"She's been drilling me for a long time trying to improve my fighting style so I'm ready to go out there," Clark said. "And I'll be ready to go out there."

"You have to be physically and mentall."

Barda in to join Alex, Eliza, and Patricia She appreciated the new suit and it would give them an added advantage. Unfortunately, a new suit was not exactly the only thing they needed.

"Darkseid won't be easy," Barda said.

"No, he won't be," Eliza agreed. "But, your greatest power is to inspire hope. Why do you think the Godfreys have been working so hard to discredit you in the eyes of the average person?"

Clark flashed a smile to the older woman. She just did not back down from his gaze.

"You've been talking to my mother, haven't you, Doctor Danvers?"

"She's a very wise woman," Eliza said. "Now, it should only take about thirty minutes to run the necessary tests to make sure the suit's calibrated properly to you."

No question about it, Clark wanted to be ready and able to take down Darkseid. He moved in to the simulation as the tests began. And he would pass them through flying colors. Clark walked onto a field with what seemed to endless amounts of rings for him to fly into.

"Really, rings again?" Clark asked. "Because, Astra just had me fly through about ten straight courses of moving rings the other day."

"Best way to test your reflexes and ability to think quickly," Eliza said. "It should only take ten minutes."

* * *

A horrific rainstorm began to kick up after Leslie left the benefit. She drove herself back home to her apartment. Overall, today's evens pleased the radio personality very much. A smile spread over her face as she moved down to the stop lights.

Another flash of lightly erupted through the sky. Leslie waited impatiently for the traffic light to turn as the rain started to hammer down on the ground. The droplets of water smacked against the windshield. Leslie reached in and turned on the wind shield wipers while taking a deep breath.

' _Well, at least this waited to happen until the benefit got done.'_

Something much more annoying than a rainstorm came barreling down the street. Several of Grace Godfrey's followers marched down the street holding signs. A couple of them moved in front of Leslie's car. She spent the next couple of minutes in intense debate of whether to run them over or not. She severely was tempted by it.

' _I don't think the lawsuit would be worth my piece of mind.'_

Leslie turned off the car, and got out of it before standing out in the middle of traffic. Those deranged harpies all yelled at her and shook their hands. Some of them wore small chunks of the glowing green meteor rock as well. Grace suggested they all wear them as a symbol to show their disgust at Superman.

' _Yes, let's walk around with chunks of radioactive space rock wrapped around our necks,'_ Leslie thought. _'I'm sure that will end well.'_

"You think you can talk trash to her? You think you can talk down to us!"

One of the protesters made their way over to Leslie. She shook her fist at the woman. Leslie did not back off or show any fear. She just kept staring down at this woman without another word. Leslie absolutely would not be bullied in any way whatsoever.

"I'm not talking down to you," Leslie said. "Maybe you should realize that you've been blinded. You're young, you don't understand the con when you see one, at least until it's too late."

One of the hurled a tampon at the back of Leslie's head, and she heard the loud chants from other followers elsewhere. The MCU would have their hands full with these rabble rousers. Leslie tried her best not to engage the trolls.

"You think we are just going to listen to your lies!" one of the protestors yelled. "You're a disgusting human being! You are condoning what they do!"

"Hey, princess, if a man pulled the same shit that Gracie has been doing, I'd slam him just about as much," Leslie said. "That's part of equality! You need to take the bad times with the good times. And you have just as much right to be called out on your bullshit than a man. Or are you too privileged to be called out?"

The three women moved around on either side of Leslie. She could see a loud bang in the distance and tear gas came into the crowd. Another whip of lightning came.

Leslie stepped her way onto the side walk. A scrappy looking supporter attacked Leslie and knocked her back onto the sidewalk. Both of them tussled with each other, both trying to gain the upper hand with each other. Leslie pushed her nails into the side of her enemy's throat to push her off.

She grabbed onto the necklace just as a bolt of lightning shot through the air. The protestor screamed after having burned to a crisp. Leslie had been thrown back with her body smoking.

The MCU made their way in. Maggie Sawyer lead the way. She saw the severely burned protestor who gave one last shudder and then her heart stopped. Then she saw Leslie down on the ground. She was still breathing about sparks came from her body like a wire which had been severed. None of them wanted to get close to Leslie when she discharged this much electricity.

"Someone call for the EMTs"

* * *

"And noted traitor for the Patriarchy, Leslie Willis, currently lies in the hospital, severely injured after she attempted to assault one of my fans. You see her grabbing this civil protestor around the throat before the lightning struck both of them."

Tess stepped into the hospital past the front entrance. She moved in past the ranting form of Grace Godfrey on the television screen. Words failed her. She spotted Maggie Sawyer who leaned back against the wall. Obviously, she felt put through the ringer.

"Should this piece of human garbage get sympathy? No, she's an awful woman and she is not representative of us. She doesn't even identify as a feminist. If you're not a feminist, as far as I'm concerned, you're garbage and you should just shut up and get educated. Leslie paid for her actions and her attitude."

The smug face on the television screen made Tess want to throw a brick through it.

"And where was her Superman to save her? He didn't show up. He never shows up when truly needed. But, you know what, it's fine. No self-respecting woman would ever beg Superman to help them. Leslie talked a lot of trash while safely in a studio, but once push came to shove, she's proven herself as nothing but a bully and a bigot. This racist, homophobic witch got what she deserved, when she got electrocuted. The only regret I have is it did not happen sooner. She received a healthy dose of karma for her Internalized Misogyny. She asked for it with her attitude and the way she conducted herself."

Tess tried to disregard Grace's rapid fire rants on the screen. They were about as pleasant as a hoard of fire ants gnawing away at her skin.

"It's not good," Maggie told her. "And I don't mean her either."

One disgusted look towards the television screen told Tess pretty much everything she needed to know. Tess looked at down the hallway. The doctor had not returned or had not come out. Leslie had been stabilized in the next room. The fact she survived was a miracle. The other woman died the second the lightning struck her.

Leslie having her hand on the Kryptonite when the lightning struck saved her life. The other woman might not have been lucky. Without running the proper amount of tests, Tess could not have really made any guesses. All she could do was think about the fact she regretted what happened and regretted what happened big time.

"I put her back in the air," Tess said.

"Well, to be fair, you must have had her reasons," Maggie said. "We let our guards down, unfortunately, when no one attacked the benefit. If she wakes up, she's going to have every reason in the world to be very upset. And who could really blame her at this point?"

Tess did not blame Leslie at all. This was not something they needed this close to Darkseid. Grace, who had been low-key for her, had flown off the chain and used this attack as another excuse to rip into Superman while also defaming Leslie. The only thing she stopped short of doing was calling Leslie a Nazi.

Controversy created cash, created a lot of cash, and Grace made the networks a lot of money. It made the network gain progressive points by having such an ardent Feminist speaker on their mantle. Despite the fact Tess could not find one shred of evidence of Grace actually helping any women have a better life, those zealots did not let facts get in the way of their feelings.

"Karma is a bitch and so is Leslie Willis!"

That voice blared over the television screen. Maggie and Tess sat in the middle of the waiting room. They wanted to know what would happen with Leslie. The lights flickering above their head distracted Tess for a mere moment from the conversation.

Tess muted Grace. Her mouth still moved, but at least they could have piece of mind.

"Well, one of us had to," Maggie said. "Some of those nurses don't look too happy."

Kool-aide drinkers, obviously, not that Tess really gave a fuck right now. She just kept looking towards the entrance.

Something else caught Tess's interest. A robed figure stepped into the hospital room. She hunched over and moved very slow, almost making deliberate strides to the room across from her. Her presence made Tess's blood run cold. Only one thought entered Tess's mind.

' _Shit.'_

The figure moved over. Tess rose to her feet and followed the woman down the hallway. She began to think this was part of some kind of demented mind screw on the part of Darkseid and his forces.

* * *

Granny Goodness stepped into the room where Leslie had been kept.

"You are needed elsewhere."

Her voice compelled the doctors and nurses all to leave. Granny stepped over towards Leslie's body. Her hair was now white as chalk and her skin turned blue. She still had a pretty nice figure despite the deformnities. Every now and then, the lights flickered and her heart monitor jumped up a slight bit.

Granny picked up the remote control and turned on the television screen.

"And now, this awful woman is where she belongs. I think though someone should go down there and pull the plug, make sure she never wakes up again!"

The voice of Grace Godfrey stirred Leslie out of her slumber. Sparks came from her hands and her blood began to boil.

"SHE WILL PAY!"

The lights flickered as did the television screen. Every single one of the monitors in the room shorted out. Leslie broke the restraints on her bed and sat bolt upright. Her eyes widened with a very sadistic glare.

"Oh, you poor little lost lamb," Granny said in he softest voice. "Let Granny guide you."

"Step away from her."

Maggie stepped into the room. She noticed Tess's discomfort about them. Granny turned around with a smile on her sadistic face. She pulled a large staff and pointed towards her.

"You should mind your manners, girl."

A blast of energy came from the staff. A blur shot through the shadows in front of Maggie before it connected and Supergirl took the full blunt of the staff to her shoulders.

Electricity discharged which forced Maggie to roll outside of the broken door. Supergirl launched up off of her knees like a ragdoll land slammed down into the door.

"I know who is responsible for this!" Leslie yelled. "I know who is responsible for all of this. And they were suffer."

"Yes, you know it," Granny said in a soothing voice. "You know Superman is the one who is responsible for you. The rock which changed you into this awful thing, it came from his home planet. You are going to make him pay!"

Superman flew in through the window and landed on the ground. The sadistic look on Granny's face was even more impressive.

"Leslie, you need to calm down, we can help you…."

"Leslie Willis is dead!" Leslie yelled. "She's been cancelled…there's only Livewire now. And you better get out of my way, Boy Scout, before I start wrecking your shit!"

The newly dubbed Livewire aimed her hand and then she turned around. She zapped Granny full on with a bolt of lightning. Said lightning rocked Granny and knocked her on her back.

"Why, my child?" Granny asked.

"You must think I'm stupid!" Livewire yelled. "Grace Godfrey will pay for what she caused…and there's no safe space for her to hide in now!"

Livewire disappeared through the power cables and vanished into the distance. Superman and Supergirl stood side by side with each other. Granny rifled through her clothes and reached for something. Supergirl knocked the Mother Box out of her hand before Granny could activate it.

"You filthy brat!" Granny growled in a more mannish voice.

Tess stepped into the room as Clark stood back. She held an energy cannon in hand and pointed it at Granny.

"Lutessa, my lost child," Granny said. "It's been too long."

"Burn."

Tess pulled the button on the cannon and nailed Granny with a concentrated energy attack. It knocked her down to the ground. She reached for the staff, but Kara grabbed it into her hand.

"Trust me, you won't be doing that to any of us again," Kara said.

She kicked Granny in the ribs for good measure. Kara wondered if this wicked woman had any more tricks up her sleeve.

"Did that feel good?" Tess asked.

"Yep," Kara said.

Tess blasted Granny as hard as possible with the cannon. She laid against the wall, in agonizing pain.

"Where is Grace Godfrey?" Tess asked.

"There's so much anger….so much rage…so much….."

Kara kicked Granny in the face before she started to monologue. Clark and Maggie stood side by side to watch blood splatter off of Granny's chin and mouth.

"That still felt good."

"We should track down Livewire," Clark said. "Before she does something she regrets."

Tess doubted Leslie would regret frying Grace Godfrey to a crisp, but she understood what Clark meant.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 3** **rd** **, 2018.**


	87. Chapter 87

**Chapter Eighty-Seven: Power Up Part Two**

* * *

"Every single day, you see him up in the sky and looking down upon us from a position of privilege. And there are people who still support them. No respectable woman should scream their lungs out to ask Superman for help. No woman who is true should allow themselves to be oppressed in such a way. Soon, they will open their eyes. More people are opening up their eyes to him. You saw what happened with the Reach. If people could be mistaken about them, then why do you think people could be wrong about Superman?"

The loud voice of Grace Godfrey came out. She went through her usual anti-Superman ran. She took in a deep breath and focused. The world ate out of the palm of her hand, exactly what Grace wanted.

"Each day, I see more women dreaming about what it would be liked for their man to come down from the sky. Thinking that it's an acceptable quality to be a damsel in distress and have such strong man. Superman does not save women, rather he just delivers them straight into the arms of the Patriarchy."

Grace paused for a minute to let her message stick in. Everyone listened to her and many believed her.

"You don't shout down a woman who tells you she's being mistreated. My critics think that I'm wrong, but I'm not. I've proved it time and time again. Had Leslie Willis opened her eyes sooner rather than later, she might have not been in the fix she was in? No, she got everything she deserved!"

The lights in the studios flickered above Grace's head. Her sound equipment crackled. One of the stage hands looked up from his coffee. Grace's depraved gazed lock onto his face. He shuddered as a practice impulse.

"FIX IT!" she snapped at him.

The snapping of the woman made the stagehand almost stagger up. The male moved over to see what he could do to adjust the lightning. Things calmed down just long enough for Grace to start up her rant again.

"And Leslie Willis showed the entire world why you should not be a horrible person, a piece of human garbage. No decent person refuses to identify with being a feminist, especially if they are a woman. She's proven what happens when she is too arrogant. She brought everything that happened upon yourself."

"Victim blaming, are we, Gracie? That's not very feminist of you."

A ghostly voice blared across the loud speakers of the studio. Grace Godfrey's eyes widened in thinly suppressed shot. Sparks surrounded her from the studios. A figure with chalk white spin manifested. Her glowing blue hair and brighter blue eyes along with short looking fingernails pointed there.

"You say anyone who doesn't believe a woman, even if she's full of shit, is victim-blaming. You are full of it, Gracie, and you think you can just blame me for what happened."

"It's because of Superman that….."

Grace Godfrey's switchboard blew up and send sparks flying. Leslie placed her hand on the edge and rocked herself back a little bit.

"No, it's you and your entire herd of cows who did this to me. And now, I'm going to show the world what Grace Godfrey is all about."

Security sealed out of the room thanks to Livewire's little wave of her hand. She moved behind the chair which Grace rose out of.

"Empower yourself, Gracie!" Livewire mocked. "Stand up. You are woman. LET ME HEAR YOU ROAR!"

The lights of the studio exploded and forced Grace to back off in absolute terror. Livewire smiled and toppled over the desk with a charge of electricity.

"GET THAT PSYCHOPATH OUT OF HERE!" Grace yelled.

She crawled backwards onto the ground and took a deep breath. The sadistic eyes of Livewire flashed over her. Grace had no ways to defend herself. It was her against this entity made of pure electricity.

"Gracie, you wouldn't come to my party when I send you a nice engraved invitation," Livewire said. "Therefore, I've decided to be a good sport and come onto your broadcast. It's not going to cost you anything, well maybe your life, but that isn't worth much. So you get a pretty good deal."

"You can't do this to me," Grace said.

"Guess a garbage human being can do a whole lot to you, Grace," Leslie said. "You know garbage well, don't you? DON'T YOU? It's just coming out of your mouth half of the time. Listen to me Grace, I heard everything that you were saying when I was unconscious. You motivated me!"

Grace attempted to escape through the door. Sparks flew in every direction to prevent her. Grace's contempt could not be stopped. She stared at the woman before her who cocked her head with a very sadistic smile. Sparks flowed from the tips of Livewire's fingers.

"Guess what? You're not in your safe space anymore."

* * *

The good news was Granny Goodness had been caught. The bad news is, they were no closer to finding Darkseid. Daisy leaned against the wall and drew in her breath. Being near that woman in any way whatsoever caused a disgusting feeling to come to the pit of her stomach. The other agents passed by the cell without making eye contact. The disgust had been very obvious. Daisy entered some pretty good company.

"So, now what?" Alex asked. "We have one of Darkseid's agents. She's been stirring up trouble."

Daisy answered with a nod. They would have to wait for their boss to come up to see if they could get anything out of Granny. She did not say a word since arriving here. Alex and Daisy stood at the edge of the wall with each other. Kara came on in for a second.

"Superman's going after Livewire, isn't he?" Daisy asked.

"We know where she's heading," Alex said.

"Grace Godfrey's studio, wherever she's broadcasting," Kara said. "But, we don't have any idea where that is, do we?"

Daisy and Alex both shook their heads. Grace Godfrey's studio remained a mystery which no one had been able to penetrate just yet. She claimed it was kept secure and private just in case any men came through to threaten her. And unfortunately, anyone engaging her, especially if they were male, played into Grace's hand. She thrived on being a professional victim and the more hate she incited, the more she cited the toxic behavior of manhood. She gaslighted a lot of people into believing what she says was true.

' _What a bitch!'_ Kara thought, surprising herself.

That particular noun could be describing Grace Godfrey or it could be describing Granny Goodness, who had taken young girls, vulnerable. Some of them had been abused, physically or sexually, or had addiction issues, often times stemming from some kind of abused. Many had been the victims of violent crimes. Her methods of twisting the psyches of these women were numerous and Kara could feel a stirring feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"She's here," Alex said. "She hasn't said anything."

J'onn, under the guise of Hank Henshaw, as per usual, walked down the hallway. "That's surprising."

The people from Apokolips normally could be quite the chatty sort, especially when they were Granny Goodness. J'onn stepped down the hallway and moved outside of the cell.

"Director, you can't hold me for long," Granny said. "This is just a break before dear Granny is out."

"As long as I live, you're not leaving that cell."

The woman's face contorted into a sadistic grin which caused anyone's blood to run cold. "Great Darkseid will fix that little problem."

The very obvious threat came through. J'onn thought about all of his options. He could wait for her to talk. Or he could read her mind? J'onn had his misgivings about the second option for numerous reasons. While he did not think himself to be incapable of reading Granny's mind, doing so might not have been among the best options.

"Yes," Granny said. "You're scared. You want to know when he's going to strike. Every day could be your last. You know it's coming, but you don't know when. And more importantly, you don't know how to stop."

Granny's eyes fell onto Kara which caused Alex's rage to bubble to the surface.

"Don't worry, my sweet child, I'm certain you be rebuilt into something more respectable."

"You, don't get to look at my sister," Alex said. "And you don't get to talk to her. Is that clear, you psychopathic bitch?"

Granny tutted at Alex's words.

"My, my, such language," Granny said. "Someone should teach you some respect."

"Yeah, well that's not going to be you," Alex said. "You're going to rot in that cell. And I'm going to enjoy coming back to see the look on your face after Superman kicks Darkseid's ass."

Granny just responded by a loud round of laughter. The sweetness in her voice had been removed with gruffness. Her voice sounded much less maternal and more like an eighty-year old man who went through about three packs a day since he was old enough to smoke.

"Oh, you are such a beautiful and naïve child if you think there's any hope for you. Superman doesn't have it. The world is divided. And a world divided cannot stand against Darkseid. Certainly, your efforts will be a nice diversion and a momentary amusement. I will enjoy watching you in chains."

' _Might I recommend vaporizing her right now,'_ the Blue Beetle said. _'She would look better as a pile of ash.'_

' _Down, girl,'_ Alex reprimanded.

"Darkseid will break Superman before the entire world,' Granny said. "And you will all watch it happen. Then you will realize you have put your hope in a man who just can't win….."

"Ladies and gentlemen, your regularly scheduled programming has preempted. My name is Livewire. I've undergone a makeover today. Now it was a bit of a shock at first, but I've grown used to it. And my guess today is the psychotic hosebeast who normally plays at this time slot, Gracie Godfrey. Say hello to the people, Gracie."

"You won't get away with this," Grace said.

The attention which they held on Granny had been held. Daisy rushed over towards the computer. Alex, Kara, and J'onn all followed her down the hallway.

"If she's on Grace's frequency, I can track her," Daisy said. "If Chloe isn't doing so already….she's….we don't have much time."

"You see, today I'm putting Grace Godfrey on trial for crimes against humanity. Today, I'm going to tell you where your money is truly going every time you open up your wallets for this professional victim."

* * *

This was not supposed to happen. Grace Godfrey thought this woman was a nuisance at best. She tried to take her off of the air, but she came back on the air. Grace had her attacked, but Supergirl intervened in time. She was supposed to be lying dead in a hospital room, and yet she was still here.

"You don't understand one thing. As long as I have a voice, I will hear my say. Do you have anything to save to the people, Grace? Before I burn you to a crisp?"

"You're nuts and a liar!" Grace yelled.

"What happened to listen and believe?" Livewire mocked. "What happened to not blaming the victim?"

Livewire's fingers flexed together as Grace Godfrey looked up at her.

"You see, I've never once did anything other than debunk your bullshit. Yet, people break into my apartment, my show gets cancelled after five years of having the highest ratings in Metropolis, and then, your goons try and attack me, while I'm in my car. Those little Kryptonite beads, don't think I don't know what they symbolize? You acted like you're a good person, but you're an inhumane asshole who deserves to burn to a crisp."

Grace wondered where the hell security was.

"They're not coming," Livewire said. "You thought you could hide from your critics at this undisclosed location. No one is breaking their necks to call the cops because….everyone hates your guts!"

The ceiling busted to pieces and Superman dropped down from the heavens. Grace looked at Superman with widened eyes.

"Superman, thank God," she murmured. "You have to save me from this bitch!"

Livewire turned to look to Superman. "Listen, Supes, I really don't want to fight you. This is a personal manner between two old friends."

"Oh, I'm not here to fight you, Le…Livewire," Superman said. "I'm here to be educated. I want to see how I can benefit the noble cause of feminists like Grace Godfrey."

Grace looked up to Superman, mouth completely agape. Livewire paused from attacking and appeared very curious. She wondered where this one was going.

"I want to see how a strong independent woman like Ms. Godfrey handles a crisis. I believe I got it right when I say she doesn't need a man to fight her battle. And she most certainly doesn't need a Superman. Especially one who is part of the oppressive patriarchy, who promotes…what was that word again…oh yes, toxic masculinity."

The simmering nature of Grace's rage almost seethed the surface.

"I've seen the light," Superman said. "And I want to be educated by how a situation could be diffused. So, show me, Ms. Godfrey. I'm ready to be educated, and be a better person."

"Well, this is fucking hilarious!" Livewire cackled. "Looks like your bullshit just blue-pilled the Big Blue Boyscout. Pity it's going to get you fried."

"NO!" Grace howled at the top of her lungs. "You…have to…you can't just let her kill me, please, you can't let her kill me!"

"No," Superman said. "But, I'm confused about something. You said that no woman with any self-respect would not cry for Superman to save her. I wouldn't want to propagate the continued stereotype of gender stereotypes by saving you. Strong women don't need me pull them out the fire, right, Ms. Godfrey?"

Grace came several breaths towards having a stroke due to having her own logic being slapped back into her face.

"You wouldn't want to be a poor example to all of those young women and girls who look up to you. They want to see how their hero reacts to a situation. Don't you?"

The genuine smile of the boy scout spread over his face. Grace's temper grew more and more agitated until something snapped and bubbled to the surface.

"I DIDN'T BELIEVE THAT! I JUST SAID ALL THAT TO STIR PEOPLE UP BEFORE DARKSEID ARRIVED!"

The words came out, had been broadcasted on the air for the entire world to see. Livewire broke out into the grin.

"That's news," Superman said. "But, I think you're just saying that to make me look bad. I think you should still get out of this one."

"Women are stupid if they believe anything I say!" Grace shouted. "The women on this earth are easily lead sheep! All you have to do is claim you're a feminist and they'll buy anything!"

"What are you trying to say?" Superman asked. "Are you trying to say everything you said was a lie?"

Grace hurled a chair across the room. It connected with the side of Superman's head. Grace took in a deep breath and almost screamed her lungs out.

"YES!" Grace howled at the top of her lungs. "IT'S A LIE! EVERYTHING IS A LIE! I CONNED THEM ALL! I SPENT ALL OF THEIR MONEY ON LUXURY ITEMS. ARE YOU HAPPY?"

"Well, I don't know about him," Livewire said, her face resembling a Cheshire cat. "But, I am."

"Okay, Leslie you can back off now. Come to Star Labs, we'll figure something out."

For a brief second, Livewire considered Grace. Her face was red, and she was about ready to scream bloody murder. Livewire felt like killing her right now would not do much good.

"Oh, I could really kill her, couldn't I?" Livewire asked. "But, it wouldn't be worth it. She already nuked her professional reputation, saying she was a liar and a fraud. And she just outed herself as an alien as well, that's too funny."

Livewire brought out into a grin.

"Pro-tip, women on Earth can be quite vengeful, especially when they've been lied to."

Superman thought for one minute Livewire was going to fry her anyway. His eyes fell onto Livewire's face. She turned around with a grin on her face.

"Okay, Big Blue, I'll come with you…but I want something in return."

Livewire moved forward and whispered something in Superman's ear. Superman raised his eyebrow and nodded in response.

"Fine," Superman said.

The doors burst open and the DEO made their way in to arrest Grace Godfrey. She rose to her feet and stared Superman from all the way across the room.

"You will pay," Grace said. "Darkseid will make you suffer."

Superman heard that before. He turned to Livewire who walked out without a word. They would hopefully get her fixed up and she would be back to as close as normal as humanly possible. Today had been a very long day and they had a lot left to do.

* * *

The scorecard in Clark Kent's head played off. G. Gordon Godfrey, Granny Goodness, and Grace Godfrey had been locked up. Three of Darkseid's very dangerous minions had been locked up. Yet, he was not feeling really good. Something about what happened put him on ease. Grace had caused a lot more doubt than he cared to admit.

"And here I've got this big pizza and no one to help me finish it."

Kara stepped over carrying a large pizza box. She sat it down on the table where Clark was sitting. Clark was glad she brought the pizza because he could really use a pick-me up. The Last Son of Krypton reached in and pulled the pizza off and took a long bite of it.

"I'm sure there's a lot on your mind," Kara said. "And I'd be lying if I wasn't worried….even with all of the help we're getting."

Kara really did not really want to worry Clark after everything that happened. Clark reached across the table and put his hand on Kara's hand, before using his other hand to grab another piece of pizza. He ate it and Kara sighed before taking one for herself.

"Granny Goodness didn't say anything of value," Kara said. "J'onn hasn't decided to read her mind. I can't blame him for not rushing to get into that head."

As much as Tess and Barda had reasons to hate Granny, and they were pretty good reasons, Kara held a lot more rage for the sadistic woman than most. Her principles were very strong, Clark noted, and Granny manipulating those women, who had been vulnerable, really stirred Kara's ire. It made Clark sick to his stomach as well.

"The Godfreys and Granny, they're all monsters," Kara said.

She wiped a little bit of red sauce off of Clark's chin and stuck the finger into her mouth. Kara sucked it with a smile popping over her face before she pulled back.

"Sorry, it just…bugged me," Kara said.

"I'm sure it did," Clark said to her. "But, you're right. They are monsters. The greatest monsters hide in plain sight, but no one is worse than Darkseid."

Alex and Daisy popped into the room next to them. Daisy moved over to snag the final slice of people out from underneath Kara's nose. Kara folded her arms together and stuck out her lips a few seconds later. Alex did not look too pleased with the pizza being swiped out from underneath her nose.

"J'onn hasn't been able to get anything from Granny or Grace just yet," Alex said. "So far, at least."

Clark figured there was another part to this statement. "He can't, or he won't."

"It's can't this time," Alex said. "He says their minds just boot him out when he gets close to finding something out."

The door opened up before this conversation could answer. Maggie Sawyer stepped into the room and moved towards Kara.

"So, how's your shoulder?" Maggie asked. Kara raised her eyebrow. "Come on, I think it's obvious that you're Supergirl…even if I don't know half of the stuff that's going on here…and you're Superman."

She turned to Clark with a smile. There was no use denying it, although Clark wanted to figure out exactly how.

"You don't get to rise to the ranks as a Detective without putting two and two together," Maggie said. "You were pretty amazing out there. You defused the situation without any violence. And I hate you by the way."

"Why?" Clark asked.

"Because, you're the only man who makes me question my sexuality," Maggie joked. "Well, almost, you're not that good yet. Keep working at it though."

She smiled and shook Clark's hand. Maggie did respect and appreciate everything that Clark did.

"Keep up the good fight," Maggie said. "And if you need any help…well I'll see what I can do….I might not have flight or heat vision or super breath or any of the other powers, but I have….well I can help."

"We appreciate any help," Clark said. "We're going to need it. Even if you just support us, we appreciate it."

* * *

Leslie Willis leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. Doctor Eliza Danvers stood over her and made a few calibrations to those metal cuffs. She was very patient, almost too patient.

"And I thought my days of getting fit for tacky jewelry were done," Leslie said. "You sure these are going to prevent the random discharges, doc?"

"It should be, I'm confident in that," Eliza said. "You're just going to have to sit down and let me get to work. I'll have it in place in a little bit."

"At least you're easy enough on the eyes."

The cuffs snapped completely in place. Leslie rose up on the chair just enough to see her target. Superman made his way around the corner. He dressed in a nice jean jacket, a white top, and a pair of jeans. Leslie's eyes gave him the once and over. Eliza smiled and left, getting one last look at Clark before leaving. She figured those two could use some time alone.

"You look nice, although you really should disguise yourself better," Leslie said. "People are going to figure out sooner rather than later that you're….well that you're you."

"Yeah, I'm me," Clark said.

Leslie placed her finger and touched Clark's chest. A small spark came out of her finger. She eyed Clark with hunger dancing in her eyes. "We had a deal, sir. And I know you're a man of your world. You promised if I let up on the Dyke Lord, you would give me the time of my life."

The kiss happened and Leslie had been surprised there had been no discharge. The cuffs worked at the very least, which was some pretty good news. Leslie grabbed the hand of her savior.

"Hopefully you live up to that name, Supes," Leslie said. "Because, I don't take well to disappointment."

Her fingers brushed against Clark's abdomen and moved to get a little bit lower. The door opened just before Leslie could get into position. Eliza stepped inside, having forgotten her notes. She watched with the meta-human almost easing her hand to him.

"I should thank you as well," Leslie said. "And face it, I know the way you looked at him, you've been angling for the Super D."

Eliza's mouth opened up wide. The younger girl grabbed the older woman around the hair and pushed her mouth on top of hers. Eliza and Leslie exchanged a very passionate kiss which stirred Clark's interest. Eliza had been thrown off only at first, before she responded with pushing her tongue inside.

"Let's see how well those cuffs, work, Doc."

Eliza staggered in to meet Clark face to face. Clark wrapped his arms around the sexy older woman and kissed her. She deserved a reward for such hard work in helping him.

* * *

Clothing flew off of Eliza's sexy mature body one article at a time. Clark's hands cupped her ass when she stood before him in her bra and panties. The silky smoothness of her undergarments came underneath Clark's hands when feeling her up.

Eliza threw her head back and moaned with Clark kissing her hard and fast. She could hardly believe the feeling of the powerful young man's tongue going into her mouth, his hands squeezing her ass. She could feel him and could feel pleasure which had not been given for a long time.

"I don't mean to be rude, but don't forget about me."

Leslie pulled Clark's pants down completely and grabbed his erect penis from behind. She gave him a couple of squeezes while tugging on his manhood.

"Oh, very nice," she breathed.

Eliza felt the cock slap her thigh and she would have to concur. She watched as Leslie motioned for her to stand off to the side. Leslie wrapped her fingers around Clark's big cock and then squeezed it, before leaning in and kissing on on the top of his head.

"Damn," Clark said.

"Oh, you've seen nothing yet."

Leslie swirled her tongue around his cock several times before backing off. Articles of clothing practically flew off of her body. Leslie stood there, a brief smile dancing on her lips. Her breasts came out in full perkiness, her tight shaven pussy, flat stomach, and nice ass, along with a beautiful set of legs were all there. She gave a twirl for a second.

Eliza dropped down to her knees.

"Let me show you how to really please a man," Eliza said. "And how to treat a cock like this."

The older woman proceeded to worship Clark's large cock in her mouth. Clark grabbed her hair and looked up. Her vibrant blue eyes looked up at Clark when sucking him off hard and fast. The Kryptonian Survivor could barely even register what was happening, only the great things her mouth performed when wrapped around his throbbing hard prick. It was of pure magic.

"Eliza," Clark groaned. "Oh, Eliza, that's so amazing."

She smacked her lips around Clark's cock head and then slid down deep to the base. Eliza wanted him so badly that she could taste it.

"Hey, save some of that magnificent cock for me."

Clark pulled Eliza to her feet and marched her over to the lab table. He threw her onto the table and Leslie climbed up. Clark took his fingers and buried them into both of them.

"Good thing the cuffs work!" Leslie moaned. "So, wet I could get a short."

The super-fast fingering of both of their pussies caused them to see stars for the next couple of minutes. Leslie's nipples hardened even more. Clark latched his mouth around them and started sucking on them while fingering Leslie.

Eliza threw her head back and worked against his fingers with abandon. Her pussy juices lubricated the digits sliding into her. It was a very exciting encounter which she needed more of. Clark buried his digits into her and touched every inch of her body.

Both women came nice and fast. Clark pulled away from them, his cock still hard. His manhood lined up towards the pussy of the younger woman.

"As promised."

Leslie spread her legs and took Clark's huge cock without any problem. About seven of the first twelve inches rolled inside of her wet womanhood. Leslie spread her thighs and made a desperate attempt to angle for more. She needed more of this cock in the worst way.

Clark rolled his hands down her legs and pushed deep into her. He rose up and then drilled Leslie as hard as humanly possible. His thick balls kept dancing against her.

The progress had been watched by the third party. Leslie screamed at the top of her lungs which fueled Eliza's own lust. She stroked her pussy lips. The desire to be loved and to receive a huge cock into her burned prominently through the other woman.

"Shit!" Leslie howled when digging her nails into the back of Clark. "I love how there's a fucking man with a big fucking cock and he knows how to use it to really make his woman feel good! Oh, if the ladies knew what you had…they would never leave you the fuck alone!"

She saw stars the minute Clark plunged into her. Leslie rose up off of the table to receive more of Clark's thrusts. The inhibitor was tested one hundred percent of the way. Even more so, when Eliza climbed onto her face. The warm thighs of the delicious MILF brushed against Leslie's pretty face.

Eliza received a tongue buried deep inside of her. Leslie showed her experience of licking pussy. She had given pleasure to Eliza. The deeper the tongue went, the more pleasure cascaded through Eliza from head down to her toes.

"Oh," Clark said. "I wonder how many more times can you cum before you're done."

Leslie settled in for the long haul, clamping her wet walls around Clark and squeezing him. The meta-human milked the throbbing hard prick into her body. It was like being stuck by something pretty powerful constantly. She craved the seed inside of her.

"Show me that tongue is good for something else than tearing down the reputations of other people," Eliza managed.

The meta-human's beautiful face buried between the thighs of the delicious mother of three. Her beauty burned even more brightly the deeper and faster Leslie tongued her.

Clark looked up at Eliza's gorgeous face and the pleasure. His entire body shook and balls throbbed. Clark nearly came straight into Leslie right there. Things worked out so Clark could hold himself back and give the woman the orgasms she craved.

Perhaps she would have been a little less high strung had she received a huge cock in her more often, but that was beside the point. Leslie gripped him as hard as possible. Those throbbing hard balls teased her and prepared to seed her.

Clark gave another grunt and rolled down Leslie's milky firm thighs. He pushed his hardening rod inside of her wet pussy and grabbed onto her. He rolled his hips back and then drove deep inside of her. The two lovers smacked against each other hard, with Clark working himself inside of her.

"Getting close," Clark warned the lovely woman beneath him.

Leslie wanted his cum so she did not hesitate to wrap her walls around his hard prick and milk him. A few more pumps of Clark's cock inside of her let out the torrent of seed.

Clark slammed into Leslie's body and filled her up with his seed. She received more than she requested and more certainly more than she bargained for. Clark's throbbing balls injected their seed into Leslie's warm pussy. She held on and milked him something fierce all the way to the very last drop.

The Last Son of Krypton slid himself out of Leslie's warm pussy and left her hanging with drool coming out of the side of her mouth. Clark gave her a smile before moving over. Eliza crawled over on top of him and kissed him. The older woman wrapped her perfect legs around Clark.

"I've wanted to ride your big cock for a long time," Eliza said. "But, the time has never been right."

Eliza rubbed her pussy against her. The MILF rubbed her pussy against Clark's cock. Her wet pussy ground against him before shoving deep inside. Clark's hard cock entered Eliza's wet wonderland of a pussy. She might not have been as tight as some of the younger girls due to giving birth, but she still wrapped around Clark's big cock nicely.

Clark reared back and cupped Eliza's breasts. She kept herself in good shape at her advanced age, putting a lot of younger women to shame. Her stamina had been put to the test when rising and falling on Clark. Her wet thighs slapped against Clark's thighs. The deeper she rose, the faster she fell onto him.

"I needed this cock, so bad."

He reached around and felt up her body. This action encouraged Eliza to mount Clark and ride him like the stallion he was. She took a huge amount of his cock deep inside of her body.

"I love it," Eliza said. "We should do this more often."

The older woman let out a naughty giggle. Given he was Kara's cousin, Clark was practically family. Therefore, she intended to make him feel good, even during these darkest days. Eliza stretched her pussy down around him.

"Oh, you're amazing, Eliza," Clark said.

"I know, baby," Eliza said. "Oh, it's been too long, since a man has made me feel this good."

Years of pent up sexual frustration built in Eliza. Livewire laid on the table, leaving Eliza to get some one on one time with this young stud. She enjoyed the cock going deep inside. The pinnacle of manhood stretched Eliza out. Her wet thighs smacked against Clark's while driving down.

This MILF rode him like there was no tomorrow. Clark cupped her firm ass.

"Those Yoga classes really do come in handy," Eliza breathed in his ear. "Oh, Kal-El, you're making me really cum."

She came more than ever before. Juices coated Clark from the tip all the way down to the base of his cock. She rose and fell onto him numerous times, and brought her warm pussy down. Eliza threw herself back and went up and down on his cock. The rising and falling of her actions made Clark groan.

"Are you feeling good, baby?" Eliza asked. "Because, I know am I."

Clark buried himself deep inside of Eliza. He explored her warm pussy going deeper and harder inside of the woman. She kept up with him, kept riding him. His balls started to throb and Eliza was there pretty much every step of the way. She took a lot of his cock inside of her warm body.

Everything was going to an end. In her own way, Eliza Danvers was a Superwoman and she dropped down onto him. She looked up at Clark, her beautiful blue eyes meeting his.

"Closer," Clark groaned. "You're amazing, Eliza."

"You are too," Eliza said. "Thank you."

She moaned with Clark's face worshipping her chest while working inside of her body. Her pussy clamped down for Clark's hard cock to push inside of her.

The two came together. Eliza threw her head back and saw stars. She went down swinging as Clark's warm seed pushed into her body.

Clark indulged himself in the beautiful mother riding his cock. Her thighs kept smacking against him when falling and descending at a more rapid fire rate. He groaned and filled her up utterly with his cum.

Eliza pulled off of Clark and got on her hands and knees, before collapsing on the table. Clark rolled her over and scooped her up.

"My office has a couch," Eliza whispered.

"Drop her off and bring that cock back here," Livewire said. "I've recharged."

The pun caused both other parties to roll their eyes and Leslie Willis admitted it wasn't really the best.

Clark heard a couple of familiar heartbeats at the end of the hallway and smiled knowingly. He scooped up Eliza in his arms and gave her another kiss. It sparked a brand new fire in the older woman and she was ready for more.

* * *

Alex and Kara stood at the end of the hallway with their jaws dropped. There were some things daughters should never see and most certainly be aroused by.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 5** **th** **, 2018.**


	88. Chapter 88

**Chapter Eighty-Eight: Powering Down**

* * *

Alex walked off to get a cup of coffee which left Kara in a state of pure awkwardness as she roamed the hallway of Star Labs. Conflicting emotions swirled around the back of Kara's mind. Eliza's predicament overjoyed Kara. She deserved pretty much everything she received and much more.

Regardless, and Kara acknowledged this beyond everything else, someone deserving something and needing to see it, stood very far apart from each other. Kara thought about it, the screams coming from Eliza as she enjoyed what happened. Also, the fact Kara's adoptive mother took her cousin in a way which enticed Kara's emotions. The Girl of Steel drew in a deeper breath at the thought.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

Kara jumped about ten feet in the air at this very awkward question delivered by Clark. The young man smile at her. Kara struggled not to let in on the fact she had been very aroused by what just happened. She smiled at him, potentially a little bit too much.

"Fine, fine, fine," Kara said. "I'm fine, just….just thinking about everything which happened today."

Clark patted Kara on the shoulder and leaned in. He pulled Kara into a hug. She returned in a few seconds and marveled at the warmth and how strong Clark's body was when pressed up against hers. It amazed Kara to no degree how her mind just went about a million miles a minute in a certain direction. Clark kissed her on the top of the head and pulled away.

"I understand, "Clark said to her. "We're all on edge. Darkseid looms closer and we don't know when he's going to strike."

Kara's edginess spawned not from Darkseid coming, but the fact she witnesses Clark in a threesome also involving her adoptive mother. Still, Kara appreciated the fact she could focus on something more tangible than an encounter between Clark and her stepmother.

"Yeah," Kara said. "I don't know what's going to happen. All I know is…well the world is waiting and counting on you to do what you do the best."

Kara cupped Clark's chin and looked him into the eyes. The sixteen year old girl almost slid into a depth which had been beyond her to be perfectly honest. Clark grabbed the back of Kara's hair and stroked in which did not help with her at all.

"I'm going to have to do what's best. It doesn't make this nay easier."

"Yeah," Kara said. "Well, if you went for easy…well you wouldn't be you. You just got to keep going out there and keep fighting for everything you have. You'll do something really amazing out there…and….you are amazing. Don't let anyone tell you differently."

She backed off from kissing Clark a second later. Both of them enjoyed the moment with Clark offering Kara a lingering squeeze on the arm. Clark stepped back for a minute and left Kara standing against the wall, her own thoughts dominating her mind.

' _Damn,'_ Kara thought. _'He really confuses me.'_

Footsteps jarred Kara out of her conversation. Alex walked over from wherever she scrambled off from. She placed a hand on Kara's shoulder and Kara leaned back with a very evident grin locked on her face.

"Sorry, you just missed him," Kara said. "I'm sure you're disappointed you did so."

"Oh yes," Alex said. "But, I'm not worried about me. I've already had my time with him."

Why did Alex remind Kara of this? She did not intend to be bitter. No, Kara intended to be happy by her sister. She slept with Clark, slept with Clark, and only left Kara with nothing other than evident frustration. Her breathing increased a tiny bit. Alex tightened her grip around Kara's shoulders and forced the younger girl to look on at her. Kara jumped up ever so slightly to focus on Alex.

"You have it bad," Alex said. "I don't blame you, but you have it bad. Fortunately for you, opportunity knocks around the corner."

Kara wondered what the hell Alex talked about. Alex just flashed one of those smiles at Kara.

"Your seventeenth birthday part is just around the corner. I know you couldn't have forgotten about it after all this time."

Kara mentally slapped herself in the forehead. The thing was, she did forget about her upcoming birthday. It slipped so far underneath the radar with everything going on she had not been able to anticipate some of the finer things in life to be honest.

"Maybe you should take the plunge right then," Alex said. "Actually, you need to take the plunge then. I'm your older sister, and take it from someone with experience, if you hesitate, you're going to lose and you're going to lose out something you would much rather have."

"With everything that's going on, do you think it's wise?"

Alex laughed at her sister. Kara was not talking out of concern, no she was just trying to give reasons why something should not have been done. Alex wrapped her arms around Kara and pulled the younger girl ever so close. The two heroines pressed against each other.

"Gives you something to look forward to," Alex said. "And hey, if you're worried about messing up, don't be. Clark isn't going to judge you. In fact, he's the type of guy who would apologize if something went wrong. Even if it is your fault."

Kara just broke into a smile. It was not precisely what she was worried about, not really. Still, Alex performed her duties as older sister very well and did an excellent job in alleviating a fair amount of concern on Kara's part.

"You're pretty adorable when you're being awkward."

Daisy jumped in and made Kara almost turn around.

"DEO is in position," Daisy said. "Granny and the Godfreys are getting more excited now which kind of makes you think that Darkseid is coming."

"Let him come," Kara said. "The sooner he comes, the sooner we can deal with this."

All three women agreed on one thing. They were pretty much sick and tired of having this hang over their heads. They were willing to jump in there and get done what needed to be done by any means necessary. They stood together, along with all of their friends and allies.

"Your sister said she's in position as well," Daisy informed them.

* * *

Tess Mercer wished she could just kick back and relax a little bit. The upcoming arrival of Darkseid meant relaxing had not been an option. She double checked a couple of configurations. Would it stop Darkseid? Tess doubted very much anything on Earth could stop Darkseid. She intended to do enough damage to slow the menacing god down. And maybe, just maybe, set Darkseid up for Superman to swoop on in and save the day like he would do. Tess just grinned at the thought of it when she continued to rifle through several sets of papers.

A light knock on the door caused Tess to stand up. She ensured the gun against her left had been secured. While, Tess expected company, expecting company had been no excuse for lazy security procedures.

"It's unlocked," Tess offered.

The door opened and two people stepped into the room. A strikingly beautiful dark haired women dressed professionally made her way into the room. Her assistant dressed in a tight pair of black pants and a button up black shirt as well with a pair of sunglasses. Her blue eyes shifted with a smile.

"I'm here," she said. "So the world is peril…are we waiting for anyone else?"

Tess smiled. "We're waiting for a couple more at the least….and he should be arriving any second now."

Clark dropped down outside of the door and walked straight into the office door. Tess made a point of telling him that if the door was open, come in to see her. If the door was not open, check first with the X-Ray vision, and then knock. Clark stepped inside.

"So, how's Leslie?" Tess said.

"She's doing well, although after our meeting, she's resting," Clark said.

"I know," Tess said. "And there's a huge part of me that feels bad about the fact I had to use her as a pawn."

The only thing which prevented Tess from feeling completely upset about this situation would be Leslie had been a very willing pawn in the entire situation. Had she not been too willing, things might have ended up a little bit differently. Regardless, a smile popped over Tess's face when looking down the table at Clark.

' _This will force Darkseid's hand,'_ Tess thought. _'And I can't say I'm too broken up about that fact.'_

"Clark, this is Nyssa Raatko, one of my business colleagues and….."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Kent, Nyssa said. "Tess has told me about you, although I wish the first time we met face to face was under better circumstances."

"So you know what's going on?" Clark asked.

Nyssa answered with a smile and leaned closer towards the powerful man in front of her. "I'm not without my resources. Tess verified much for me so I did know what I was getting into. And I owed her a favor, and well she knows when to cash in to get the most value."

Clark only could smile. Tess did know how to get the most value out of any situation. He did not know what value Nyssa held, but if Tess called upon her, there must have been something for her to bring to the table.

"Well, sorry, I'm late, you wouldn't believe the traffic out there."

Thea Queen stepped outside of the room. Nyssa's bodyguard flashed her a knowing smile when she popped up around the corner.

"Oh, you're not late," Nyssa's bodyguard said. "You're just as on time as ever."

"It's nice to see you, Sara," Thea said. She turned around to Tess, saving the happy reunion when they were not in danger of being killed or enslaved. "The satellites are ready to go."

* * *

Diana never took an ample amount of time to appreciate the beauty of the world. Right before a crisis, allowed Diana to really enjoy the beauty. The Amazon stepped herself onto a set of rocks and looked out onto the island .Her sisters prepared for war and the entire world had been at stake. Diana intended not to put any pressure on anyone.

She stared out into the sea and watched as the water bubbled to the surface. Mera rose out of the water and stepped over onto the mainland of paradise. She sauntered over to Diana with a look of fierce determination.

"So, here it starts," Mera said. "The Council finally understood why we have to fight. This is not a problem they can hide under the ocean for."

"The Goddesses gave their blessing," Diana said. "Then again, the old gods always detest when a new one steps onto their territory."

"Imagine that," Mera said. "You're rather calm and collected…and I don't see it as a bad thing. You need to be composed if we have a hope in dealing with this in a timely manner."

"We have to," Diana agreed. "And let's face it, I dealt with this once before."

Mera acknowledge it with a nod. Diana stepped into the thick of the battle against the Thangarians. Their invasion opened the door for all of the discontent by the people and all of hate fostered by one G. Gordon Godfrey which divided them. They stood here, over a year later, waiting for the next invasion.

And speaking of Thangarians, they looked up in the sky in time to see Shayera sour down from the heavens. She dropped in front of them, mace clutched, and a determined look on her face. Shayera had the look of a warrior and the heart of determination.

"I'm ready to fight," Shayera said.

"Is there a time where you're not?" Diana quipped.

Shayera answered with a smile. She intended to protect the world from the real threats and not threats which had been created by an intense hysteria of the mass media. Her hands waved against the mace and almost came down onto the ground. Shayera showed her intensity.

"They should just hurry up and come," Shayera said. "I think we can't argue this should be over with as soon as possible."

Diana smiled at Shayera's eagerness. Would could question the level of sanity the woman had for welcoming an alien invasion. Diana would have to be honest, she saw it one hundred percent of the way. Shayera moved over towards the rock with her mace swinging and slammed down onto them. The mace repeatedly and endlessly drilled upon the rocks to cause dust to fly in the air.

Another party stepped out. She left the quiet farm of Smallville to join Diana on her trip to Paradise. Maxima stood before her fellow royals. A small amount of amusement crossed the face of the Warrior Queen. The rocks suffered a huge beating at the hands of Shayera's big mace.

"If she only holds that much intensity when Darkseid and his forces show up, then I feel very good about our chances at victory today," Maxima said.

"Oh, she'll be even more intense on the battle field."

"Good," Maxima said.

Maxima knew all about Darkseid and she would stand up to the man many feared. The monster would not take a world from Maxima. A world which had so much potential to grow would not be squashed out in its infancy by some dangerous tyrant.

"We're going to stand up and fight them," Maxima answered. "And I'm going to make them pay for their arrogance. They are going to regret the day where they threaten Earth."

"I concur," Mera said. "We're ready….all we need is for them to show up and take them down once and for all."

The two women, three if Shayera entered this total, had been pretty much out for blood. Diana's sympathy for Darkseid was not a very strong thing, but they prepared for war. And speaking of preparing, Diana caught sight of her sister Donna. Donna stood at the edge with a smile on her face.

The two sisters met halfway.

"We should just set the three redheads on Darkseid and his forces and call it a day," Donna said. "Actually, I don't think anyone would have been opposed if we threw Artemis in there. She's been ready for this battle ever since she found out about it."

Diana smiled and wrapped an arm around her little sister's waist and pulled Donna in close. The two locked eyes with each other.

"So, are we ready?" Diana asked.

"Yeah," Donna said. "We're ready for them to come. They're not taking this world. We're going to make sure of it."

Now they needed to play a game where all they had to do was wait. No one enjoyed the waiting game and Darkseid understood this and exploited it to its fullest extent.

* * *

Lana Lang sat out on a field just a few hundred yards away from the Kent farm house in deep contemplation. Many years passed since the meteor shower which changed all of their lives. And yet, Lana Lang remembered every single detail with more of a picture perfect clarity now than ever before. Lana edged herself against the chair.

The perfect day greeted Lana with a modest temperature, not too much sun, not an abundant amount of clouds. The chirping birds pretty much told the story. Lana saw perfection here and it was scary. The sounds of children playing in the distance made Lana smile, almost sadly.

They had no idea what horror approached them. Much like a young three-year-old girl all of those years ago, who watched her parents die. Lana got over this tragedy about as much as one could. Getting over it did not mean she forgot. Lana Lang would never forget, not now and not ever.

Lana allowed the crisp breeze to blow in her head. The Kent Farm had been deserted. Connie, Alicia, and Tara all moved off to see what they could do to help out. Lana had been the only one here and she felt the need to do something, anything to help.

The only vision she received ended over a week ago and it was the one which signified Darkseid's victory. Lana experienced anxiety issues because of this one. She took in a deep breath and sighed.

A blur came through the sky and dropped down in front of Lana.

"Shouldn't you be preparing for an invasion?" Lana asked.

"Just wanted to swing on back here to make sure you're holding up okay," Clark said. "And warn you there's a chance Darkseid could target Smallville…so….."

"Someone needs to be here to give you the heads up if he does," Lana remarked to Clark. She stood up, very tall and very firm when looking him in the eyes. "I'll be okay, I promise. I've got the signal watch. There's nothing that's going to happen."

"I know you're strong," Clark said.

Lana just broke into a very sad smile. She remembered all of the events over the past decade and then before that time. It all came down to this.

"It's just funny how everything goes around full circle in the end," Lana said. "And yeah, I guess I am strong. I had to get strong. I couldn't be that little girl hanging on for an idealistic world forever. None of us could be. It was another time, and it was another life."

Lana blew the strand of hair away from her face and took in another deep breath. Clark held her hand up and made her feel a bit more confident. All of what she put him through, Lana felt very nervous to be perfectly honest.

"I hate to ask you this but…."

"Don't hate, you need to know if something's going on with me," Lana said. "But, I'll answer your question. There's been nothing going on. I've had no visions, and…is that a bad thing that I'm worried."

Clark shook his head and wrapped his arm around Lana. The two took the short flight back up the way to the Potter House, which had been reinforced security wise. Some of the Kandorians moved around out back in the house, as Smallville's greatest line of defense.

"No," Clark said. "I'm worried as well. And I can't be worried."

"You're…well you're entitled to your emotions as much as anyone else."

Lana almost slipped and said he was human. And sometimes, despite his alien heritage, Lana figure Clark had been more human than a lot of people on Earth. He had his own wants, fears, and dreads just as much as the next person. Both locked eyes with each other with Clark gripping onto Lana's hand and then releasing it with a soft smile on his face.

"It's a beautiful day, "Clark commented. "It's just amazing how things have gone full circle like that."

"Right," Lana said. "And you should go…not that I'm trying to get rid of you, but he's coming. And you want to be there when he does."

Lana knew the plan and she wanted to smile. Everything would happen today. She looked up into the sky and watched Lois drop down next to him.

"Told you I'd be here," Lois said. "I think a few members of the Green Lantern Corps might be inclined to jump in too…but I'm not going to hold my breath. The Guardians…well they were a bit terrified of Darkseid. And given the man's reputation, you could hardly blame him."

Lois stepped back and walked towards Lana.

"I'll be standing here, helping the Kandorians make sure nothing bad happens," Lois said. "So, I'll be hanging out with you for the next little while."

Lana broke out into a soft little smile. "So, I guess it's going to be a lot like a sleepover, only with a lot less carnage."

Lois broke out into a round of laughter. "Honey, you've obviously never been at one of my sleepovers….well I was banned from having them after the first time. But, still what a first time to go out on."

Funnily enough, Lana could only image what a sleepover at Lois's house would be like. She expected it to be something of carnage.

Clark moved over and heard the crackling in his ear.

"Maggie's just radioed in saying they got ahold of eight Intergang storage houses," Alex said. "The DEO is rounding up all of the weapons. Maybe we can use his weapons against him."

Clark sure hoped they could. Those weapons being out of Darkseid's hands had been a major blow and Clark hoped this particular blow would be more than enough to hurt them.

* * *

Metropolis settled down into a calm. Supergirl and Power Girl hovered over the city and waited for Superman to return from Smallville. Not even a car jacker today, not that was their highest priority. To be honest, they just waited for the big guy to show up.

"The moment he shows up, we'll know," Karen said. "Thea calibrated the Queen Industries satellites to emit a sonic pitch which we could hear."

"Good," Kara said.

"Make sure to keep your head in the game."

Carol came around the corner on her patrol. "We're finishing clearing out that Intergang shipment. We found a bomb that's big enough to level the city."

Both Kryptonians whistled in response and thought it was a pretty damn good thing Darkseid did not have an opportunity to equip that particular bomb. Carol flew off to join the rest of the DEO members, as they continued their operation. Barda joined them on the mission to offer her expertise in dismantling the equipment.

The loud shrill siren caught Kara and Karen off guard. Lighting flashed through the sky and dark vortexes of energy shot through the air. The two heroines looked skyward just in time to view a large black ship poke out of the sky. Several demonic looking creatures dressed in green, with staffs stepped out of the portal. The citizens in Metropolis looked on in terror.

They dropped down to the ground. A short, trollish looking individual with greasy black hair and a beard, dressed in green dropped down onto the ground. He smashed a car out of the way and flipped it into the air. The car flew over several times before smashing to a stop.

"Superman!" he yelled. "My name is Kalibak, the true heir to Apokolips. If you have any stones at all, you'll come and face me!"

The armies of Parademons marched upon the city. Supergirl and Power Girl had an unspoken agreement to strike. Both of them flew down and knocked the Parademons back.

One of the Parademons grabbed Supergirl by the neck from behind. She flew him backwards into the wall. The invader's body crunched against the wall the second Supergirl flipped out of his grip. Another one charged the Girl of Steel. Supergirl avoided the punches and cracked him back.

Power Girl ricocheted two Parademons off of the wall. One approached a group of children and she grabbed him around the waist. Power Girl flipped the Parademon through the windows of a store with a resounding thud. One of them launched a seering blast with his staff. Power Girl dodged the attack and blasted him with heat vision. The heat vision seared his skin and allowed him to drop to the ground.

The sounds of grinding echoed through the air as a large hunk of rock came through. It smashed through several buildings knocking them over. Supergirl zipped through as fast as she could and plucked as many people out of harm's way from the falling debris. Her heart raced when realizing it might not be enough.

A huge war machine hovered over them. Atop the War Machine stood several armed guards, almost an elite force of Apokolips. The Parademons fled up, with Kalibak positioned on a hovering platform.

A tall imposing figure of skin made of solid rock with red eyes looked out. He looked thick and dangerous. The man radiated pure evil.

Darkseid arrived and brought terror to the world with that huge war machine. Karen looked up into the sky and noticed a drill at the bottom of it.

Karen sent the signal because they needed all hands on deck in Metropolis and needed them now.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 7** **th** **, 2018.**


	89. Chapter 89

There's a blog exclusive chapter featuring Clark alongside Lois and Lucy. Head to the Page of Important Links, the Web of Chaos Archives, and either the Stronger Together or Web of Chaos Archives. It's titled "The Spirit of Competition."

* * *

 **Chapter Eighty-Nine: Shadows over Metropolis Part One**

* * *

"One year ago, the alien race known as the Thangarians invaded the world. They were repelled. On this day, on this year, there was another alien invasion. And it is once again centered over the city of Metropolis."

One brave news reporter walked through the streets of Metropolis. The sounds of battle could be heard in the distance even if this particular corner had been deserted. The brave expression upon the face of the woman was only a front for the camera. Eyes showed a different story and the story was she was terrified beyond all belief. Her shaking hands pressed up against her hips.

"One year later, there's another invasion. And this invasion has featured demonic creatures turning up in the middle of Metropolis. The skies have darkened. We may be seeing the end of days. Do we have any hope left? Do we have any salvation? What will happen tomorrow? Will any of us be around here tomorrow to rep….."

The woman's statement gave way to a loud series of shrieks a huge falling rock flew from to the side and landed on the ground. The news reporter watched as the cameras had been knocked out. The moment she had been off of the air, the woman threw her hands into the air and started to run as far in the opposite direction as possible.

Two winged demons flew through the air after the news reporter. The news reporter ran as hard as possible. Her heels flew off when running and she still tripped. One of the demonic creatures came down from the sky to snatch her.

A blur flew in the opposite direction and nailed one of the demonic entities in the face. Superman dropped down to the ground and had been more determined than ever to fight the good fight. The Parademon in front of him growled and rushed Superman. The Man of Steel dodged the attack.

Superman dodged two punches in succession. The creature had not been that able to fight smartly. His only purpose was brute force and intimidation. Neither worked on the Man of Steel, as he used his speed to dodge the punches. Superman clipped him with a vicious shot to the side of the head. Another punch, one hooking him in the head, put the demonic entity down for the count.

A pair of hands gripped Superman around the back of the head. Superman broke free from the grip in a matter of seconds. The Man of Steel caught him with two punches before picking him up and hurling him to the side. Superman stepped over and helped the reporter to her feet. Superman flew the reporter out of harm's way.

A third Parademon came at Superman. The Man of Steel turned to engage the creature in battle. No need to do as Supergirl descended from the heavens and drove both of her feet down onto the head of the Parademon. Supergirl grabbed his energy staff and obliterated the minion from Apokolips with one vicious shot from it.

"Nice shot."

Power Girl dropped down next to Supergirl. The two stood on either side of Superman. The loud booms around them indicated there was just even more trouble.

Darkseid's forces dropped down to terrify them. They kept opening those Boom Tubes which brought more of them down into the city.

"Metropolis is going to be overrun if we don't find a way to shut them down," Power Girl said.

Superman responded by a shake of his head. "It's going to be more than Metropolis."

He looked skyward to the war machine where Darkseid had been standing just mere moments ago. Unfortunately, there had been no Darkseid. Superman's heart almost jumped deep into his throat. The Man of Steel took a deep breath and wondered where is in.

"SUPERMAN!" Kalibak bellowed. "Come out and fight me you coward!"

Supergirl threw her arms back and gritted her teeth. "There's a guy who just simply won't shut up either."

The Man of Steel soured up into the air where Kalibak continued to flip over cars.

"Superman! You think you're something! My father thinks you're something, but I think you're nothing but a chump. Come at me, and I'm going to rip you apart. I'm going to leave you broken before this pathetic planet and….."

Superman nailed Kalibak with a jumping punch to the top of the head. The man flew back down to the ground with a hideous thud. Kalibak groggily dragged himself to his feet in time for Superman to hammer him with another vicious punch.

"You were saying?"

Supergirl and Power Girl moved in to help. Another Boom Tube opened up right off to their side. A figure dressed in black with her face wrapped and whips coming from her appeared on the ground. Lashina, the field leader of the Female Furies, surrounded by several of her fellow Furies stepped into battle.

"Take them down!"

Supergirl and Power Girl knew they were in for a fight. And they were willing to bring the fight to their enemies.

* * *

Alex Danvers gritted down upon her teeth. She had been at the DEO when the entrances had blown open. Two of the Parademons moved in to grab her. Alex blasted away from them and caused one of them to fly through the wall. Alex dropped down on the ground.

Two arm cannons manifested straight out of the Blue Beetle armor. Alex's eyes shifted over with anger and she blasted the two Parademons off of the ground. They flew through the wall and shattered it from the impact. The sound of bones shattering gave Alex a sense of satisfifaction.

One of the Parademons grabbed onto the door to force his way through. Daisy body-checked him and knocked the Parademon away from the door. The Parademon turned his gruesome attention to Daisy. His blade slashed through the air just missing Daisy by a few inches. Daisy crouched down and nailed him with a vibration.

"They won't get down there," Daisy said.

Alex fired two blue restraining devices at the Parademons. The devices clamped around the Parademons and squeezed them. The alien metal dug into their chests. Alex could not be too sorry about these brutish creatures feeling this amount of pain. Especially considering the fact more of the brutish creatures came around, and tried to grab her. Alex fought her way out of the situation.

A loud crack followed by a resounding boom announced someone was there. Alex stepped back out for a second. She feared very little. But, she was very much intimidated by this presence.

Darkseid stood at the end of the hallway at the DEO. The body of one of their agents rolled over onto the ground. He tried to valiantly fight Darkseid and paid the price for it. Darkseid walked down the center of the hallway. Daisy getting slammed into the wall by one of the Parademons barely registered on Darkseid's attention scan.

"This is as far as you go."

Hank Henshaw stepped up. Darkseid's lips curled into amusement. His amusement only just barely ceased when Henshaw shifted into his more normal form.

"You'll be reunited with the rest of your kind soon."

Darkseid rushed over to grab J'onn. J'onn slipped through the floor at the last minute. J'onn grabbed both of Darkseid's arms and nailed him into the floor. J'onn popped back up and rocked Darkseid with a couple of punches. Darkseid blocked the Martian and flipped him down. J'onn landed on his feet and shifted his hand through the wall. He grabbed an energy cannon and fired at Darkseid.

The blast, intended to take down some of the most dangerous aliens out there, only barely put a dent into Darkseid's chest. Darkseid stepped back from the energy rifle with a sadistic smile on his face. He grabbed the rifle out of J'onn's hand and nailed him with a huge backhand punch. Two red blasts emitted from his eyes and knocked him down to the ground. The next blast caused J'onn to land onto the ground.

Daisy raised her hand and started to vibrate against Darkseid's back. Darkseid just walked forward to ignore Daisy's attack and nailed the Martian Manhunter.

"Your world will decay just like Mars," Darkseid said. "If anything, I've done you a favor. The White Martians would draw this end out longer."

Darkseid wrapped his hands around J'onn's throat and choked him down to the ground. J'onn made eye contact with Alex.

"Secure it!"

Alex knew what it was and rushed down the hallway to do so. Darkseid pushed his attack deeper against the throat of the Martian. J'onn slipped through the floor and came back up only for Darkseid to blast him the second he became tangible. The fallen Martian laid down on the floor.

"You're just a roadblock," Darkseid said.

The Martian popped up and rose to his full height. A giant fist extended and started to pummel Darkseid. The battle continued with the Martian Manhunter getting as good as he received. Darkseid returned fire and his Omega Blast cut fired through the Intangible Martian. It ricocheted off of the wall and came back once the Martian grew solid to attack Darkseid. The assault blasted the Martian to his knees.

J'onn stuck his hands through the floor and activated a failsafe. The entire floor became electrified. Darkseid stepped back to avoid being bombarded by the several hundreds of thousands of watts worth of electricity.

"Quaint."

Darkseid threw a grenade which blasted J'onn and engulfed him in a cage made of fire. The Martian recoiled as he had been surrounded by nothing other than his greatest fear.

"Enjoy your last few minutes of breath."

The doors leading to the high security wing of the DEO crumpled for Darkseid like they were nothing. Darkseid stepped down the hallway. The Godfreys and Granny looked at him from their cells almost hopeful. Darkseid walked down the hallway and released several prisoners from their containment.

He walked past his own minions, leaving them trapped in their cells without a word. Darkseid moved further into the secured area. The laser light grid warned him of the security which had been to come. He did not even flinch at what he was facing off against.

Darkseid blasted his way through the grid and then stepped in.

"Your pride will be your downfall."

The Lord of Apokolips snatched up a crystal orb. He opened a boom tube and left the base.

Alex and Daisy returned, sealing themselves on this floor.

"If anyone can hear the sound of my voice," Alex said. "We've got a serious problem. As in about thirty alien prisoners having been released by Darkseid."

"It's a distraction," J'onn gasped. "I know what he stole…it's not good. We're going to have to warn Superman…we're going to have to warn him."

Daisy moved over to the orb and crouched down to release J'onn from his containment. The cage of fire disappeared and not a moment too soon. J'onn staggered back and then fell down to the ground.

"Enact Protocol Eight," J'onn said. "And I'm going to have to warn Superman."

Darkseid ensured they would all be distracted. Their failsafe, in case Superman had gone rogue due to some kind of mind control ended up in the hands of one of the most evil men on Earth.

"What did he take?" Alex asked.

She never saw J'onn so rattled, so naturally Alex had been very concerned.

* * *

Carol dropped down in the middle of Ground Zero of the Metropolis Invasion. She was not the only one who showed up today for this invasion. Diana turned up as well, her fellow Amazons saving as many people as possible. Shayera stood up tall and ready to fight. Then from behind then, came Faora and some of the Kandorians.

' _Well, shit.'_

The Mothership hovered over Metropolis. Darkseid stood upon it not even an hour earlier. Now, he vanished. Carol peaked over her shoulder to the other women.

"His forces are not around the Mothership," Faora said. "That's peculiar."

"I don't like it," Shayera grimly said. "He must be up to….."

The Mothership started to light up. Diana looked on with widened eyes. They all stepped back, not really knowing what kind of weapon would be discharged from this alien ship. The ship hovered and hummed before something dropped down from the sky.

The object came down in the center of Metropolis. Some kind of giant egg dropped down into the city. The egg caused the ground to heat up around them. Shayera, stepped in, and swung her mace at the egg. The egg ricocheted Shayera back and caused her to land on the ground several feet away with one of the most resounding thuds imaginable.

"Not exactly the smartest thing you've ever done," Carol said. "We need to interface with that egg. Maybe there's something…."

Two of the Kandorian soldiers already swooped upon the egg. One of them located the port to the egg. The other managed to tap into the egg and cause flashes of light to emit. Some confusing looking code appeared. A third Kandorian walked over to study it.

Carol could tell by the looks on their faces this was going to be more bad news. It seemed as if they were dealing with pretty much nothing other than bad news as of late.

"It's a device which has a drill in the button of it," the Kandorian said. "It's going to drill down to the center of the Earth."

"What purpose is that?" Carol asked.

She had a feeling the answer would not be one which she would enjoy hearing. The grim expression on the Kandorian's face clued her in on just as much. Astra joined them in the middle and dropped down onto the ground.

"Darkseid attacked the DEO," Astra said. "I just arrived there when they were rounding up aliens."

"He broke out his minions," Carol said.

Astra responded by shaking her head. "Actually, no, he didn't. They were the only aliens on that level which he did not break out. None of them escaped the building. Which, I doubt was Darkseid's intention. He just wanted them to distract the DEO while he took something from them."

A crackling came in on Carol's ear piece. She pushed it in her ear.

"Yes, Alex, talk to me."

"Oh, this isn't good, and you're not going to like this," Alex said. "And Astra's really not going to like this when she's found out what Henshaw and Superman have done."

Astra heard her name and her attention had been drawn deeper into the conversation.

"Darkseid stole an object from the DEO," Alex said. "It was…well, it can potentially stop Superman for good."

"He did…why does the DEO have that?" Astra asked jumping onto the frequency.

"Wait, you're here?" Alex asked.

"Answer the question, Alexandra," Astra said in pure agitation towards the government agent.

Alex recovered as quickly she could and answered the question. She took in a very deep breath.

"Okay, Clark developed it and entrusted it to J'onn, just in case someone brainwashed him and he went rogue. I believe Superman may have a similar weapon to use against J'onn as well."

"And I think Helena might have weapons to use against all of us as well," Diana said. "Because, she's the type that would."

Diana did not necessarily see it as a bad thing they had failsafes in case something happened. It might cross an ethical line for some people. As a warrior though, Diana understood, and had drilled in her head by Artemis since the moment she could battle, there were many advantages they had to be able to use in the field of battle.

"This could have been used against any of us," Astra said. "What was he thinking?"

"He was thinking that he could destroy the world if someone mind-controlled him," Alex said. "It was only supposed to be used in case all of our other options failed."

Astra would have liked to strangle Superman. She thought he was noble, most of the time. But, that nobility lead to some very questionable decisions, including one which would put the lives of several of them in peril now. And when several of them included Astra's daughter and niece, not to mention herself, it's when Astra had to draw the line.

"You're a soldier," Carol said. "You should understand why he did what he did."

"Oh, I understand," Astra said. "It doesn't mean I have to like it though."

No one could disagree with her about that fact.

* * *

Superman threw his fist back into the air and nailed Kalibak. Kalibak flew back down onto the ground. He growled and hoisted up a car over his head. The minion spent too much time grandstanding with the car which allowed Superman to rush at him and spear the ever living daylights out of Kalibak to take him down onto the ground. The wind had been knocked out of the son of Darkseid.

Kalibak picked up a huge piece of pipe and reared back with it. The pipe missed Superman's head by inches. Kalibak pulled back and swung the pipe once again. It missed again. Superman dodged back with the pipe coming close to connecting with the side of his head. Kalibak missed it one more time before Superman rocked him with a huge punch to send him flying down onto the ground.

"Three strikes and you're out."

The battle had not been over. Superman wished had been in a few more places at once.

"You do realize that you're only a distraction. Darkseid is up to something. He has no faith in you beating me."

"You lie!" Kalibak howled at the top of his lungs.

He charged Superman with full force and malicious intention in mind. Superman dodged on the other side of Kalibak's attack and came back with multiple punches. Each punch nailed Kalibak hard. Punch, punch, punch, until Kalibak flew backwards onto the ground.

The Man of Steel propelled himself high into the air. Kalibak looked up only to be taken down with a huge punch the top of the head. Kalibak dropped down to the ground from the resounding impact. Superman stepped back to survey his handiwork.

Kalibak rose from the ground with a vicious and vile expression on his face. Superman extended three fingers out and tapped Kalibak directly on the side of the neck. Kalibak staggered and dropped down onto the ground.

Electrified whips flew from a hand behind Superman and ensnared his neck. Superman gasped from Lashina having her whip wrapped around his neck. She was trying to bring him down to a kneeling position.

"This is where you belong," Lashina whispered harshly in his ear.

Superman broke the whips and caused the woman to stagger back. Lashina hurled another whip at Superman. The hard leather slashed across the cheek of the Man of Steel. Superman backed off from her a fraction of a step. The whip shot out of Lashina's hand and came very close to nailing Superman once more. Superman evaded the next attack from the whip.

A large woman stampeded towards Superman and kicked her up into the air. Supergirl did a backward roll and avoided the leg being stomped down onto her. Supergirl jumped up and nailed her enemy with a succession of kicks to the face. The Girl of Steel reared back with all of her might and exploded with one last jumping roundhouse kick to drive her opponent back down to the ground.

Supergirl fell down to her knees and pulled back up. Two more Furies rushed Supergirl. Supergirl blocked the attack of one of them and launched her into the air of the other.

A very tall and stunning redhead grabbed Power Girl around the waist and held her up into the air. Power Girl broke free with her arms and clapped them down on the ears of the woman in question. The woman staggered back with an agonizing scream before she strung together multiple punches. Each of them rocked the woman in question.

"Not the time to hug it out?"

Power Girl dropped down and took her opponent's legs out from underneath her. The heroine dropped down the full force of an elbow down across her opponent's head. The impact dropped the enemy something fierce. Another high impact elbow strike caught her enemy cold and brought her down to the ground.

"I'm going to rip you apart."

Lashina charged Superman. The Man of Steel dodged her latest whip attack. Another figure appeared down on the ground in front of Superman. She punched Lashina down to the ground and caused the Female Fury down to the ground. Lashina flipped over onto the ground.

"Sorry for cutting in," Barda said. "But, I've been waiting a long time for this one."

The other Female Fury rose to her feet and faced off against Barda. Her gaze blazed over Barda's.

"You're going to pay for what you've done, traitor."

"Are you still polishing Granny's boots?" Barda taunted her. "You're not that stupid, but you're a lackey, plain and simple. And that's the saddest part about you."

One could say Lashina lost all sense of herself the moment Barda started talking. The Female Fury charged Barda with furious intentions in mind. Barda blocked her attack and nailed her with a couple of stiff punches. She grabbed Lashina and pushed her down onto the ground.

"You will pay, you bitch!" Lashina yelled.

"I don't even hate you," Barda said. "Not like Granny and not like Grace and not like Darkseid….I just think you're sad, to be perfectly honest. A pathetic child distracted by dreams of power."

Barda applied a sufficient amount of pressure to put Lashina out for the count. She walked over and looked towards the mother ship.

"He'll be back," Barda told him.

Supergirl flipped one the Furies over. Barda caught the Fury around the waist and drove her down onto the concrete headfirst to knock the Fury completely out of it. Their durability ensured they would be back up.

"We have a situation," Alex said.

"Yes?" Clark asked.

"Darkseid stole the item from the DEO," Alex said. "You know the one."

Clark just grunted in response. "Thanks for the heads up."

"I have something," Tess said. "I have found something in Lionel's notes…it might help…..just meet me over at the vault, as soon as you can get there."

One of the Parademons grabbed Clark from behind. Clark elbowed it in the face to take it down before spinning around and cracking his fist into the chest of the creature.

"Are you sure I should be leaving in the middle of an alien invasion?"

"We've got this!" Kara yelled. "If it's important, you should go."

Supergirl cleared a path for Superman to leave. He smiled, if they got out of this alive, Clark would have to reward Kara. Right now, The Man of Steel rose up, up, and away.

* * *

The battle raged on and Darkseid observed from afar. He saw no need to intervene just yet. There would be plenty of time for him to get involved later on.

"It's ripe for the taking," Darkseid commented as he gazed upon the burning cities. "Humanity is a weak and inefficient race. Once their last chance of hope has been eliminated, then what do they have left?"

Darkseid cradled the orb taken from the DEO. Their security had been pitiful. One would think they would protect a weapon better that had the ability to destroy Earth's only savor.

"Then again, perhaps I should not be so hard on them for their failures. They are, after all, only human."

The orb broke open to reveal a glowing chunk of golden rock. The end of Superman approached and Darkseid could not be more happier.

"Great one, Superman has just defeated your son!"

Darkseid turned to one of his aids, a simpering man in a hooded robe named Desaad.

"Tell me something I did not expect," Darkseid said.

"We are getting closer to obtaining it, great one," Desaad said. "It could be moments away from being in your grasp. The Anti-Life Equation….."

Darkseid held up one hand and made Desaad depart. He would rip apart this world, this universe, piece by piece, if it meant getting his hands on the element which could enslave all.

A show of power would start bringing them down the road to hopelessness. There would be no hope. Each lifeform drew their last breath as they realized there was only Darkseid.

 **To Be Continued on February 9** **th** **, 2018.**


	90. Chapter 90

**Chapter Ninety: Shadows over Metropolis Part Two**

* * *

The term "hell on Earth" had been thrown together way too much and way too many times. Regardless, one could most certainly describe Metropolis as Hell on Earth. The hordes of Parademons surrounding the large egg from high above to prevent anyone from messing with it cast a demonic aura over the situation.

Diana stood off to the side. The Amazon Princess prepared herself to go into war. Several deep breaths coming from her body pretty much showed what was on the line. Diana refused to give up under any means whatsoever. She was going to push forward and more importantly, she was going to fight, down to her very last breath. She demanded no less out of herself.

Barda stood next to Diana with a determined look on her face. She pointed towards the egg and then Diana looked towards the power plant off to the side. The Amazon Princess rose in tension the more she looked at the plant off to the side.

' _Nuclear power. Great, that could be a problem.'_

Diana considered all of her options. She turned to Barda. "We're going to have to make our move. Now."

Those monsters would swoop down and lay some kind of horrible vengeance on Earth, but did they really have that many options right now? Diana figured pretty much no. They moved closer towards the egg.

Two of them swooped down. They were among the elite of Darkseid's forces. They grabbed Diana around the shoulders, with their demonic claws sinking into the Amazon's arm. Diana whipped back and nailed them as hard as humanly possible. The Amazon cracked her adversaries in the jaw with a firm attack. She slid back and waited for them to attack one more time.

Barda caught the flying arm of the creature and drove it down onto the ground. A sickening thud echoed from Barda driving the creature down. One of them dropped down to the ground in front of her. Barda motioned for the creature to come at her, and to come bring it. The creature growled and rushed over to Barda. The two engaged each other in battle. Barda snapped the creature's arm back and then drilled it with a succession of rapid fire attacks. Each of them rocked the creature hard.

"You're not going to take this world!" Barda yelled.

Mindless creatures they were, Barda's words did not penetrate the beast's mind. Her fist connected to the edge of the creature's head to crack him down hard. Barda pulled herself back with a violent expression on her face. She was enjoying pounding these monsters.

Three more cycled into the air. Shayera zoomed out and swung her mace. The mace decked the creatures as hard as possible. The clang of the steel against flesh resounded. Shayera pulled back her mace one more time and then crashed one of the creatures down on the ground.

Diana scrapped with one of the creature's and hooked it around the arm. The Amazon and the monster struggled against each other before flipping him in the air. Two more dropped down next to Diana. Shayera dropped down, reared back, and swung the mace. A loud crack echoed about the area of the back of the head and caused the creatures to all fly one at a time. All of them just landed on the ground hard from Shayera's brutal and very violent attack.

"Why should I let you have all of the fun?" Shayera asked Diana.

Diana just nodded and moved back into the attack. Maxima ran through the creatures and punched them out.

"You've picked the wrong world to invade," Maxima said.

The Queen drove the creature down onto the ground and resulted in it being completely and utterly broken. Maxima hammered away at the creature with repeated attacks. Each punch driven down across the back of the head stunned the creature and caused blood to spurt out of its mouth. Maxima reared back her hand and nailed her adversary as hard as possible. More blood flew up into the air.

Alex, Daisy, and Carol stepped around. Carol grabbed onto the egg and made a very honest attempt to hoist it off of the ground to prevent it from digging its way into the Earth.

One of the creatures staggered around them. Daisy and Alex performed a tandem assault to take it down. The creature dropped down to the ship. Daisy grabbed onto the neck of the creature and started to feel around. She noticed some kind of relay device hanging from the creature's neck.

"I think that's our ticket on the ship," Daisy said. "We might have to recall this technology."

Alex accessed the egg and a few beeps showed her there was not too much good news to be had here. "This thing is set to drill into the surface of the Earth in about ten minutes."

Three more squads of Parademons came down to the ground. Alex turned around, an arm cannon clicking into place. Her eyes flashed over with power before launching a beam of line through the air. The beam cut through the air and blasted the creatures to send them all flying one by one.

"Yeah!" Alex shouted at the top of her lungs. "You want some more of this!"

The Parademons scrambled for a second attack. Daisy knew what the game was. Darkseid was trying to flood them with mooks. She slammed onto the ground and rocked them. They all kicked up and fell over.

' _Just got to keep fighting. The base is near.'_

* * *

Clark arrived just outside of the vault. He wondered what this was all about. Tess pulling him away from battle at such a crucial and key moment would not have been done without good reason. No, Tess was not like that. She always did things for a reason, even if they had not been clear.

Indy opened up the edge of the vault for him.

"Thank you for coming," Indy said. "I understand why you might be confused, but don't worry, everything will be explained soon enough. Miss Mercer is waiting for you."

Clark nodded and allowed Indy to lead the way. The Vault was pretty high security even though it contained only two prisoners, situated apart from each other. Lionel Luthor sat on the cell on the right with an insane expression dancing in his eyes. He bobbed his head back and forth from the right, to the left and every potential place in between. The haunting gaze in Lionel's eyes showed how much he had been messed up.

Then, there was Lex Luthor. Lex sat very calm, cool, and collected. His eyes closed as well as he leaned against the cell. The restraints strapped tightly against his wrist showed Clark exactly how much of a threat he was. He followed the progress of the restraints to wires on the wall. Clark looked through the wall and noticed a large power generator. He also looked back at Lex and noticed a collar around his neck.

The loud yells from Lionel punctured the air. The man spoke nonsense while flapping his arms together. The only words Clark understood in his frantic mumblings were "Darkseid" and "End Days." Everything else had been a muddled mess of backwards words.

"I'd say it's sad," Tess said. "But, given all of what he's put everyone around him through, I don't say it's exactly unwarranted."

Clark heard some coolness in Tess's voice when she moved over. The eyes of one of the men in the cell looked over to Clark. Lex had been staring at Clark now. Tess put her hands on a remote control device and it was obvious she had her finger on the trigger which activated the restraints in the cell.

"I wouldn't worry about Darkseid, Kal-El," Lex said in a smooth voice. "He's not going to be the one to defeat you. That's my job."

Lex bobbed his head back and sounded as calm and collective as possible. He was the exact opposite of the raving lunatic opposite of him which Lionel Luthor had become.

"Yes, it's my job to save the human race from one of the greatest menaces it has ever seen. The minute I get out of this cell and you better believe that I will get out of this cell. And when I do, there are going to be changes. The new world order is coming, and I will bring about the great changes. You can't stop it, Kal-El. You can't stop it! You can't stop me!"

Tess pressed one single button which released a chemical from the collar. The chemical put Lex asleep at least for now.

"I should have checked to see if he was sedated before you arrived," Tess said. "I think you can understand that I have had other things on my mind right now."

"It's fine," Clark said. "So, what do you have to tell me?"

Tess pulled out a black journal. Clark knew all about mysterious journals and the Luthor family, so he wondered exactly what significance this one has to offer.

"Lionel came across some information during his days when he was a part of Veritas," Tess informed Clark. "It's very hard to decipher what he's saying. And given the man's current state, he's not going to tell us much of anything."

One look at the babbling and insane Lionel showed Clark that Lionel Luthor had not been much for conversation these days. Indy cleared her throat which forced Tess to turn around to engage her.

"This is why I vote to cut through all of the bullshit, and just yank the information from his mind," Indy said. "I would say that it's my obligation to warn you that he might receive brain damage because of it but given the circumstances….."

"Do it."

Tess pressed the button to give Indy access to the cell. Lionel sat against the wall and looked blissful of his ignorance that someone had meddled with the cell wall. Lionel's eyes flashed completely open and shut when looking across at Tess, Clark, and Indy.

Indy raised her hand and shot a cable out to implant into the side of Lionel's skull. The cable implanted in Lionel's mind started to regulate the flow of information from his brain into the computer system. Lionel gave a violent shake as Indy drew the information.

He might have been rendered brain dead here, but his mind was already fried from the botched connection with the Jor-El AI and the AI being shut down before he could fix the damage. Lionel's eyes flashed dark and then his body vibrated the deeper the cable ruptured into his mind.

"It's worse than we thought," Indy said. "Kal-El is the only person who can stop the darkness and prevent him from grabbing onto one of the most powerful elements in the entire universe."

"Which is?" Tess asked.

Indy blew a strand of hair away from her face. "It's the Anti-Life Equation."

Those words struck Tess as terrifying. It was here, or at least a solid hint to it was here, on this planet. She could not believe it, but the evidence was out in front of her.

* * *

Darkseid directed his forces with a wide smile emitting form his face. He moved up to look at Metropolis. The heroes still fought with valor and a small part of Darkseid commended their bravery. If they fought, then them being crushed could be more easier.

"It was almost too easy," Darkseid mused to himself. "It was almost too easy to discredit those who bring hope in the world. And then, when those elements are destroyed, then hope is loss."

Thanks to his agents, the world had been divided. There was no question about it, there were many problems out there. Darkseid relished in the power he held, the power to create, and the power to destroy. Darkseid understood his role in the world.

And yet, Superman disappeared. Darkseid did not care. He could wait. Darkseid would meet Earth's greatest champion on the battle field, and rob him of his gifts. Then he would crush Superman like the insignificant insect underneath his foot. The power would be his, as it always would have been.

Trust had been eroded and they did not know what to do. The people feared the heroes which they once sought to protect. Darkseid broke out into a grim smile. Everything had been coming up exactly the way that it should have been.

And soon, he would have the find clue to achieving ultimate power. It had been stored here on Earth. Perhaps foolishly, but Darkseid understood the reasoning.

' _The last place anyone would look for the ultimate power would be some primitive mudball.'_

Darkseid watched the invasion unfold and watched as humanity burned underneath his gaze. He held power and knew what to do with it. There was no hope, there was only Darkseid.

The ruler of Apokolips looked towards the computer just in time to see one of the machines containing the drill had been deactivated. Darkseid only registered mild displeasure at this fact. One drill being deactivated was not the end of his campaign. He just decided to push forward.

"Those fools have no idea what is at stake," Darkseid said. "They have no idea….."

Something crashed against the edge of the ship which forced Darkseid to rethink his strategy. The Ruler of Apokolips moved over to the monitoring station to take a good look at everything around him.

A huge blast of something knocked into the forcefield. Darkseid activated the monitor just in time to view the image of a very powerful redheaded woman rising up from the seas. The determination on her face had been very much respected by Darkseid. The power and strength she showed was second to none. Her hands rose up high and crashed down upon the rocks to send cascading waves at the edge of the ship. Several forces rose up to join her.

"So, the Queen of Atlantis has decided to get involved," Darkseid said. "My forces….forward…and attack them."

A purple bubble emitted from the edge of the ship. The bubble burst to send a burning acid down on the people of Atlantis. Several pods dropped following the bubble and they broke open. Parademons escaped from the ship and rose up from the ground.

Mera held the spear in her hand and threw it at the throat of one of the monsters. The monster fell down to the ground.

"Do you need any assistant?"

General Astra, Commander Faora, and the rest of the Kandorian Army came into position. Mera peaked over her shoulder with a wide ear to ear smile at the new arrivals.

"Assistance would be greatly appreciated."

The largest and monster dangerous of the monsters held a large dagger in his hand. The dagger had a flow of energy directed towards Astra. The General's lips just curled in a smile.

"Come and get me."

The attacker rushed towards Astra. Astra blocked the attack and disabled him with a huge swinging punch. The creature crumpled down like a piece of tissue paper. The attackers surrounded all of them until Astra punched on the ground and rocked them forward.

The battle with the Kandordians and the Atlanteans took place. Darkseid watched and Darkseid waited.

' _Soon, Superman. Our day will come…or I will track you down if you fear me.'_

Darkseid doubted very much Superman feared him. He would have been disappointed to be wrong.

* * *

Tess thought she had uncovered all of the areas of Luthor Mansion during her trips through two different timelines. She had been proven wrong time and time again. Tess stepped into the area to take a deep breath along with Indy and Clark.

"You're surprised about this, aren't you?" Clark asked.

"Yes, I didn't know about this," Tess said. "And I don't think Lex ever found out about it either because he would be all over the moon about it."

Indy walked towards a room of what appeared to be priceless antiques in the mansion. She moved closer to the edge with a disc like device emitting from the side of her arm. She took the codes which she pulled from Lionel Luthor's mind and proceeded to emit them into the side of the door.

"We should be inside in a matter of minutes," Indy informed them. "Right about now."

The doors opened up to reveal several dusty shelves. Maybe someone did find this place, and Tess's heart sank. But who other than Lex would have found it?

"Look over there."

Clark pointed to a portion of the wall which had been behind a tacky portrait of Julius Caesar. Tess figured about as much. She pulled back the portrait to locate a hole in the wall. In the hole contained a small black notebook. It was not really that significant. She flipped through the notebook.

"It's a formula," Tess murmured underneath her breath.

"Or half of a formula," Indy speculated.

Tess responded with a nod, or half of a formula. She had a lot of questions regarding this particular formula. She decided to come off with one of the more obvious ones to be honest.

"The fabled Anti-Life Equation?" Tess asked. "Or something else?"

"One of the pieces of data even Brainiac could not find was the Anti-Life Equation," Indy said. "I think all of us could agree that it's something. Lionel had been working with Swann on the Cyphers, so Swann must have put in the legwork."

"They stumbled upon something pretty dangerous regardless," Clark said.

Clark frowned and he could hear something outside of the mansion. Did that sound like a tank?

The front walls of the mansion blew open. The three of them had been very lucky to be in this vault area because whatever blasted through the walls packed a tremendous punch which rocked all of them.

"Someone else must have figured out there's something here of value," Indy said.

Clark got the message loud and clear. He stepped into the mansion just in time to face off against several members of Intergang. They moved in dressed in heavy armor. One of them held a large cannon.

"Superman!" one of them yelled. "Finally, I thought you were smart enough and phoned home!"

Two of the Intergang members shook their heads at the antics of the third one. The third Intergang Goon noticed the agitating expressions coming from the third one.

"ET Phone Home?" the Intergang member asked. The goons responded with blank expressions. "Oh come on, you can't beat the classics!"

Superman drove his fist into the chest of one of the thugs to knock him down. Another thug hurled a metal orb at the ground and caught Superman off guard. The Man of Steel staggered back a couple of inches. One of them rushed at Superman with a heavy gauntlet on his hand. The Gauntlet swung back with Superman blocking it from drilling into his head.

"Sorry, but no!"

Superman ripped the gauntlet off of the man's hand which caused him to stagger back. The Man of Steel flung himself into the air.

A dagger plunged into the back of the exposed neck of one of the Intergang goons. He dropped down onto the ground. A couple of figures dressed in black moved through the shadows. The Intergang members turned towards them.

"Ninjas!" one of them yelled. "You've got to be shitting me!"

An arrow shot out and slammed into the port of one of them. Sparks began to fly as the ninja's arms just rocked back and forth. The Man of Steel looked up just in time to see the Green Arrow drop to the ground. The Green Arrow drew back her bow and shot two more arrows at the joints of them.

Clark took out the attackers in the heavy armor. The man inside felt like a mouse on the inside of a tin can with how viciously Clark slammed his hand into his chest. The Man of Steel pulled back and hammered the goon with a succession of huge punches.

The Man of Steel pulled back from the Intergang goon and then stepped back from him.

"Darkseid's in the center ship in Metropolis!" the Intergang member spat out. "He's above the Daily Planet….I swear to god that I'm not making this up."

Nyssa al Ghul stepped over and put the dagger to the throat of the man. A man was very honest when his life had been at stake. Especially someone who was nothing other than a garden variety thug.

"I think he's tell the truth," Sara responded.

"We know where he is," Tess said. "And he still has the Gold Kryptonite."

"How did he get that?" Thea asked.

"Well," Tess said. "I took it from Lionel's storage facility, and Clark had it shipped to the DEO, in case he had gone rogue and there were no other options. I'm not a huge fan of it."

"Astra isn't either," Clark said. "But, we have to get to Darkseid. And he's not going to let anyone other than Superman on that ship."

"Yes," Indy said. "We know he isn't."

* * *

Darkseid's forces surrounded the ship. A blur popped into the air right in front of the ship. The entire horde of forces all looked up to face off against him. Superman hovered high in the air and peered down onto the enemies.

"Your master wants to see me, doesn't he?"

The Man of Steel blasted through the hordes of Parademons. Two of them tried to grab him at the same time. Superman turned around and nailed them as hard as possible. The Man of Steel drove down the full force of his elbow down against the enemies.

"Let him pass."

The booming voice of Darkseid resulted in the hordes of Parademons parting away. The edge of the ship opened and Superman came aboard. He walked down the hallway where Darkseid waited. His hands folded behind his back.

"Good afternoon, Kal-El. And farewell."

Darkseid rushed forward to attack Superman. The Man of Steel blocked Darkseid's attempt to punch him directly in the face. The two struggled with each other with Superman briefly overpowering Darkseid and flipping him over onto the ground.

A blast of light from Darkseid's eyes launched Superman high into the air. The Man of Steel staggered with Darkseid slamming both of his fists deep into the face of Superman. Superman crumples down about one knee with Darkseid slamming down against him. Superman moved over and saw the red solar lamps hovering over the top of his head.

"You've fought valiantly," Darkseid said. "Much longer than I thought you would have. In the end, you should have realized one thing. You are merely mortal and I am a god. Goodbye, Kal-El."

Darkseid stabbed Superman in the chest with a Golden Kryptonite dagger. The dagger dropped the Man of Steel down to the ground. His Kryptonian blood spilled on the ground. Darkseid stood and pulled the dagger out before placing a foot on Superman's "S" symbol as some kind of demonic triumph.

"Rejoin the rest of your people."

The Man of Steel shifted and his skin started to melt. Indigo shot wires around Darkseid and caused him to stagger back. Indigo reached out and grabbed the gold Kryptonite dagger.

Darkseid's eye beams discharged and obliterated Indigo into chunks of machinery. He should have seen it coming. He pulled the Gold Kryptonite out of her hand only to realize that it had been negated. Nothing other than a lifeless rock.

A blur shot from the distance and one punch rocked Darkseid. Two more punches sent Darkseid flying through the windows. The Ruler of Apokolips landed very hard with a crunch into the streets of Metropolis. He pulled himself up to face Superman.

"You impress," Darkseid said. "But it won't stop the inevitable."

"Let's finish this," Superman said.

"Don't worry," Darkseid said. "We will."

Darkseid and Superman rushed each other and clashed. The battle for Earth's future was at hand.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 11** **th** **, 2018.**


	91. Chapter 91

**Chapter Ninety-One: Shadows Over Metropolis Part Three**

* * *

Daisy wiped the sweat of her forehead watching the progress of this situation. She had some good news and some bad news, and breaking it all down brought her some frustration. One of the drills had been disabled at least for the moment. The bad news as she saw it was that there was going to be more than come.

Many people grew stronger during times of adversity and nothing caused more adversity than a world which was about ready to be crushed by some kind of alien invasion. Daisy looked at the computer and then towards Alex who stood behind her.

"There's more of these things, aren't there?" Alex asked.

Daisy threw her hands back with a frustrated half-grimace. "You know there are. And I think that if we can find the signal that's putting them down, we can shut them down for good."

"How do you think we can do that?"

Another small squandron of Parademons dropped down on the ground. Their numbers slightly dwindled them what they were before. Daisy would have been ignorant not to see them as a threat. Placing her hand down on the ground allowed the meta to rock their worlds just a littleb it. Daisy took a deep breath.

"I can find the signal," Daisy said. "I'm going to need you guys to keep everything off of my back so there's no trouble. If they attack, there's going to be big trouble. Is that understood?"

Diana jumped in from the other side. One of the Female Furies on the ground rushed at her with a large knife. The Amazon Princess avoided the swing of the knife and came back with a series of punches. The Fury blocked the next punch and tried to nail Diana flush in the side of the face with the kick. Diana blocked the kick. The Fury flipped up and fired another kick.

The Princess of the Amazons avoided the kick one more time. She grabbed the fighter around the back of the head and hoisted her up off of the ground. The Fury struggled against Diana's grip. Diana's arms wrapped around the woman's waist and ragdolled her against the ground. Diana planted the attacker down onto the ground as fast and viciously as humanly possible. The Amazon stepped back and left her adversary down for the count.

"We'll hold them as much as we can."

Shayera slammed herself and her mace down onto the ground. The demonic creatures closed in on the warrior hawk. Shayera gave them a very evident grin and motioned for them to come at her. They all did just in time to receive a violent mace attack to the side of the face. Shayera whipped the mace down and sent them all flying for cover. Shayera pulled back and hammered her adversary with multiple strikes with the mace.

"Keep it up," Shayera said swinging her mace. "Come on! I WANT MORE!"

Daisy put herself at the machine and accessed it. Time ran very short to be perfectly honest.

"Are you there?" Tess asked.

"Yeah," Daisy said while flicking the bead of sweat off of her face. "For what it's worth, I'm here and I'm ready to go. I hope you have some kind of idea where we're going. Indigo would be a lot of help right about now, you know."

Tess sighed. "She's got her own important mission right now. I have complete and total faith you can pull this off, Daisy. You just got to believe that you have the mental strength and do it. You can do it."

' _I can do it,'_ Daisy thought feeling silly for this mantra.

One of the breathe of the demonic creatures inched closer to Daisy. Daisy did not have to turn around to engage the attacker. Alex slammed down onto the ground and put the blade of her outfit down against the back of the Parademon's neck. A shower of blood came out of his neck.

Daisy accessed the drill and now backtracked to the signal of the ship. Everything was slowly coming together. She just had to keep her wits about herself.

A loud bellow signaled one of the larger female Furies charging Diana. Diana blocked the woman's huge uppercut punch and grabbed the arm before popping it against her back. Diana slammed her fist against the chest of the enemy. One punch, two punches, and three punches before Diana slipped the leg out from underneath the fury. Diana grabbed the leg and then dropped her full weight down on it. The Fury scrambled to her feet for a second before the leg rolled out from underneath her.

This allowed Diana to plant her boot into the face of the Female Fury and render her absolutely unconscious. The Amazon backed off with a very slight smile on her face.

One of the Parademons tried to make a name for itself by rushing Diana from behind. Shayera planted the edge of the mace into the back of the creature's head to take it out.

* * *

Darkness fell across the people of the Earth. Many people decided to go down to their base desires. One of the men swung a baseball bat out of frustration and smashed into the windows of the shop. Several other people grabbed onto a car and rocked it back and forth before tipping it over.

"We're not going to stand for this!" one of the rioters yelled.

A group cowering near an office building watched the horror unfold. Several angry people stormed down the streets of Metropolis in a very unruly manner. They smashed pretty much everything in their path in anger. Windows, vehicles, anything, and a couple of members of the Special Crimes Unit moved their way in. One of them fire a warning shot into the crowd.

"We have an alien invasion going on!" one of them yelled. "We don't have time to deal with this."

"You never have time to deal with our plight!" one of them yelled. "We are seeing our homes being torn apart….."

The loudmouth flung a rock towards the Special Crimes Unit representative. More rocks, along with bottles and batteries, and pretty much everything they could get their hands on flung at the people. More members of the SCU, this time riot squad members stepped in. One of them held a canister and flung it into the crowd.

A shotgun blast went off in the distance. A bullet flew through the air. Two fingers caught the bullet before it struck a child.

"ENOUGH!"

The loud voice got pretty much everyone's attention stopping the riot. And when the riot stopped, pretty much everything stopped from the cops to the rioters. They all turned their attention off to the side to see Supergirl floating above them. She dropped down to the ground, hands clasped firmly on her hips.

"Don't you see it?" she asked. "Don't you see that's what they want?"

"Yeah, what do you know?"

The loudmouth had the starch taken out of him a bit when several of the young girls who were holed up in an office building glared at him. The glares of anger replaced with another emotion. Fear, fear of what might happen next if this went unchecked.

"I know a lot," Supergirl said. "I know that people can be better than this. You have been better for this before."

More than a few people faced the ground although many of them still stared up at Supergirl. They stared up at her in anger.

"There's good in all of you," Supergirl repeated. "I know there can be. I know there still is. Darkseid has not extinguished that yet."

The Girl of Steel hoped she was getting through to them.

"My mother told me stories about the planet Earth when I was a child. The people had potential she said. It might not be the most advanced planet, but there was a strong spirit within everyone on it. People, when they are motivated, she said, could be do to great things. She appealed to my planet's government to try and put Earth under Krypton's protection."

Supergirl's deep sigh showed pretty much how this particular situation went which was to say it did not go all that well at all.

"They said no, because humanity was not a race full of hope, they were doomed from the beginning. They were doomed to be destroyed. They were doomed to die from the start."

Supergirl brushed the strands of blonde hair away from her face and bit down on the edge of her lip hard.

"Don't prove them right, please don't prove then right," Supergirl begged them. "I know you are much stronger than this. You're much stronger than an angry mob. Rise up and fight…fight like you've never fought before. Don't fight each other."

Some of the people dropped the bottles they were about to throw.

"I believe in this planet," Supergirl said. "I believe that even though everything seems at it's darkest, you can stand up. You can stand up and fight."

"She's isn't wrong," the loudmouth said.

The rioters all calmed down. Supergirl could not be happier. It might have been just one fire of many she had to put out. The Girl of Steel knew however that there was much more to do.

' _Darkseid's not going to have this planet. Not if I can help it.'_

Kara's mind went elsewhere as she amended this last statement.

' _Not if we could help it.'_

* * *

Superman's initial assault only served to enrage Darkseid. The ruler of Apokolips stood across from the Man of Steel. Superman struck while he had the opportunity. The Man of Steel slammed through the air and went to punch Darkseid out. Darkseid blocked his hand and took a couple of seconds to relish at overpowering Superman.

"I told you once!" Darkseid yelled. "And I told you again! As strong as you are, you can't beat me!"

Darkseid smashed Superman down to the ground. The Man of Steel dropped to his knees against this very powerful warrior. Darkseid's fist drilled Superman with the force of a hammer. Another two hammer blows sent Superman back.

Superman had to fight and he fought to nail Darkseid with a huge haymaker of a punch. Superman reared back and repeatedly slammed his fist deep into the face of Darkseid. Darkseid staggered forward and then rolled back a few feet.

"Kryptonite or no Kryptonite I'm going to crush you underneath my feet!"

The Man of Steel ripped the pavement Darkseid stood up and flung him into the air. He grabbed Darkseid around the waist and hurled him forward. Both of them smashed through several windows of office buildings. The loud bang, bang, bang, boom continued to echo the more Darkseid flew through them and Superman flew out with him to the other side.

Both fighters dropped down to the ground. Superman rose up against Darkseid. He nailed him with two huge punches in succession. Each punch came closer to dropping Darkseid.

Superman reared back and punched Darkseid hard in the face. The enemy rocked. Superman reared back and punched Darkseid in the face once more. The alien menace staggered back a little bit. The flesh on his face cracked. Superman reared back and rocked Darkseid the hell down to the ground. The Man of Steel stepped back from Darkseid and allowed him to roll over onto the ground.

Darkseid pulled himself up to one knee and Superman drove his knee into the back of Darkseid's neck. Darkseid struggled to get up to a standing position. Superman pulled up Darkseid and flung him back against an office building. Superman flew through the air and cracked Darkseid in the face.

A bit of confidence and a bit of hope came from the Man of Steel. He drove Darkseid into the square of the park. Both of them landed against a fountain and cracked it before they hit so hard. Superman flew through the air and went for Darkseid.

Darkseid's eye beams discharged and nailed Superman flush in the chest. The "S" shield burned from where Darkseid hit him. Darkseid hurled the piece of the broken fountain at Superman and drilled him in the chest. Superman staggered a bit and dropped down to the ground at the feet of Darkseid.

Anger flooded through the body of Darkseid .He reached over and tore the statue off of the ground at the base. Darkseid marched the statue over and flung it down to crash it down upon the back of Superman. Superman's fingers curled from the impact of the statue. Darkseid lifted the statue up over his head again and again, the statue crashed over his back.

Darkseid ripped the spear off of the hand of the statue and stabbed Superman in the shoulder. The spear broke off at a force. Darkseid grabbed Superman by the cape and flung him around .Superman's body hit the ground violently.

The foot of Darkseid smashed into Superman's face. He felt every ounce of that attack. Superman pulled himself up struggling to get to his feet. It was like he swam in quicksand. Darkseid approached him with intensity in the blast.

One omega beam strike sent Superman hurling towards the ground. The Man of Steel flipped onto his back like a glorified turtle. He struggled in his attempt to get up. The breath having been knocked out of his body, but he had to get up.

Darkseid's eyes narrowed. He would enjoy ripping Superman apart piece by piece. Another Omega Beam attack struck Superman and flipped him over onto his back. Superman's nails dug back against the ground with his attempt to get up being furious.

Once again, Superman rose to his feet. Darkseid blasted him one last time dropping him down onto the ground and onto his back for the very last time.

"In the end, you fall before me."

Darkseid stood over Superman, grabbed his head, and smashed it into the ground repeatedly. The Man of Steel groaned as Darkseid rammed his fist deep into the side of his neck.

"Let me make one thing clear. Super or otherwise, you are merely a man And I am a god."

Superman drove down onto the ground. The Kryptonian's vision blurred and he blacked out from the pain at the hands of Darkseid.

* * *

Most of the invaders from Apokolips left Metropolis Square. Pretty much everyone who knew the score thought that this might not have been the end. Barda, Shayera, and Diana stood shoulder to shoulder with each other.

"Hera!" Diana breathed out.

A large and dark war machine rumbled down the city streets. It smashed over cars and toppled buildings in an indiscriminate manner. The members of the MCU stepped into the picture and stared down the machine. Maggie Sawyer offered one eloquent statement regarding the machine which barreled down upon their city.

"We're kind of fucked!"

There was no kind of about it, they were very fucked. They were completely and utterly fucked. One of the members of the MCU pointed up. The others gasped at the very image of the person strung up on the edge of the War Machine like a piece of meat.

Superman had been strung up on the War Machine, groaning.

"There's your hero, like a martyr."

The people looked up to gaze upon the fearsome Darkseid who stood very tall and proud at his greatest hour and at the Earth's darkest hour. Everything pretty much came into place and Darkseid stood taller than everyone. He ruled the world and stared down upon them.

"I've done it," Darkseid said. "You thought he could beat me. And I admit, he gave me a much stronger fight than I anticipated."

Darkseid pushed his hand against Superman's face and forced him to glare upon the people he failed to protect. And the people which Darkseid would crush, only keeping the strongest as mindless slaves. The others would perish for their weakness.

Some of them started booing and others picked up items to hurl at the side of the war machine. Darkseid just adopted a very stony grin when peering down at these angry people.

"Get it all out of your system," he advised. "You will soon be crushed no matter how hard you fight. Your destruction is now at hand."

"SUPERMAN GET UP!"

They all started to get louder. One blurry eye from Kal-El of Krypton opened up. His face was swollen, his body was ravaged, and it hurt just to draw in breath. Darkseid did not put him out of his misery just yet, and Superman could feel signs of life.

"Get up, Superman! Come on, you can take this bum!"

"He's lost!" Darkseid yelled.

"No, you have, you punk. You're nothing, but a chump without your followers and your little war machine. You think we're scared of you. Come on. Come at me, bro! Come at me!"

Darkseid chortled at the arrogance of the humans. He would crush them all. Several of his minions rose up from the top of the war machine. All of the Female Furies who did not get captured or were injured joined him.

"Round them up," Darkseid said. "It's time for them to know the meaning of the word pain. Earth will burn and there's nothing that Superman can do about it."

"No you won't. And YES I CAN!"

Superman broke free of the containment and flew up to nail Darkseid with an uppercut punch to the chin. This action earned him thunderous applause from the crowd.

"Yeah, fuck him up Superman!"

The Man of Steel dropped to the ground and stood before Darkseid. Superman sent his heat vision at the ground to burn Darkseid's feet. Superman rocked him with a couple more punches.

"You should have killed me!" Superman yelled. "But, you didn't!"

Superman grabbed Darkseid around the neck and forced him to a nkeeling position.

"You should have done your gloating over my rotting corpse. But, your ego, you couldn't allow that, could you? You couldn't just kill me. You had to make a scene to crush them."

The Man of Steel nailed Darkseid in the chest with a couple more punches and smashed him down against his own War Machine. The Parademons ran in for an attack.

Astra ran interference, with her Kandorian Army. They sent the Parademons packing to leave Superman and Darkseid to throw down one on one with each other.

"Your ego wants to say you crushed me," Superman said. "But, I'll never admit defeat to you."

The Man of Steel reared back his fist and nailed Darkseid as hard as possible. The huge punch rocked Darkseid and sent him back a couple of feet. Superman swung his arm back and nailed Darkseid as hard as possible with another roundhouse right punch. More punches followed the more Superman drilled into Darkseid.

"It's not ego. It's facts."

The Omega Beams flashed through the air towards Superman. Superman caught the beams in his hands and pushed them back to nail Darkseid directly in the face. The impact launched Darkseid off of the ground and sent him crashing down with one vicious attack.

Superman lifted his burned hands up, wincing from the pain. He still stood very tall and very proud. The Cape of the Man of Steel fluttered in the distance.

"You fall alone."

"No!"

Power Girl jumped into the battle and slammed a huge truck against the chest of Darkseid which sent him flying off into the distance. Darkseid flipped over onto the ground. Supergirl nailed him with Heat vision the second he dropped. Her fury increased.

"He doesn't!"

Darkseid's eyes glazed over when dropping down onto the ground. The Ruler of Apokolips pulled himself up to see three Kryptonians closing on him on.

"If you're going to stand next to him then you're going to die next to him!"

Darkseid held up the Motherbox and pushed a button to activate a boom tube to summon the rest of his forces to Metropolis to burn the city to the ground.

A click and yellow lines emitted in the box. Darkseid tried to toss the box away. Instead, it fused to his hand by some mysterious force.

"Indigo messed with more than your Kryptonite," Superman said

Darkseid's forces ripped off of the ground. His war machine sucked through the portal which had been opened. Darkseid remained rooted to the ground despite the fact his armies were flying through the portal.

Superman rushed towards Darkseid and punched him in the chest. Both of them flew through the portal into oblivion.

Metropolis grew calm, but Superman was gone.

* * *

Superman dropped down upon the rocks. The Man of Steel watched as the red skies burned around him. The Man of Steel came to one evident conclusion.

' _I'm a long way from Kansas.'_

Darkseid rose up upon the rocks. The gravity caused interference with his ability to stand. The god, being very adaptable, rushed towards the rocks. He landed down upon the rocks in front of Superman. Superman stepped back and eyed Darkseid.

"You're going to die here."

The ruler of Apokolips charged Superman and nailed him with a violent punch to the side of the head. Superman's knees buckled out from underneath him. Darkseid smashed his fists down into Superman's neck with an endless fury. The once calculating enemy descended into rage.

"This didn't go the way you planned. Did it?"

Superman headbutted Darkseid hard which sent him backwards. The Man of Steel figured this would have to be wrapped up very soon. He was losing reserves when standing in this universe without the yellow sun. Superman nailed Darkseid repeatedly with punches down across the back of his head.

One of the jagged rocks nailed Superman in the stomach. Darkseid beat him across the back of the head and forced him down to the ground. Darkseid's nails dug into Superman's scalp while grinding his face into the ground. Kryptonian blood splattered against the rocks from Darkseid's violent attack.

"It's a true pity nowhere is going to be around to hear your screams," Darkseid said with a vicious smile. "Unfortunate, for you."

Superman's eyes glazed over and determination, the faces of people depending on him flashed into his mind. Superman struck Darkseid and rocked him back. He summoned all of the strength to nail Darkseid with as many punches as he could.

"It's only a matter of time…."

With great effort, Superman hoisted a large rock up and smashed Darkseid in the chest with it. The menacing man staggered back with Superman repeatedly nailing him with more attacks. Darkseid's leg started to crumple from underneath him. Superman nailed Darkseid as hard as possible with his most vicious assault. Superman held Darkseid back and slammed him onto the ground.

"You talk too much!"

The Man of Steel flew at Darkseid and knocked him over the edge of the cliff. Darkseid gripped onto the cliff and pulled himself to the ledge. Superman hung from the cliff kicking his legs in a furious attempt to prevent him from dropping down straight to hell.

One beam of light shot through the air and cracked the rocks. Superman avoided the Omega Strike knowing that it could kill him.

Superman extended three fingers and jammed Darkseid's wrist which loosened his grip of the rock. More jams of the throat rocked Darkseid. Superman nailed him with a violent elbow strike and knocked him off of the edge of the cliff into oblivion.

A very long fall and a very hard landing greeted Darkseid. Superman yanked himself up to a standing position. His knuckles soaked with blood when walking across. His face covered in cuts and burns, his clothes tattered. He had been in a worse spot.

"Kal!"

The voice echoing through his head did not prevent Superman from collapsing down to the ground. The Man of Steel had been spent and he had absolutely nothing left. A warm hand gripped his and pulled him up.

Superman allowed whoever grabbed him to lead him out because he had nothing left. A flash of light made Superman disappear.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 13** **th** **, 2018.**


	92. Chapter 92

**Chapter Ninety-Two: Brightest Lights**

* * *

A crowd of women surrounded a ice cold slab on the table where Superman laid unconscious. Karen stood at the front of the slab and put a hand on his face. She could feel his body showing a few minor signs of life. A shudder came through him the more he shifted over on the bed. Kara stood a couple of steps behind Karen.

Lois, Lana, and Chloe all hovered in the background. They racked with nerves and rightfully so. The trio of women paced back and forth in the back of the room. Lana leaned back against the wall and took in a couple of deep breaths. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"It was a good thing you were able to pull him through the portal in time," Lana said after a moment's pause. "Another moment of you waiting to pull him through and…."

Lana did not finish her sentence. There was no need for her to finish he sentence. The grim reality set in with them all. Lois put a hand on the shoulder of the dark-haired woman and sighed. They were very close to seeing the end of Clark Kent in the worst possible way.

"He's still here though," Chloe said.

Karen took another moment to look him over. Yeah, he was still here, for all of what it was worth. He had been ravaged in this battle against Darkseid. Karen did not even want to even deconstruct all of what happened to the Man of Steel. She put a hand on his forehead.

"It's ready."

Lara crossed the room with Raya waiting. She helped Karen walk a half conscious Clark over to the pod. He groaned with every step as they edged very much closer to the pod. Karen wanted to reach out and tell him that everything is okay.

"Just hang in there," Karen whispered guiding him over across the room to the pod.

What else could she say at this possible time? Karen did not know how much damage had been caused. Clark followed Darkseid through the portal. She had no idea what the trip across the universe could have done to him physically rather than mentally.

Clark sealed inside of the pod. Raya activated a dial which sent waves of yellow solar radiation in the pod. The waves danced across his face. The Last Son of Krypton's body recharged inside of the pod. Raya bit down on her lip and ran her finger down across the console. She monitored the green wavy lines flickering back and forth for any changes. And there would have to be changes for them. There always were changes.

"Raya?" Lara asked.

"The physical damage is going to be undone soon enough," Raya said. "I don't know about the mental damage or the emotional damage, if there is anything."

"He's strong. Stronger than he should be."

Those words from Astra signified her brief appearance. She had been with the Kandorians rounding up anything that had been left behind. The last thing they wanted was a bunch of people, ignorant of how dangerous the technology was to be playing around with it. They had their work more than cut out, unfortunately. Astra bit back on her lip and permitted a sigh to leave her body.

"Yes, he's very strong," Raya added. "And we're going to have to stand by him."

They watched the mental scanner to ensure that Darkseid did not hitch a ride back through the portal in Clark's mind. It was a very unfortunately possibility. He had taken on vessels before according to their intelligence. Clark Kent posed a very enticing target all things considered.

Lana tapped her finger on the edge of the Fortress Wall. The visions of darkness stopped and they had been replaced by a vision of light and of purity. There was a moment of calm coming to the people of Earth. They had no idea how long it would last.

"What a day."

Lois's words brought a smile to Lana's face. What a day was right. What a life they lived. Everything they had been through, all of them as a collective, had been leading up to this moment. Earth's greatest challenge came with one of Clark's greatest challenges.

Karen leaned back against the wall and took a deep breath. Kara held up her watch and it had a message sent to her.

"DEO," Kara said. "I better go and tell them what's up…you know how to get in touch of me if anything changes, right?"

Karen nodded and allowed her cousin to slip off into the night. She watched as Alura joined them in the Fortress. The machine had been used to scan the minds of the phantom wraith who took on the name of Divine. She currently decided to head to Paradise which was a much more comfortable existence for her. Connie also had been put through the machine.

Now it was Clark's turn, and so far everything was happening so good. They had to make sure everything was okay with him. They did not want to leave anything at all to chance because they had been taking way too many chances lately and not many of them were paying off.

* * *

Kara returned to the DEO as planned. Alex stood waiting in the hallway. She looked like someone who had been through a hell of a battle which Kara could not fault her for. Kara reached over and grabbed her sister's hand while sitting down next to her.

"You found him," Alex said. "That was a scary couple of minutes."

"Felt more than a couple of minutes," Kara said.

Alex let out a sigh and just smiled at her sister. Did it feel like more than a couple of minutes? She really did not recall all that much. She just let her hair come back against her face with a smile rising. It really took some thought to get everything back together.

"Humanity has been through many trials, but today, they rose up, especially in Metropolis," the newscaster said. "The stirring speech given by the heroine known as Supergirl inspired many, not just in Metropolis, but around the world. We have not put our best foot forward, listening to the lies of the disgraced G. Gordon Godfrey who painted aliens in a negative picture. When he himself had been a visitor from another world in disguise."

Kara slipped a cup of coffee into her hand and drank it.

"Maybe other future visitors of this world would like to follow the example set forth by Supergirl and not follow the example set by G. Gordon Godfrey," the newscaster said a moment later. "Perhaps this example will be one that many will follow, both on this world, and off this world."

"They're giving me too much credit," Kara said. "Anyone could have given that speech."

Alex just answered by squeezing her sister's hand. She looked Kara straight in the eye. "Well, maybe, anyone could. But, you were there and you kept your head cool. And I couldn't have been more proud of the way you handled things."

Despite everything that had gone on and despite her growing number of worries and dreads, there was a huge part of Kara who just had to smile at her sister being proud of her. Everything was finally coming up the way it should and Kara just looked at her image on the television screen.

"Superman saved the world from Darkseid," one of the people on the television screens said. "But, I have to give credit to Supergirl. They saved the people from themselves."

Kara had the decency to look pretty flustered. Alex caught her sister with a light kiss across the cheek which made her even more flustered.

"You did good," Alex said. "You know, I'm going to have to treat you something special for your birthday."

The Girl of Steel closed her eyes and grinned. Had she almost forgotten about her own birthday? Okay, maybe she did a little bit. There had been a lot of things on her mind to be fair, and she was starting to forget about the little things, even though it was those little things which made life worthwhile.

"You're famous."

Carol stopped over. She moved in to give both of her sisters hugs which they returned.

"Yeah, I know," Kara said. "I just did what I felt was right."

The oldest Danvers sister squeezed the younger one on the shoulder. "You did what was right and it paid off amazingly. I have to say, that's pretty good of you."

Both of her sisters praising her made Kara a bit anxious. She did do the right thing, just because she had to do the right thing. It was not out of anything to want a pat on the back.

"And don't think your role is forgotten," Carol said. "You and Daisy both…speaking of which….."

"I left her to give the report the main office," Alex said.

Carol just whistled. Boy, Daisy was going to love Alex for that one, saddling her with all of the busy work. Then again, she had been used to being under pressure from what Carol heard.

"Anything about Clark?" Carol asked.

Alex had been meaning to ask about that, but had been side tracked. Leave it to her responsible older sister to bring up a question which was so important. Kara's eyes narrowed for a second as if she had really tried to figure out how to best describe it.

"He's going to be okay?" Alex asked patting her sister on the hand. "Isn't he?"

Kara took a second to calm herself down. "Yeah, I think he'll be fine. I mean, he's stronger than many of us. He threw everything against Darkseid."

"You gave him strength," Carol said. "If it wasn't for your speech with the people, he wouldn't have been motivated to stand up and fight the way he did. You're really did something great."

Kara just once again wondered why her sisters were pumping up her ego. If her head got any bigger, it might not be able to pass through the door. The footage of her speech a little bit ago played on the television screen. Kara wondered how in the world they could have gotten their hands on something like this.

' _The news media. They'll get their hands on anything they can, especially if it's ratings dynamic.'_

* * *

The most valuable piece of technology clung to Tess's hand as she walked through the fortress. She should be pleased that one of the greatest trials Clark would ever encounter had been passed. Only, she figured that something was off. There was something else wrong going on that she could not put her finger on.

' _You just have to be pessimistic,'_ a voice in the back of her head said.

Tess disagreed with her thoughts being pessimistic. She was more of a realist, really. Tess clung onto the circuit board when edging closer to the cave. She was close to entering the Fortress as numerous thoughts crossed her mind.

' _He'll be okay,'_ Tess reasoned with herself.

The warmth of the Fortress Portal cascaded around her body. She noticed Chloe hanging around at the edge of the Fortress entrance. Both women responded with smiles directed at each other. Chloe caught sight, being the very observant girl she was, of the Circuit Board in Tess's hand.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"That's the rest of Indy after the sacrifice she made," Tess said. "I'm pretty sure the Fortress has the capabilities to rebuild her and make her stronger than ever."

Chloe did not doubt they had those abilities for a second. They would hate to lose a valuable ally who had a lot of personal information. She might have derived from Brainiac, but she deviated from his core programming. Brainiac 8 renamed herself into Indigo as a tribute to the baseline coding programming which eventually involved into the Brain Interactive Construct.

"So, what's the latest prognosis?" Tess asked. "Any news?"

"He's being scanned right now," Chloe said.

"The scans are almost complete"

Raya stepped out of the side entrance to look at Tess and Chloe. Chloe had been very surprised and she leaned in to ask the news.

"So, what's up?" Chloe asked.

"We'll know once Lara and Alura look over the final results," Raya said. "Is that…."

"It's what's left of Indigo," Tess said. "I salvaged it, or rather Helena found it and brought it up to me. I think you can agree that the United States Government having their hands on anything alien right now is not a good idea."

They would have a hell of a cleanup effort. Already, the Kandorians raided several warehouses which belonged to Mannheim. Those warehouses filled to the brim with insane amounts of alien technology as far as they eye could see. It impressed them all how much technology had been in there.

"We're going to see what we can do to get her back online," Raya said.

"Thank you," Tess said. "She's more than a machine to me."

Indy was not only her personal assistant, but a close friend and someone which Tess valued the input of. Raya just smiled and walked Tess deeper into the Fortress.

"Anything on what Lionel was scribbling in his Journal?" Chloe asked.

"No, nothing at all," Tess answered by shrugging her shoulders. "I think he might have stumbled on a lead to the Anti-Life Equation. Which, I don't think anyone should read, or it has ever been meant to read by any human."

Chloe would have to agree with a shudder. The few hints on the equation she heard when Lara and Alura explained to her did not seem very good. Of course, no one was able to piece together the rest of the formula. It was the biggest taboo in the universe.

"I don't think I would be able to pry anything out of the Guardians," Lois said.

"And were you able to pry anything out of the Guardians?" Chloe asked.

Lois laughed. She did not even bother to ask for their help in dealing with the Darkseid invasion. She was pretty sure there was going to be a long and painful meeting with the Guardians after this was all said and done, regarding everything that happened.

' _Won't be any worse than explaining to the General why his rental car ended up in the kitchen when I was twelve,'_ Lois thought. _'Boy was that pretty awkward.'_

Movement came from the Fortress lab. They all turned around and Lois was the first to set eyes on Clark.

"You look like something the cat dragged in, ate, and then properly spit up."

Clark just responded with a nod. "Well, to be fair….it's good to see you as well Lois."

The explanation had been lost at his tongue which caused Lois to break into a fit of laughter. Tess and Chloe just shook their heads.

"I take it you're feeling better," Chloe said.

"I'm not half-dead any more," Clark said. "I think that's the main thing."

Chloe nodded as Alura and Lara came out of the Fortress.

"He's physically healed and mentally…there's nothing wrong from our scans," Lara said. "My recommendation is that he takes it easy for a couple of weeks, and I'm saying this not only as a mother, but as a doctor."

Chloe just shook her head. It was nice that Lara thought that Clark would take it easy in any way whatsoever. He would be up because there would be a crisis. He would hear those cries for those help. And those cries would signify Clark showing up wherever there was trouble. They would all yell one thing.

"This looks like a job for Superman!"

* * *

Kara returned from an outing with her sister. Alex really did seem to treat her pretty nicely for this Birthday outing. She did hint the best surprise was to come, although Kara had not been able to pry it out of her sister just yet. Alex had been hinting around, and Kara was starting to get a bit agitated that Alex had not quite fit inclined to spill the beans.

"You'll know when the time comes," Alex said. "What I want to know is how you enjoyed today so far?"

"Oh, you're amazing, well you and Carol both," Kara said. "It's a shame that Carol had to be called back so soon."

It always was a shame that Carol got called back a bit too soon and did not get to partake in the same fun they did. Kara's lips curled into a very obvious smile and she had something add.

"Even though her singing kind of kind of….."

Kara stopped as if she was trying to find the right words when the sisters went out for Karaoke with each other while at the bar. Alex just grinned at her sister and shook her head.

"Not all of us is gifted as you are, sis," Alex said. "You are truly amazing out there, an angel on the microphone and….."

Kara put her hand up to stop Alex's gushing. "You stop that right now. It's going to be hard for Supergirl to fly and save the day if she hasn't an overinflated head."

Alex shook her head in response. The two of them made their way towards the house they shared. It actually had been equipped for a few nifty security features courtesy of the DEO in case any alien threats came calling. And Alex suspected there would be some who would come calling sooner rather than later.

"Thanks for the great time," Kara said. "I appreciate it."

"Anytime."

Alex leaned in and kissed Kara on the lips. It was far from a sisterly kiss as well. Kara had been surprised, but not entirely pleased. This kiss put so much into it.

"Happy birthday to me indeed."

They heard someone arrival outside. Kara turned around and her face lit up like RAO itself.

"Clark!" Kara yelled. "Hey, you're back….I'm glad you're okay too!"

Kara threw her arms around Clark's waist and pulled him into a hug. Clark wrapped his arms around Kara's slender waist and leaned down. He looked straight into her vibrant blue eyes which shined with so much life it was almost intoxicating. Clark swooped down and caught Kara with another kiss across the lips.

"Happy Birthday."

"Yeah," Kara said. "I swear, I've been waiting for my eighteenth birthday forever."

"That really isn't an exaggeration, you know," Alex said. "Given how many years you were trapped in limbo before Carol found you."

Kara really shook her head. Yeah, Alex really needed to remind her about how much the wait was longer. She leaned in to Clark and realized he kissed her. Dreams did in fact come true. Kara's fingers dragged down Clark's bicep and she stopped with a smile crossing her face.

"This is it, isn't it?" Kara asked. "The other part of my birthday present?"

Alex just smiled and patted Kara on the upper back. She leaned closer to her sister, brushing a lock of hair away from her face. "Why don't we step inside?"

The trio made their way inside. Alex lead the way to Kara's bedroom. The bed had been large enough where three people would be fit. Some might call it cramped, but Alex disagreed. She much preferred the term cozy, thank you very much.

"I'm glad you're okay," Alex said.

"Yeah, I am too," Kara said.

Alex decided to take a step and kiss Clark firmly on the lips. Clark wrapped his arms around the waist of the woman and pulled her in close to him. The DEO Agent's tongue passed into Clark's mouth and moved. Clark held her in close and kissed her even harder.

Kara folded her arms with her lip stuck out with a pout. Alex really did milk the kiss all too much. Kara grabbed her sister and pulled her off of Clark.

"You can stop that," Kara firmly said.

"Stop what?" Alex asked with a look of faux innocence.

"Upstaging me on my birthday."

Kara swooped in and gave Clark a hell of a kiss to show her sister out it was done. Okay, she did not have as much experience as Alex had, or really any experience at all. Clark's arms ensnared Kara and tightened around her. The warmth of both of their bodies colliding with each other had been immense. Kara had been overpowered and brought on the bed.

Alex sat down and prepared to enjoy what was going to happen next. She already unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off, sitting in nothing but a black bra from the waist up.

* * *

The kiss intensified with Clark feeling up Kara's body through her clothes and slowly stripping them off. Kara had been put in a daze as Clark relieved her of her clothes one garment at a time until she was sitting on the bed wearing nothing other than her bra and panties. Alex stripped off her pants and moved in.

Clark took his eyes away from the birthday girl for a minute to see Alex sitting next to him in a lacy black bra and thong with a grin. The beautiful brunette pounced Clark and attacked him with a kiss. Kara pulled him away and kissed him.

Both girls stripped off Clark's clothes leaving him in nothing but a pair of boxers. Kara pushed Alex off to the side.

"Let me unwrap my present."

The present came out in the form of a large cock. Kara clasped her hand around the base of Clark's cock and stroked him with a hungry gaze locked upon his cock head.

"Alex, you got me the economy size," she aid.

Kara's tongue traced over Clark's hard, swollen head. Her hand moved down to clasp his balls and give them a squeeze. She opened her mouth wide. Kara saw her adoptive mother go down on Clark and also her aunt, so naturally she wanted to be the next one to have his huge cock into her.

"Oh, Kara, you're mouth feels so good," Clark grunted threading his hands through the back of her hair.

She relaxed her throat muscles and dropped down. Kara touched down onto him and spiked his huge cock into her mouth.

One sister was amazing, but two was even better. Alex cupped Clark's thick balls in her hand and then squeezed it.

"These just demand to be sucked," Alex said before going down and doing exactly what she demanded.

Alex showed a lot of talent by taking Clark's balls in her mouth and sucking on them very hard. His eyes glazed over from Alex licking his balls and taking them hard into her mouth. She moved up and licked the part of Clark's cock which did not slide into Kara's mouth.

Both lovely sisters worked over Clark with immense worship of his large tool. Their mouths slid over the edge of his cock and took him inside. Clark's eyes shut and opened the second they worked him over. He was getting closer to some kind of climax. Alex's hand curled underneath his balls and gave him a very steady squeeze before Kara sucked him hard.

Eventually, Clark's muscles tightened and shot the load of cum. Kara took her birthday surprise with eagerness. Some of it splattered against her nose and face with Kara getting most of it in her mouth. She tasted her cousin.

"Oh, you know how to treat a girl right."

Alex grabbed Kara's face and gave her sister a very intense kiss. Both of them connected with each other, their tongues pushing together. The cum buried in Kara's mouth had been shared between them. Alex spent some time relieving Kara of the rest of her clothes.

Clark, cock extended proudly in the air, looked up. Kara hovered in the air and allowed Clark to see all of her. Her legs spread in the air with beauty and poise. Kara then slid down and mounted Clark. She descended down onto his cock taking it inside of her.

"Oh, Rao, it's so big!" Kara moaned.

The youngest Danvers sister took her cousin's cock deep inside of her chambers. Kara threw her head back with Clark grabbing her nipples and squeezing them. Kara rose up and dropped down on Clark's cock.

Alex observed her sister throwing herself into riding her cousin's cock. It was truly a magical sight. Her eyes glazed over when looking at Clark's hard cock appearing and disappearing after her sister's beautifully tight pussy. Alex had been growing weaker with desire which she could not suppress. Her fingers danced over her nipples and Alex let out a very passionate sigh.

"Ride that cock," Alex murmured underneath her breath. "RIDE IT!"

Kara rode that big cock for everything that it was worth. It slid deep into her cunt and stretched her out. She grabbed onto Clark's torso and mounted him. He returned the favor by touching Kara's body. She loved being touched by his strong hands. They were making her body heat up with excitement.

Clark only drilled Kara harder when he caught sight of Alex masturbating at the edge of the bed to the sight of her beautiful sister riding the cock of the strong man underneath her. Clark grabbed Kara's ass and squeezed it very tightly. She rose up and fell down onto him.

"Cum for me, Supergirl."

She was getting a reward and a birthday present all wrapped up in one. Clark referring to Kara by her codename made her pussy throb. She rose up and dropped her pussy down onto his swollen rod. It stretched Kara in so many amazing ways which she could barely even begin to sound off on. She tried as hard as possible to hold it together. But there was no question about it. She was cumming all over his hard rod and it felt so good to have his cock buried deep inside of her body.

Kara's moisture coated the throbbing member. He gave her his Kryptonian cock with power and speed. Kara rode him and leaned down to worship his strong body with her beautiful one. Clark's hands planted on Kara's back. He drove her down to an orgasm.

The intense milking of her pussy muscles around Clark's cock had to be bringing her closer. Kara summoned all of the energy going into her at her pussy to squeeze Clark. Kara's tenseness clamped down around Clark.

"I need you," Kara said. "I need your cum."

The skin slapped together repeatedly with Kara speeding up her thrusting down upon Clark's iron hard tool. She wanted Clark to lose it inside of her.

Clark made Kara earn it though with a few more rises and a few more drops. He smiled as the picture of Supergirl recklessly throwing away her inhibitions for her cousin's cock played out in front of him. He throbbed inside of her. Kara's pussy was working him over to the edge of an orgasm. Clark cupped Kara's wonderful tits as she sprung up and crashed down upon his cock.

"Closer," Kara mewled at the top of her lungs. "Closer, oh Rao, I'm getting closer."

She screamed out in pleasure with Clark driving himself into her. His balls started to lurch up and then began their discharge inside of Kara. The warm juices flowed from Clark's cock. Kara rode him out and took him down to the very last drop.

The second Clark left Kara, Alex pounced, and took Clark in her mouth. She had been very turned on by the thought of sucking Clark off after he had been inside of Kara. The combination of juices saturating Clark's cock only spurred Alex on and encouraged her worship of his cock.

His fuckstick extended high in the air. Alex wrapped her fingers around Clark and tugged on him to ensure he was standing tall and proud for her. Alex sucked the head and moved down to grasp Clark's balls in her fingers. He groaned the second Alex drove her lips over the tip of his head and took him inside.

"Mmm," Alex moaned sensually when bringing Clark inside of her mouth and then releasing him. "That's not bad, but I need it inside me."

Alex shifted around and got on top of Clark. She mounted him in a reverse cowgirl position. Clark put his hands on Alex's ass and gave it a squeeze. Her eyes screwed shut when lowering herself down onto Clark. Alex's first instinct was to drive down onto him. Fortunately, she opted for a smoother descent to take Clark's hard cock deeper inside of her body.

Kara sat up and smiled when watching Alex's descent. A buzz went through Kara's body the second Alex's beautiful pussy dropped down and submerged Clark inside of her. Alex's hair flipped over her face. Kara grabbed Alex and held her hair back.

The two sisters came face to face as Alex picked up her reverse cowgirl ride on the prize stallion underneath her. Alex dropped down onto Clark. Kara's fingers pressed through Alex's hair.

"Do it."

Kara rose to the bait and passionately kissed Alex while she rode Clark on the bed. Kara and Clark now were running their hands down Alex's body from either side. The pleasure cascading through Alex grew the deeper and faster she descended on the huge cock underneath her body. Her tightness clamped down around Clark and released him. The hunger burning through her body grew intense.

"Fuck," Clark groaned.

That word pretty much said everything. Clark's hands came up to grasp Alex's breasts when she continued the ride. Kara gave them enough room. Alex threw her head back and moaned in pleasure.

She came and came so hard. Alex's sticky pussy clamped down against Clark's rod and squeezed it before releasing him. Her juices trickled down.

The next sight blew everything away. Kara ascended in the air with her legs spread. Alex put her hand on Kara's thigh and stroked it. The juices trickling down it found their way in Alex's mouth. Then, her next movement pushed her tongue into Kara's pussy as she hovered in mid-air.

Clark could see enough of what happened to make his cock throb harder. Alex's warm pussy grabbed tight around his hard rod and squeezed him. She really was working him over all the way to the end.

The second load of cum of the evening was getting close to exiting Clark's balls. The third if you counted the load which splashed into Kara's mouth earlier tonight.

The two sister's shared a steamy makeout session with Clark's cock receiving a full workout on Alex's body. He ran his hands over as much as Alex's tight fit body as he could.

"Closer," Clark grunted fingers brushing against the blue marking of her back which represented the scarab after it had gone dormant.

Clark tried not to worry about that. His cock lurched and pushed into Alex's pussy. His cream came into her just as she finished. All three lover shared in their mutual orgasm with each other.

All three came down with Alex pulling away from Clark. Clark looked up with Kara laying on thin air and beautifully spreading her legs. She started with a finger down from her lips and ran it down to her body. The sexy sight restored Clark faster than any ray of sunlight.

"Come to me, Kal-El," she said. "Come on, baby cousin, so me what you have left."

Clark climbed onto the air on top of Kara. Both of them submerged into each other above the bed. They came dangerously close to smashing the ceiling. Kara's legs wrapped around Clark and she drove down onto his cock with one fluid drop.

* * *

From outside, one single figure observed the scene with a smile dancing on her lips. Karen observed and she had a lot of temptation to want to jump in to join the fun. She decided to let Kara and Alex have their moment along with him. Clark returned back to form and Karen could not have been more proud.

Karen decided to return to the Fortress and jump the first person who she saw. Whether it was Raya, Astra, Lara, or even Alura…hell if Chloe or Tess were still hanging out there, they would be the lucky girls. And hell, there could be an orgy, because the more the merrier, Karen always felt.

* * *

Cadmus had been very much shoved to the backburner with many of their projects. Lillian Luthor thought that both the Thangarian Invasion and Darkseid storming in had put their project to deal with Superman on hold. He was, unfortunately, needed, because Cadmus had not finished their greatest collection. The world celebrated an alien and unfortunately, they had grown to depend on him. He enabled their laziest tendencies.

Lex sat driven insane by him. Lillian only shoulder a small part of the blame on Kal-El's shoulders. Lionel, Lionel, that bastard, his name made her blood boil with all of what he done. She had to fake her death to get clear of him. Did he ever expect a fake? Lillian doubted he would be in position to answer.

' _I did it,'_ Lillian thought. _'I out manipulated the master manipulator.'_

She smiled in spite of everything. Of course, there was still a whole lot to do and not that much time to get it done. Cadmus cleared some of the resources, but it was only bits and pieces. One of the damaged egg shells laid on the table. The circuitry had been damaged beyond all repair. A pair of the armor of one of those Parademons and a fractured part of his spear laid on the table.

Astra was very careful in making sure that Cadmus had not gotten their hands on anything they could use. Lillian respected the woman as much as she would any alien. It was really amazing all things considered what transpired.

The alien metal they found, it was of potential interest. Lillian took a careful glimpse of it and studied it.

"The first run of Project Cyborg Superman will be ready to go, Commander."

The scientist giving the news caused Lillian's lips to curl into a smile.

"Aliens will be rendered obsolete," Lillian said. "Humanity will rule the day, it's our planet, and we will secure its future. No longer do we have to worry about Superman, for he will be irrelevant."

There was one piece of unfinished business Lillian intended to deal with. She hovered over the console and took a very close look at security network at LuthorCorp. Lutessa's network was pretty air tight.

"One small little hole," Lillian said. "Sweetie, you should know that I'll find a way. A mother always does."

And she was a mother who would do anything to have her son back and well again. Lex would be home, and not rotting in a cell. He was not the criminal, the alien who used, abused, and betrayed him was.

' _Time for our family to become one again.'_

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 23** **rd** **, 2018.**


	93. Chapter 93

A blog exclusive lemon featuring Clark, Diana, and Diana's younger sister, Donna, has been posted. Head to the Page of Important Links, the Web of Chaos Archives, and either the Stronger Together or Blog Exclusive Archive. It's titled "Wonders."

And now it's time for your feature presentation

* * *

 **Chapter Ninety-Three: Post Cards from the Future**

* * *

Picture perfect Autumn weather shined over the people of Metropolis. It was one of those days where it was pretty good to be alive all things considered. The people looked up in the sky with a smile on their face without a single care in the world. Their protectors were there to keep saving the day. A couple of blurs came across the sky.

Superman and Supergirl flew shoulder by shoulder. The Girl of Steel looked towards her cousin when the wo of them flew as fast as possible to the destination. Kara only had one thing in mind when she was going to the destination.

"How many more of those outposts do we have anyway?"

Clark answered with a shrug. "I don't know. But, you know it's important for us to get all of them because if we don't, then that technology is going to fall into the hands of Cadmus, or someone else who should not have such dangerous technology."

Kara understood one hundred percent of the way. It was good to be reminded though just in case. She peered over for any signs of life. The warehouses which stored the technology had been among the most normal in all of the city. Looks deceived even the best of them, at least that's what Kara thought. Her eyes flashed all over the city with a bigger smile on her face.

' _I'm sure glad they're happy we're up here doing our job.'_

Chloe's voice popped up into the headset for both of them. "I'm here. And I'm not the only one who is here it turns out. There's a lot of trouble like you would not believe. Someone has got their hands on a tank and is trying to move it from the security facility on nineteenth."

"Could it be Intergang?" Kara asked.

Their tech support just gave an exasperated sigh. "There are still pockets of them out there, so it could be them. It could be someone else. You need to get that tank out of there by any means necessary. I don't want to put any pressure on you, even though I know you can handle it."

"I hear something."

Those few words from Superman signaled they were close. Just because Darkseid disappeared and they had a moment of calm did not mean they could not deal with all of the toys he left behind. And one of the toys amounted to a really giant and immense tank which they were trying to drive out of the storage yard.

Superman had other ideas though to prevent them from driving the tank out. The Man of Steel dropped down before the tank with a huge thud in front of it. His hands smashed the tank and subtly rocked it. The person driving the tank looked up with a horrified expression on his face.

"I'm sorry," Superman responded. "But this is about as far as you go."

The person driving the tank could have screamed. He pointed the gun at the tank directly at Superman. Two blasts of purple light cut through the air and fired at Superman. Superman performed a death-defying series of acrobatics to avoid the purple laser fire from cutting through the air at him. Superman threw himself at the front of the tank and put a very solid dent in it.

Three figures came out of the shadows. One of them held a grenade in hand. The grenade threw into the air. Superman punched the grenade back on the ground. Just in time, he dipped up with the grenade bursting open to reveal a cloud of green grass.

' _Kryptonite,'_ Superman thought to himself.

The heart of the Man of Steel raced as they tried to use another grenade. Supergirl came back and wrapped her feet around the head of the good before flipping him down onto the ground. Goon number two pounced on Supergirl. She avoided being stabbed by a blade. Supergirl grabbed the man's wrist and twisted it back before pounding him across the back of the head on a repeated loop.

Supergirl turned the man's arm around and snapped him down to the ground. He had been taken down and rendered almost breathless. Supergirl put her hands on her hips and waited for something to go down. The person on the ground charged her with a knife and stabbed it towards her. She dodged the attack and came back to crack him in the mouth.

The tank shot out a shell which blasted a large force field in the air. High tech weaponry at its finest blocked Superman and Supergirl from attacking. The tank rolled back and smashed through the gates.

A wall of green energy impeded the tank from going much further. The one and only Lois Lane showed up to block the tank. The tank turned around three hundred and sixty degrees to fire at Lois. Lois dodged the blast from the tank and flipped through the air.

Lois threw a battering ram at the tank from her energy ring. The Green Lantern at this Earth drove back and rammed the edge of the tank.

Several more goons closed in on the battle. These armored figures wielded weapons which packed a punch. They fired at Lois. Lois manifested a solid dome over her body to block the fire and then fire back in kind to wipe them out. Only two of them dropped down to the ground, but it was two more down on the ground than they started with. Lois drew in her breath and waited for the Intergang goons to make their next move. One of them swooped their way underneath Lois and tried to take her legs out from underneath.

Power Girl came down to strike one of them down across the back of the head. The Kryptonian Heroine smashed her arm against the chest.

"Tank!" Power Girl yelled.

The tank still piloted by the man inside rolled towards Lois. Lois smashed underneath it on the ground. This attack allowed Superman to swoop down from above and grab onto the back of the tank to prevent it from rolling.

The tank ripped open from Power Girl holding onto the latch. The two Intergang members lifted out of the tank. They screamed in frustration as Power Girl launched them up onto the ground and sent them crashing down. The goons scrambled in a valiant attempt to get something done.

This latest pocket of Intergang thugs found themselves no match for this particular quartet of heroes. Another one of their weapons storages has been taken down and destroyed.

* * *

Tess Mercer redefined the term burning the midnight oils. She needed to get Indigo back up and running. While she would not be foolish enough to put all of her eggs in one basket and make Indigo a vital part of her security system, the only vital part of it, Tess would have to say that Indigo was the most vital part of the security system. Getting her back online was something that was of the highest priority for Tess Mercer.

' _Darkseid really did a number on you, didn't he?'_

Darkseid did a number on Earth even though as much time had passed. There were still alien pieces of technology lying around. Tess and the rest of the Daughters of Veritas did their best to secure any piece of any technology which could potentially fall into the wrong hands.

Cadmus, they were the worst hands. Tess did not hear anything of what Lillian Luthor had been up to. However, Tess did not think it sounded too off base to think the woman was up to something.

' _And now, she'll go back to her original purpose after Earth has been secured,'_ Tess thought to herself in the most extreme amount of frustration possible.

Tess worked very carefully on securing Indigo and putting her back on line. The restoration of the woman took a little bit longer than Tess hoped and much longer than she wanted. Tess really hated setbacks and this one was leading to a huge setback. Tess's fingers worked apart.

"Error, please attempt to reboot system and reconfigure."

' _Well, at least you run into the same frustrating problems on an alien computer that you do on an Earth computer. I'm not sure if that's reassuring, or not, but…just something to think about.'_

The businesswoman worked forward. She kept her eye pealed to the scanner as well to see if any strange pulses of energy popped up. The watch on her wrist allowed Tess to send the signal and then the coordinates to Superman, who would then get a team to deal with. Intergang's membership depleted, but they were far from the only ones who would want to get her hands on alien technology.

"Get a drink of coffee and try this one again," Tess said.

She sprung up to a standing position and walked over. Tess looked at the cells. Lionel was still snug in his cell. The occasional outbursts tapered off now. Lex, on the other hand, Lex did not speak ever since the chilling proclamation he gave before Clark.

' _He's got plans,'_ Tess thought. _'It's a true pity I won't give him a chance to implement them.'_

Tess studied ways to take Lex. Exorcising the small parts of Doomsday's DNA which lingered him in, which kept him alive, was the most vital part. The madness left Lex for the most part. However, the strength did not. Tess kept Lex heavily sedated around the clock.

A loud thump caught Tess's attention. She reached into the case and pulled out a gun. It never hurt to be too prepared in situations like this. And in a situation like this, Tess's nerves reached a heightened level. The loud blares of security alarm started for about ten seconds before they stopped.

Lights flickered in this room. Tess leaned in and saw something very strange. A figure resembling Hank Henshaw entered one of the lower levels. The only difference was the metal covering his face. Henshaw punched through the security like they were nothing.

Tess moved to open up her office door. The door jammed. Someone locked her inside. Tess pounded on the door and it did not budge. She kicked the door. The only thing she achieved from that was a stabbing pain in her foot. Tess closed her eyes and allowed a not so subtle groan.

She returned to the security feed and watched as Henshaw disabled Lex's cell. The man, or whatever he was, unhooked Lex from the machines holding him up. Henshaw pulled the body of Lex and draped him over his shoulder.

Tess pressed the button on her watch. It did not register any signal. Someone did their homework a bit too much. All Tess could do is watch as Henshaw took Lex off of the premises. Whether or not Lex registered anything, Tess could not even begin to tell.

' _We have a huge problem,'_ Tess mused to herself.

Security kicked back on and Tess was able to open her own door. She moved down the stairs towards the hallway. Lionel's widened eyes stared without blinking. Several of her security guards laid on the floor having been rendered unconscious. A couple had broken bones.

Tess pressed the watch again.

* * *

A call for immediate help brought Superman to the edge of the gates. The Man of Steel popped up by those gates just in time to see the wall destroyed. He stepped inside of the walls.

"We all fall for our old sins eventually!"

The voice of Lionel Luthor, garbled and detached, popping up most certainly caused Clark to jar himself. The Man of Steel turned towards him. Tess had disappeared down the hallway just a few seconds before he arrived.

"Lionel?" Clark asked. "Lionel?"

Lionel tilted his head back and looked at a spot on the wall. Then his eyes shifted to the cell which Lex once sat in. Only the glass had been smashed in, wires ripped from the wall, and the bed he sat on had been slightly crushed.

"I should have known. I should have seen the signs. I should have known what was happening. I ignored….like a fool I ignored…she….I ignored it."

Lionel degraded to his normal speaking in tongues and something told Clark the interview as it was, had long since been over. Clark turned to study the hinges. He managed to deduce one thing by about ten seconds of studying. Someone came in here and tore the door of the cell off of the hinges. This was pretty much the only explanation as much as it frustrated him.

"You're saying you saw him?"

The voice of J'onn, disguised as Henshaw, came down the hallway. Daisy and Alex joined him in the official capacity of the DEO. A flustered Tess took a moment to sweep down the hallway. Her eyes looked from the cell.

"And for the record, I would have called you sooner. But they found a way to block my signal watch."

Clark wondered how much they knew. It could cause some pretty big problems if they knew a lot. At least, that's what he figured.

"Let's take a look at the security footage," J'onn said.

Tess already had been ahead of them. She escorted the DEO members into the control room. The businesswoman punched up the footage of the computer and waited for everything to pop up. She saw the moment which the wall smashed completely. It had been reduced to power. The figure walked forward and attacked the security guards like he was nothing. Bullets bounced off of him as he raced down the hall, offering a backhand to anyone. Then he made mincemeat of the security.

"I thought you said that cell was designed so not only Superman could break free of it or break someone out of it," Alex said.

"It was," J'onn, Tess, and Clark all said in unison.

J'onn could not deny it after seeing the person's face up close in light. Hank Henshaw appeared before them in all of his pretty twisted glory. Henshaw's eyes blinked and it appeared someone communicated orders to him. Or to be blunter, someone controlled him as a puppet master.

"He's alive," J'onn said. "If you can even call what he's doing living."

One could see J'onn did not consider what Henshaw was doing to be living in the slightest. He kept his eyes pealed to where Henshaw was moving around.

"So, he survived," Alex said. "I can't believe it."

J'onn did not even need to engage his Martian mind reading powers to know where Alex's train of thought was going. As much as he hated to eliminate any hope from one of his top agents, J'onn had to do it.

"I know what you're thinking, Agent Danvers," J'onn said. "We might not have found Henshaw's body, but we did locate a badly beaten body which had matched your father's DNA."

"You never told me you found his body," Alex said.

"Alex, I'm not sure if this is the right time to have this conversation," Daisy said nervously.

Ignoring her best friend and partner, Alex rounded on J'onn. The Martian's gaze, even though he now holds the face of a man who was also a ruthless killing machine, stared down at Alex without blinking.

"Numerous government agencies were involved in this mission," J'onn said. "It took a lot of arm twisting to even reveal to your family that he was dead. The body is….well I'm not sure where it went."

"Maybe it wasn't his body," Alex suggested vainly holding onto her. "Maybe Cadmus tricked us and put a fake body. They can do that, can't they?"

"Alex," J'onn warned her. "Even if we were deceived, your father would not be the same man. He's gone, and it's best to remember him as you do, and not how he could even if Cadmus compromised him."

J'onn did not want to think of Jeremiah Danvers as that. He was a good man, a very good man, and to see him compromised by Cadmus was horrifying. They did verify the body was most likely his, and J'onn went at piece. It was in a bad state. He had labored under the assumption for many years that Henshaw's body was in a pretty much worse state.

"So, they made Henshaw into some kind of Super Terminator," Daisy said. "Great, this just keeps getting better, doesn't it?"

"And Lillian had him abduct Lex," Tess said.

"A mother truly will do anything for her child," J'onn said. "That's the one truth that's evident no matter what the planet."

Alex looked out in the distance. Henshaw, being a former government agent, had been very meticulous in not leaving any tracks. She looked to be lost back at square one.

* * *

Power Girl resumed her latest patrol over Metropolis. She did in fact hope that this would die down and there would be no problems with Intergang. The people all looked at one of their protectors. There were still some doubters and some people still flashed some dirty looks at her.

The Godfreys and Granny currently spent the rest of their days rotting away in one of the worst parts of the Phantom Zone. It was no less than they deserved. Without the protection of Darkseid, they would not last very long. The rest of his forces had been scattered across the entire universe. Karen supposed they could be brought back somehow and some way. She did not know how they would be brought back.

' _Well, maybe today's going to be a peaceful day.'_

Karen thought that and wondered if she just ended up jinxing herself. The woman's neck turned around and then studied the sky above her. A couple of people snapped pictures of her when flying through the sky. Karen decided to give them someone to remember with a little smile and a wave.

' _Okay, now onto business….'_

Her hearing picked up a shrill siren off in the distance. Karen almost flew off coarse because of how much the siren bombarded the side of her ear. Karen took a couple of deep breaths to try and get herself focused and more importantly back into everything.

' _I've got to get to them,'_ Karen thought. _'There's someone in trouble.'_

The screams of someone off in the distance made Karen feel like she needed to rush towards the scene of the crime. Immense heat popped up from the ground.

"Everyone clear it!" Power Girl yelled.

Energy waves swept up over the ground. Power Girl balanced herself on the fence before dropping down. Smoldering marks appeared on the pavement of the park. She swept even closer to the destination and wondered something. Karen wondered who precisely dropped down in the park. She drew in a very evident breath when studying the park. Karen approached everything as carefully as possible.

' _Someone is here,'_ Karen thought.

She could feel the rising tension in the air. Karen stepped over a piece of playground equipment which fell over from the impact. Karen walked ever so slightly to the side.

"Over here!"

A strangled voice caught Karen's attention. Her body stepped over the burned lines on the playground. She heard someone struggle to rise up out of a hole.

Karen swooped down just in time to see the person in question. Her blonde hair was very much in disarray after dropping down to the ground. She dressed in a slightly shredded blue and white uniform. The woman staggered and a ring with an "L" stamped on it. Karen almost hung her mouth open in thinly veiled shock when staring down at the woman who dropped from the skies.

"Imra?"

Imra Ardeen, known as Saturn Girl of the Legion of Super-Heroes, had been someone that Karen knew very well in her time to the future. Imra barely acknowledges Karen.

"I need to warn him!" Imra yelled suddenly. "I need to warn Superman."

"Superman?" Karen asked. "I can take you to Superman. I can take you to him and….."

Imra grabbed Karen by the edge of the hole in the front of her costume. She tugged on the fabric. Karen put her hands on Imra's shoulders in what she hoped was a very calm and reassuring manner.

"Time…time…time…TIME CRISIS!" Imra shrieked out at the top of her lungs.

The scream assaulted Karen's sensitive hearing. She did not want to say anything against Imra right now but her hearing had been compromised completely.

"Okay, calm down, it's going to be okay," Karen said. "I'll get you out of here. I'll get you out of here and I'll get you to Superman. Everything is going to be okay."

She kept saying this like it meant something. Imra shook her head a couple of times as if to disagree. Karen kept ahold of Imra's shoulders and forced her to stare across the way.

' _Temporal mental fatigue,'_ Karen thought to herself. _'It's the worst.'_

"Lara," Karen said. "I'm going to need the Fortress ready. We have a visitor from the future."

"Right," Lara said.

"Come with me," Karen said. "I'll take you to see Superman."

It was very easy to get Imra to come with her at the promise of seeing Superman. The Legion of Super-Heroes started as a glorified fan club for the Man of Steel. It was so much more than that these days, but some of the character members never forgot their very humble roots.

* * *

Relief spread through Lillian after she got reports from the scientists. Lex had been resting after being rescued from the prison. Lutessa thought that she had won. Lillian disagreed with the girl. It was not the girl's fault, she had not bee prepared for this onslaught.

"The Cyborg Superman is a success," Lillian said. "It's a pity. Maybe I should have told him to grab onto Lionel, but that only increases the chance something could have gone wrong."

Lionel was not a very high priority in Lillian's mind. She turned towards the man sitting across from her at the lab tab.

"Soon, I will be having one of the most brilliant minds working for Cadmus," Lillian said. "My son will achieve the potential he always has had. Do you think you can fix the damage?"

"I do have a special insight of your son's mind," Hugo Strange responded.

"Yes, I'm aware," Lillian said. "And I'm also aware of the creative interpretation of my orders last time. You grew as obsessed with the Traveler as my husband did. And I trust you won't be deviating from the script, Strange."

Lillian pressed a button on the remote control which caused Strange's heart to receive a stabbing pain. It was very hard for him to even attempt to breathe.

"You fix him right this time, or you'll be the one in need for a doctor," Lillian said as she removed the device implanted into Strange. "Is that clear, Hugo?"

"Yes, Director," Hugo said breathing.

"Excellent," Lillian said. "You may go know."

Strange, properly reprimanded, stepped off into the distance. This left Lillian to take a very calming drink and lean back up against the table. She took a few seconds to enjoy how well today went.

"Director, you should see this."

Lillian looked up at one of her guards with a raised eyebrow. She walked across the hallway to join him. Images of a flare of light in Metropolis came out. There was no vessel which was odd. A supernova of a woman dressed in blue and white with a ring on her finger showed up. Lillian thought something about the ring seemed familiar.

Three prophets with these strange rings visited the Kawatchee tribe just a decade before the Namen visited them from the heavens and all of the legends started. Lillian recalled every one of Lionel's obsessions.

Power Girl picked up the time traveler before anyone else could. Lillian knew that having knowledge of the future could be potentially beneficial.

"Cyborg Superman, you have a new mission," Lillian said.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and you'll see you for the next chapter on Sunday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 25** **th** **, 2018.**


	94. Chapter 94

There's another blog exclusive chapter, featuring Clark with Carol, Alex, and Kara in a foursome. Head to the Page of Important Links, the Web Exclusive Archives, and either the Blog Exclusive Archives or the Stronger Together archives. It's called "Gathering."

 **Chapter Ninety-Four: The Ultimate Weapon Part One**

* * *

Clark stepped back into the Fortress of Solitude a half of a minute later. The break-in of Lex had been fresh in his mind, but naturally, as per custom, some other problem came up. Karen paced around the Fortress. Raya and Astra stood outside as well.

The Man of Steel peaked through the glass and noticed an attractive blonde woman who currently had been put in a state of shock. Alura and Lara spent the next few moments intently studying her to see what was wrong with her. Clark wondered what happened and he knew there had to be answers and so.

He took the action to get those answers and delved just a little bit deeper into the Fortress. He looked Karen who the eye who quickly jumped in to answer his unasked question.

"This person dropping out of the sky was pretty surprising," Karen said. "I thought for a minute she finally came to me."

Time travel had been a funny thing. Karen could have been gone from the future only moments or hours before something happened. Or it could have lined up to be the same amount of years that she had bene gone. Or it could be even more years. Karen really did not know.

' _Ah, it's enough to make your brain hurt,'_ she thought with her nose wrinkling in the process.

"Do you remember the Legion of Super-Heroes?" Karen asked.

Clark spent the next thirty or so seconds racking his mind. He had a feeling he should have remembered something more about them, but for whatever reason, his mind was coming up with a big blank. He turned to Karen and shook his head in negative.

"I have a feeling that I really should," Clark said. "I remember you mentioning them in passing. I don't recall anything about them in particular."

Karen nodded and placed a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Right, of course….I didn't expect you to off hand. Her name is Imra Ardeen, better known as Saturn Girl. She's a member of the Legion of Super-Heroes, and let's just say she's seen some horrors when heading back through time."

A second passed before Karen added something as a potentially unnecessary afterthought.

"Horrors the mind should have never been meant to process."

"I would have to agree," Astra said.

Astra had been through many wars and had seen looks on the faces of soldiers who had seen horrific events unfold before them. Attacks which killed many people right before their very eyes and that was something which changed even the most hardened of men and women. Imra saw something comparable and yet something different.

"Lara and Alura are trying to isolate her brain waves to see what the problem is," Raya said. "Although, she has very complex brain waves and it could be a fair bit easier said than done."

"She's a telepath," Karen said. "It's harder with them."

Clark turned to the woman who he barely knew. Her hair stuck up in disarray and gave her a wild look. And the black rings stuck underneath her eyes compliment the wild look which went about her. She turned and twisted her head. Lara reached in and held the girl's hand to try and get some sort of relief even though the relief is coming.

"HE'S COMING!" Imra shrieked at the top of her lungs. "HE'S COMING AND WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WARN HIM! WE'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WARN SUPERMAN!"

Superman took a step around the glass and inside of the lab. Imra's body started to shake. Alura looked at her nervously for a moment.

"Her brain, the spikes of adrenaline going through her are going down," Alura said. "We're just going to have to be patient. The worst has already passed. We just need to wait a few more minutes before….well we're just going to have to wait for her to wake up."

Imra thrashed about in the midst of a horrific nightmare. Her head snapped back and then suddenly, everything had been calm. Her eyes shut for a minute. Several deep breaths passed through the girl's body just seconds before she recovered from the nightmare. Her head turned for a brief second and came face to face with the one and only Superman.

"Kal-El," she said with an excited breath. "It's so nice to meet you for the first time…at least, I think it's the first time."

Imra's memories were fuzzy for some reason. She looked up and another attractive blonde, the fourth one she saw today, stepped into the chamber and walked closer to her.

"My name is Karen," she said. "Do you remember me?"

Imra's mind glazed over as she tried to remember this beautiful woman. It took her a couple of minutes, but there were dark spots in her mind. The telepath tried as she might access them, but she could not access.

"I….I'm sorry," Imra said. "I don't recall you, even though I feel like I should."

Karen did not take it all that much to heart. She figured there was something going on, and they would have to get to the bottom of what it is. She put a hand on Imra's cheek and it still felt pretty warm. The girl took a couple of deep sighs to try and get her bearings together.

"I know that….I know that Superman is in danger," Imra said. "An old enemy has returned which threatens his past, present, and future."

* * *

A moment of clarity in a sea of hazed madness reached Lex Luthor. For the first time in months, his mind had not been sent in a hue. He was perfectly aware of his surroundings. Lex relaxed on a bed with the soft sheets rubbing against his flesh. Lex slowly rose up out of bed and almost collapsed further down into it. He had been tired beyond all belief. His muscles were far weaker than they were, and Lex's stomach ached.

"You're awake."

Lex hurled off of the covers to hear a familiar voice belonging to a person standing outside of the door. He moved across the floor with a couple of ginger steps and then through an open door. Lex stopped and reacted with a raised eyebrow.

Most would have reacted with shock and horror in this particular situation.

"Lex, my beautiful boy, I'm glad you recovered."

Lex spent less than a minute processing the scenario around him. Many different possibilities entered the mind of the dazed young man. He came to what he felt was a logical solution.

"And here I thought clarity visited me. But, I think Tess's newest drug finally destroyed my last bit of mental stability. Because, otherwise, how do I explain seeing my dead mother standing here before me?"

The door opened and Lex noticed a familiar lab. It had been off of the books for years as far as LuthorCorp had been concerned. His mouth opened and widened as he turned to look at his mother, or at least a reasonable double. And there once again had to be some kind of explanation for all of this which did not go into insanity. Lillian's presence defied all reasons and the mental gymnastics to justify her being alive caused Lex a fit.

"You're not here," Lex said.

"I know it's hard to believe, Alexander," Lillian said. "I'm here, and I saved you…and I wish I could have saved you sooner from Lionel's influence. You were caught up in his obsessions and his greed."

Lex could not quite meet the eyes of this woman. As far as he was concerned, his mother died many years ago. This was some kind of sick and cruel joke. Lex took a deep breath and realized how normal he felt now. The influence of Brainiac and the influence of Doomsday, it was all gone, and now for the first time, he had been clearer in his mind and his thoughts.

They did it, they did it, somehow, they fixed him. Or alternatively, Lex had been drugged so far into a state of madness that he believed everything had been fixed. There had been false hope dangled underneath his nose.

"I've become a self-made man in spite of Lionel's influence," Lex coldly stated.

"Of course, I did not mean…."

Lex reached up and grabbed his mother by the shoulders. His frustration with her bubbled over to the surface.

"You're not real," Lex said. "And if you were, don't you realize that you were as responsible for…my state, as Lionel as? Don't think I've forgotten about it…you growing colder and distant. You let me believe that I killed my baby brother…when you did it, because of …because….I STILL DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW CRUEL YOU WERE!"

Lex snapped and showed a moment of raw emotion before reigning himself in. Luthors did not get upset. They got even. They were calm and collected in all situations.

"You expect me to forgive?" Lex asked. "And you expect me to forget? I remember it….I remember it!"

Lillian hoped that Lex would have put that behind him. It was a moment of weakness on her part, which destroyed her in hindsight.

"I did what I felt was necessary at the time," Lillian said. "I regret everything."

"Your regrets don't change the fact that my brother's death put me in therapy," Lex coldly responded. "You allowed me to believe I smothered him."

"Calm down," Lillian said. "It's going to be okay."

Lex pulled away from this woman in disgust. He would have rather looked Lionel in the face right about now. He took a couple of steps down the hallway and came face to face with an imposing gentlemen with a glowing red eye standing in the hallway.

"Hank Henshaw," Lex said. "I wonder what your superiors would have to say if they found out that you're not doing your job properly at the DEO."

He had a feeling something else was going on and Lex detested surprises. He hated them, one hundred and twenty percent of the way.

"You're not well, Mr. Luthor," Henshaw said. "You need to return to your room."

The glinting of the eye showed that Henshaw was not making this as a suggestion. Lex seethed internally, but externally he was calm and as decisive as possible.

"I'm fine," Lex said. "I'll be fine once I get away from Cadmus. I'll return and gain control of LuthorCorp. Then I'll see what my options are legally to shut this place down and put my mother in a cell right beside my father."

"You would be in that cell if it was not for me," Lillian said. "I've done this all to protect you. Everything at Cadmus has been you and to protect the world. It has protected you from him and others like him. People like you who need saving."

"You're referring to…." Lex said, letting the name of the person involved just hang in mid-air. Lillian responded with a nod. "Show me what you've been working on. Then I'll decide if it's worth it to stay."

* * *

Imra moved into the Fortress of Solitude and looked around in very thinly disguised awe. She could not believe it, she could not believe she stepped into the legendary Fortress of Solitude.

"You haven't seen it?" Karen asked.

"Maybe I have," Imra said. "But, even if I have, it still isn't stunning…yes, I remember, the original Fortress was sunk into the ground during the twenty-third century, at least because of the most accurate records."

Clark spent a couple of seconds frowning. It would be a shame to lose this Fortress. It was a very useful database of information. Imra drew in a couple more breaths from where she stood. Clark placed a hand gently on her shoulder to steer her back into the conversation.

"More….there's more coming back," Imra said. "Just give me a second?"

"Do you want me to get Alura or Lara or…."

Irma shook her head. She did not enter the state of having a nightmare like she did the last time. Something else entirely was happening to her. Imra closed her eyes to try and get her thoughts in order as scrambled as they might seem at this time. She realized how frustrating it might have been to Clark and Karen to see her brain lapse in such a state.

"I see it, more of it coming back to me," Imra said. "I've followed a thief who stole something back through the time portal. And this is a dangerous item which the enemy I mentioned would use to bring your end. And two other members of my team were right behind me. A time storm came through."

Karen and Clark met each other's gaze. This time storm must have been what spat Imra out into the middle of Metropolis. Clark gently grasped her hand and made Imra stand up a bit straight. His fingers wrapped around hers and he squeezed her hand as tight as possible.

"Is there anything else?" Clark asked.

The thought of having Superman grabbing her hand would have sent butterflies into Imra's stomach at any other given moment. She felt something else though, heavy amounts of frustration. They were dealing with a huge problem which could affect all of history.

"Sorry, there's nothing else," she said. "I really wish they were."

"We need to catch the thief and see if he knows anything else,' Karen said. "And if Imra's missing teammates come through the portal, then we need to find them as well."

"Do you have any idea who they might be?" Clark asked her.

Karen answered him with a half-shrug. "It really depends on what era of the Legion they're coming from to be perfectly honest."

The sooner they caught the thief, the better. Introducing people like that into an otherwise stable time stream was going to result in some issues. And there had already been some unfortunate ripples building through the time stream at every second. Karen could not say how she felt those ripples, only that she felt them. She grew very sensitive to time unraveling around her.

"We have a problem," Chloe said.

"What?" Clark asked.

He thought their day could not have gone on without a hitch, not without a few more problems to add to the ones they already had. Clark closed his eyes and could feel something. He could not put his finger on what just something.

"The Cyborg Superman has broken into a storage facility in Metropolis belonging to LuthorCorp," Chloe said.

"I dug into it," Tess chimed in. "And Lionel was using it to store some of his more questionable projects. I mostly stripped it clean, but there could be something that I missed."

Clark had a feeling that obviously, the Cyborg Superman wanted something in that storage facility. He could not for the life of him realize what.

"Let's go," Imra said. "I know how dangerous the Cyborg Superman could be. He's one of the deadliest enemies. He almost….."

"Future spoilers?" Karen asked the moment Imra grew silent.

* * *

Clark dropped down to the ground outside of the facility. It looked like your normal warehouse in need of a paint job and a couple of window replacements. Clark stepped around to the back when one of the doors has been opened. He stepped inside with Imra and Karen following him behind.

They moved into a lab which had been stripped completely down. A couple of tanks in the background held particles of green dust. Clark realized what used to be in the tanks at least a short time ago. The Man of Steel crossed over the floor and took a deep breath.

They moved to a second lab and several empty containment units lined across the wall. The trio moved in and they saw nothing anyone could want to steal. They most certainly did not see any Cyborg Superman running around in the lab. The very thought of him being nearby put them on guard.

"I don't like this," Imra said.

It was a big cliché back in the year 3084 as it was in the current year, but silence was always the prelude to something very dangerous. The trio looked around and just a second later, the metal doors in the lab slammed shut.

' _Of course,'_ Clark thought.

Several robotic drones came in through the cracked windows. One of them locked on Superman and fired at him. Superman dodged the attack and picked up a huge metal table. He jumped up with the table extended. He flew it into the drone and knocked him back against the wall.

A drone shot a net down into Karen. She ripped the net to shreds and jumped up as high as possible. She planted one huge punch to the edge of the drone and cracked it. Sparks flew as the drone came flying back down onto the ground.

Imra blocked three of the drones with her mind and then fired them back against the wall. They all bounced off of the wall. She smiled just a tiny bit.

"I sense…a partial human mind," she warned them. "Henshaw is near….the real Henshaw."

Clark found himself going head-on with a drone. The drone fired a blast at him. Clark put his hands up to block the blasts coming from the drone. He whipped it back against the wall as hard as possible.

The drones all backed off from them just as quickly as they appeared. The metal doors of the lab broke open. The Cyborg Superman came face to face with Superman. Half of Henshaw's face had been replaced by metal plates and there was a glowing red eye. His hand was made completely of some kind of alien metal, at least what Clark could tell.

"Superman," Henshaw growled. "At last. I'm going to finally take you down and gain revenge on the Martian who stole my life."

Both Henshaw and Clark flew at each other as fast as possible. They collided with each other as hard as humanly possible. Clark and Henshaw locked knuckles with each other. Both crashed down onto the ground from the impact the other caused. Henshaw pulled away from Clark and his teeth gritted. He reared back a hand and nailed Clark as hard in the chest as humanly possible.

Both of them flew at each other and their fists clashed together. The two fighters fought each other with Clark grabbing the waist of Henshaw and slamming him as hard into the wall as possible. Henshaw had been rattled from the attack but had not been taken down to the ground just yet.

"It's time for you to break!" Henshaw yelled.

Superman dragged the Cyborg Superman up into the air and crashed him through the roof of the building. Both flew out the other end of the building and dropped as hard as possible down onto the ground. They both slammed into the ground very hard from the impact of their attacks. Clark pulled away from Henshaw a half of a second later and drew in a very deep breath.

Henshaw's red eye clicked to life and he fired a heat beam out of it directly at his enemy. Superman dropped down to one knee. He pushed up and Henshaw's head pulled back. He absorbed more power and bombarded Superman with another attack. Superman dodged and then almost collapsed down to the ground.

"Are you feeling weak, Superman?"

Henshaw taunted him with a severe statement. It was true, Superman felt as weak as possible. He felt like the air had been taken out of his lungs in a matter of minutes. Superman climbed up to one knee and tried to lock eye to eye with Henshaw.

Another blast of red-hot light caught Superman in the face. He could feel the strength sap from him. Henshaw doubled up his attacks by hitting Superman as hard as possible with a roundhouse right. His metal arm crashed into the chest of Superman. Superman swung at the air. Henshaw dodged behind him and blasted Superman in the back to drop him to his knees.

"Maybe you now feel the weakness that humans feel every time you chase them down. You and your kind. I'm stronger now, and you're weak."

Henshaw wrapped his hands around Superman's head. A splitting headache formed as Henshaw tried to crack Superman's skull between his large hands. The power radiating from his hands made it hard for Superman to fight and he was just seconds away from an injury.

Clark broke free with all of the strength and did a roll. The front of his costume had been scorched and Henshaw blasted him right in the "S" to set it on fire. Superman flipped his cape over his chest and put out the fires before they burned his chest. Henshaw stepped closer towards Superman with a crazed glimmer in his eyes. He fired another attack at Superman.

This time Superman grabbed him by the face to block the eye beam. He headbutted Henshaw and slammed him against the edge of the building. Several chunks of cinderblock came loose from the building. Henshaw shrugged them off like there was nothing.

Karen flew around the corner with a large semi-truck trailer lifted over her head. She hurled it at Henshaw. Henshaw lifted a hand as calmly as possible and punched through the truck as it flew at him ripping it to shreds. Henshaw popped up on the other side.

Clark dropped down and grabbed Henshaw before taking him down to his knees by the arm. He jabbed him in the side of the neck.

For one tiny microscopic second, Superman thought he had gotten Henshaw. Henshaw grabbed Superman by the throat and then super-charged the Man of Steel.

"Goodbye, Kal-El. You won't be missed."

Superman's entire body burst into a super nova. The entire alleyway exploded into flames. Henshaw stood with the tattered cape and "S" symbol fluttering to the ground with two black scorch marks on the ground.

"Superman is finished," Henshaw said.

"Is he?" Lex asked.

"I see you've decided to hijack the communication, Mr. Luthor," Henshaw said.

A shrill siren bombarded the back of Henshaw's head and caused him to stagger. He felt the worst pain ever, even though it should not be possible to feel pain.

"Answer my question, Henshaw," Lex said.

"He vaporized right before my eyes," Henshaw said. "He's gone."

"You think it's going to be that easy?" Lex asked. "I sincerely doubt it. Keep searching."

"With all due respect, Mr. Luthor….."

"I'm not asking you, Henshaw," Lex said. "Keep searching. Give me proof Superman is done other than your own eyewitness account. I want something tangible I can touch and see myself."

Henshaw gritted his teeth. With Lex's finger on the trigger, he had no choice but to find proof and verify Superman had been truly destroyed.

* * *

Every single nerve ending of Clark's stabbed with a never-ending pain which was among the worst he ever felt in his life. His body had been red like he had been scorched by something. Karen applied a cooling breath on him to try and ease up his pain, but her reserves were tanking and she did not know what to do.

"I've used the last bit of energy from my Legion Ring to get us out of there," Imra said.

"Where is here?" Karen asked.

A small and soft sigh came from the time traveler. "We're in temporal limbo. It's a dead zone. It technically exists in no time, and it exists in all time."

Clark rose to his feet. He looked a bit ragged, but at least he still breathed.

"We have to hope that the rest of your team could find you," Clark said in a raw and ragged voice.

A gate opened up. Clark, Karen, and Imra braced themselves for anything to come out of this gate. Powers did not work as they should in this Dead Zone.

* * *

Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Tuesday. Thanks for Reading.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on February 27** **th** **, 2018.**


	95. Chapter 95

**Chapter Ninety-Five: The Ultimate Weapon Part Two**

* * *

A snap of cold air filled Cadmus Labs. The silver walls held a very barren look. Lex moved down the way and looked over his shoulder. He had a mixture of emotions. Lex's first thought would be to leave the facility. Leave the facility behind and see what he could do. He would never return. Lex thought it would serve everyone right if he just stepped back and left. It would be the smartest thing for him to do to lay low and start anew.

The more Lex considered his options, the more he thought there would be an opportunity. He stepped down the hallway and peered into a large tank. Several nano-bots moved through the tank. Lex studied their makeup for the next few seconds and a small smile moved across his face.

"It's a start."

The sounds of footsteps a little bit behind him brought Lex out of his thoughts. Lillian Luthor stood at the end of the hallway. She surveyed Lex from afar and did not engage him. The physical distance between Lex and his mother represented the emotional distance the two of them shared quite nicely. Lex had stopped trusting a lot of people as time went on. His mother should have been one of the exceptions to his rule regarding a lack of trust. Lex hoped to be wrong over time.

"I'm doing everything to build a better world."

Lex did not answer his mother's statement. Her footsteps grew a little bit closer. Lex shifted purposely to another area of the lab. He did not want to have this conversation now or particularly ever with his mother. Said mother was persistent in making sure the conversation with Lex had been forced.

"They all say that, to begin with."

A long pause followed from Lex.

"They all say that, to begin with. Lionel thought he was making a better world. And Clark….I'm sure he thinks that he is making a better world. They all say that and they do these awful things to hurt people. Perhaps not intentionally in Clark's case, at least not a first."

Lex had been trying to mull over what the case had been with Clark. He had many thoughts regarding his former friend over the last few days after getting up. He finally turned around and found the stomach to look Lillian right in the eye.

"Cadmus's lack of transparency is a huge problem," Lex informed her. "And it's the biggest mistake you can make."

Lillian did not say any word in response. She wished for her son to have his say. If it would make Lex feel better than what needed to be said would need to be said. Lillian did not like how this was not the reunion she expected.

"Superman, for all of his faults, operates in the light and is a hero," Lex said. "Cadmus scuttles into the shadows, and operates from a position above everyone."

It had not been their intention, but the best intentions often went completely and utterly off of the rails. Lex took a couple of steps back and took a couple of deep breaths. He turned to face his mother with narrowed eyes and a huge frown.

"They pay God," Lex continued. He looks his mother dead on in the eyes without once blinking "They're no different than the thing they are fighting. They are humans with a superiority complex."

"Lex I…"

Lex held up his hand to prevent Lillian from saying anything more. He was pretty sure Lillian thought he would be greater.

"I never thought that both of my parents would be this twisted and this tormented," Lex responded. The man gave a very defeated sigh. "I guess life is full of surprises. Or disappointments depending on how you look at every single scenario."

Lillian's arms folded and she looked back at Lex with one of the more obvious glares possible. "I'm nothing like Lionel."

Those words were cold and cruel and fell upon Lex's deaf ears.

"For independent women, you did nothing to stop Lionel and his crusade," Lex said. "It was almost like you're terrified of what he might do if you fought him head up. You lurked in the shadows and only acted when his brain was fried. That really shows how strong you are."

"I'm your mother, Lex!"

"And Lionel was my father," Lex said. "That didn't do me any good."

Cold tension sliced through the air. Lex could not believe the situation he had been in. He had gone up against his mother who thought she would be welcomed back into his life with open arms without any problems. It was not that simple, it was never that simple. Lex stared at the empty cylinder across the room mostly to figure out what to do next. He needed to figure out that all important next move so he could move forward and on.

Lex walked closer and exited the lab. The door closed behind Lex and left his mother standing there. He brushed a finger to the top of his scalp and realized how important it was for Lex to find a way to get his life back together. A couple of breaths followed through his body.

He would have to get it together. And get some answers to this entire situation regarding Superman. Superman was the one thing Lex needed to figure out if he wished to move on. Lex tapped the earpiece in and made contact with Hank Henshaw.

"Henshaw," Lex said.

"Yes, Mr. Luthor," Henshaw responded in a cordial and cold voice.

"Has Kal-El been found?" Lex asked him.

A long pause had been followed and Lex grew impatient with waiting for Henshaw to say anything. He tapped his fingers on the phone for the next few seconds and just waited for something to be said. "No signs of life, from all three of those who went engaged. There was a flash which indicated teleportation."

"Which means?" Lex prompted.

"Which means they could be anywhere, at any time."

"Report back to base," Lex said. "Now."

The long pause followed from Henshaw to the point where Lex was almost ready to put his finger on the trigger. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Mr. Luthor. I have ordered from further up. And the signal you've transmitted to me to force my compliance before had been disabled."

Lex turned around where his mother popped back around the corner. Lex flexed his fingers around the edge of a rail and tried not to lose himself in a rant of rage.

"It's for humanity's own good, Lex."

* * *

Temporal limbo had been one of the worst areas to be, but Imra did not have any options. Imra stepped closer to the edge and wondered how this situation could have gone so long. Kal-El joined them. He looked very fatigued and resembled a lobster with the burns Henshaw gave him. Karen stepped a little bit closer to Clark as well. All three of them moved to the edge of the rock.

"So, you know the lay of the land," Clark weakly said. "What's our next move?"

Clark had never felt weaker and also more uncertain of what he was going to do next in his entire life. He had lost contact with the Fortress. He had to practically lean on Karen. And also, there was a sense something lurked around the corner, stalking him. Every now and then Clark saw a flicker of a window. The moment he looked closer, it was gone.

"Moments in time," Imra said. "You're going to see a lot of that. Try not to get distracted. It's not that good for you."

A nod and grunt were all Clark could manage right now. He thought they should sit down. Karen's arm wrapped tightly around him.

"I would carry you if I didn't need to save my strength myself," Karen said. Clark gave her a look. "Hopefully we can find a way out of here soon."

Both shared a mutual hope for wanting to get a way out of here. Clark drew in his breath the further they stepped into the dimensional limbo. A loud crack echoed and they all stood ready to fight. It could have been the wind or it could have been something else entirely.

"Keep strong," Imra said. "Don't lose sight of where we're going. I think the exit is that way."

The unknown terrified her. Her Legion Ring was completely dead and without a way to jump start some kind of power, she could not get them out of the temporal limbo. The three stuck close together to survive here. Thoughts jumped into Imra's head.

' _Are you…you just had to bring them here, didn't you?"_

Imra attempted to not let these self-doubts weigh her down mentally. Her heart beat a little bit harder. They moved all through Time Limbo very nervously. The loud cracks continued. Imra stood a bit taller and peered out into the distance. The energy waves from the portal split open.

A dark-haired girl flickered into the light. She dressed in a tight white uniform which stretched over her body. Her blue eyes widened as she stepped off the rocks. She had been joined by a girl with short red hair and a smile crossing her face. The girl crossed over the rocks and approached them.

Karen and Clark braced themselves for a fight. Imra held her hand up. Two of her fellow Legion of Super-Heroes teammates, Phantom Girl and Lightning Lass stepped in.

"Imra?" Phantom Girl asked. "Oh, thank Rao we picked up your signal in the right place."

Imra had been very grateful to see her friends and also very apprehensive. Something about how they just found the right place.

"We're going to have to find the way out," Lightning Lass said. "Follow us….I think there's a portal this way."

"Right," Imra said. "Everyone be careful, things here are not what they always seem."

Those words made Clark stand up at attention and wonder what was going to go on next. There were a lot of frustrating issues as they moved deeper into the Fortress.

"Just stand with us, and we all should be fine working together," Phantom Girl told them a couple of minutes later.

* * *

Astra cycled through the satellites one more time. She watched the image of Superman against Cyborg-Superman. She wished to know what alien metal they used to make him so durable and more importantly how they got ahold of it. Without ripping apart the Cyborg Superman and deconstructing him in some way, Astra figured there was no way to find that out.

"Did you find anything?"

Alura stepped into the Fortress. Lara took a half of a step behind her. Astra did not move up from the monitor console only staring at the Fortress computer. The images of Clark disappearing flashed on the screen. She slowed down the footage to see the Clark get wiped up into a temporal wave.

"I've found Kal-El's good luck has continued in the most interesting of circumstances," Astra said. "He's alive. He hasn't been destroyed."

Lara did not say anything. Relief came through her. At least they verified her son's survival. They had another problem to deal with. Finding him and also finding this Cyborg-Superman and dealing with him. Lara hoped they could track him.

"We'll find him," Alura said. "You have to know we will."

"Yes," Lara said. "We'll find him."

"Unfortunately," Astra said. "Given the time traveler got him out he could be anywhere, and he could be at any time. We're going to have to search for him. And we have a very wide era to do just that."

The alarm of the Fortress popped off and Lara almost dropped to the ground. Astra was on the ball about as much as anyone and picked up the information. A large figure dropped down into the snow outside of the Fortress. He walked down across the snow and dragged his feet into it.

"The Cyborg-Superman," Lara said. "He found us."

"Well, there's no way he can get in here?" Alura asked.

Raya joined the other three at the edge of the Fortress. She looked very anxious and rightfully so. "Unless he's found a way to replicate Kal-El's DNA."

Everyone groaned at the thought of the implications of what that could mean. Lara moved to the edge of the console, bit down her lip, and got to work.

"Replicated Kal's DNA or got a hold of it somehow," Lara said. "Given that he's a Cadmus creation, and they've cloned my son several times, they've found a way to get ahold of his DNA."

Lara's expression grew very dark and extremely frustrated. The loud bang of the Cyborg Superman breaking down the walls of the Fortress could be heard from miles away. Lara performed the override just a second before Astra slipped through the exit of the Fortress.

"This shuts down the Fortress completely where no one can get in and no one can get out," Lara said.

"But, my sister slipped out," Alura said.

Lara nodded and watched the scene unfold before her. Astra slipped out onto the cold snow and ice of the Fortress of Solitude.

The Cyborg-Superman's orb containing the DNA should be able to allow him to get into the Fortress and claim it for Cadmus. Nothing seemed to be working and everything frustrated the Cyborg-Superman to a never-ending degree. He wondered what had gone wrong.

"It's not going to work."

The Cyborg-Superman turned directly around to face his adversary. Astra came down across the ice and stared the Cyborg-Superman directly in the face. The Cyborg-Superman stood tall and stood his ground when facing off against Astra.

"You are going to be ripped apart just like Superman was," the Cyborg-Superman said.

Astra blasted the Cyborg-Superman with a furious beam of heat vision. He launched off of the ground and slammed down onto the ground. The Cyborg-Superman rolled over and made his way to his feet. He tried to get up and almost collapsed down onto the ground. He took in a couple of deep breaths when staring at Astra.

"Leave."

The Cyborg-Superman vanished into a blink of an eye and left Astra standing in the midst of the Fortress. She looked up into the sky and frowned. He might have been gone, but he would return. And when the Cyborg-Superman returned, she would be ready for him.

* * *

A pair of eyes peaked from around the corner very nervously. He held in his hand a briefcase which contained something that many people in the past, present, and future would give up an arm to get their hands on. Of course, giving up an arm in the 31st century was not as drastic as a gesture of giving up an arm in the 21st century due to medical advancements. The thought still in fact counted.

The man's trenchcoat fluttered in the wind. He pulled up the scarf borrowed from a woman he ran over in the park. The Legion had been on his tail since the moment he stepped out of the portal and made any kind of forward movement beyond impossible. The fugitive moved with two quick steps and then crossed the street.

The primitive automobiles of the twenty-first century distracted him. Humans had not evolved just yet and they had relied on cars for their forward motion. It was a much more simpler time and the thief could not help, but smile fondly at the thought of a different time.

Several men in suits made their way. One of them spoke in a hushed tone. They were bringing out some kind of police barricade or something, at least from the thief's understanding in history. He stumbled back and tried not to lose it. Not to mention lose control of this briefcase.

It would be perfect to gain him a hefty windfall of money. If the briefcase ever should have fallen into the wrong hands, without him getting paid, well that would be embarrassing for all involved. The thief tried to hold it together and attempted not to throw himself into a fit of frustration.

' _You're almost there, don't blow it,'_ the thief told himself. _'Don't you dare blow it.'_

"Stop right there."

The thief almost blew the cover by hurling the briefcase high into the air. Said thief checked himself before he wrecked himself. The thief stepped away from the scene and took a couple of deep breaths.

"What seems to be the problem, sir?" the thief asked in a voice which he hoped sounded respectful. It sounded more weedy than anything else.

"We need to see your identification," he said. "There have been an undocumented visitor in the area, and our boss needs to see them."

"You need to see my ID," the thief said. He nervously laughed. "Oh, that's a problem because you see…I was in a hurry this morning, and I left it at home…but I'm sure if you let me take you there, I can get you my ID. Just give me five minutes to…"

One of them put a gun into his spine. The thief took a second to adjust himself. He still did not freak out because that would be one of the worst things he could have done.

"Hand over that briefcase," the government agent said.

The thief did not have a choice in the matter because these government thugs snatched the briefcase away from him. At least that was one thing that has not changed from the current year to the future, people in the government always found a way to keep the little guy down and at bay.

"I don't know what's in this thing, but if he's been….I think we should get it open if we unhook the bottom."

"I have a key for it," the thief said. "It's right here."

The thief whipped a grenade out of his trenchcoat which went off in the faces of all of the government goons. The briefcase slipped up into the air and he caught it. The thief rushed away from the scene of the crime. He levitated cars and people when running down the way.

The government officials followed him. The thief sprung into the air and over the fence. A building ripped out of the ground and he slammed the building back down to impede the progress of the government officials. He rushed as fast as possible to the exit.

Heaving breathing followed from the thief. He finally gave the government officials the slip and could not have been happier. The briefcase clutched in his arms made him smile. He finally got away with it. The perfect crime, the thief slipped away into the night with the briefcase. He could have danced and he could have smiled. Everything finally was coming up right for him.

A large hulking figure dressed in black dropped down to the ground. An ax pointed towards the thief. The thief gulped and stepped back.

"You're going to come with us, if you know what's good for you."

The thief's hands shook and one more time, he almost dropped the brief case. He turned around and came face to face with a green haired woman. Beautiful in many ways, although one could argue that the look of contempt crossing her face undercut the woman's natural beauty. The Green-Haired woman stepped closer. The thief tried to keep her eyes off of that figure.

' _She'll rip them out,'_ he reminded herself. _'Focus on her face. Her face…and maybe her hair. Don't look at anything else.'_

This thief could not believe his misfortune. He ran from the Legion, got away from those government thugs, and ran smack dab in the middle of two members of the Fatal Five in the Emerald Empress and the Persuader. Could his day get any worse?

"Oh, of course," the thief stammered.

What choice did he really have? The Pursauder took his axe and sliced a hole through time and space. The glow of energy flashed and allowed them to leave.

Time passed, only mere seconds, before a second portal opened. Phantom Girl and Lightning Lass of the Legion of Super Heroes dropped down out of the portal. Both heroines from the future looked around.

"We lost him," Lightning Lass said. "I can't believe we lost him."

"If that briefcase falls in the wrong hands," Phantom Girl said. "And we still need to find Saturn Girl as well."

Saturn Girl had been separated from the other two members of the Legion through the time stream. They walked over to the last known location. Phantom Girl raised her Legion Ring to track her lost teammate. She turned to Lightning Lass.

"This way, Ayla."

"Right, Tinya," she agreed.

There was something which felt very wrong, and they could not put their finger on what. It was just there was something extremely wrong.

* * *

Imra stepped closer. She saw Clark, who looked at the two girls. Clark frowned and then he stopped.

"Come on," Phantom Girl said. "We're close."

She was very intent on leading them to the gateway. Saturn Girl stopped for a second. She could feel something about this area which was strange and different. It was even very strange by the standards of time limbo. Lightning Lass and Phantom Girl moved down a step.

"You don't want to be consumed by the time wraiths, do you?" Phantom Girl asked.

Clark took a second to consider those words. He looked at the two Legion Girls strangely. Karen was starting to frown.

"Are you sure this the way out?" Karen asked.

"Yes, it is," Phantom Girl said. "You'll be back to your own time in no time. Trust us."

"Oh, Tinya, I'm sorry for every doubting you," Imra said. "I remember how you joined. You were so eager to prove yourself back in the day. Remember, how you selflessly saved the third moon of Rigor from being blow up?"

"Yes," Tinya said. "I remember it well."

Imra smiled when she moved back. She motioned for Clark and Karen to stand back along with her. Lightning Lass and Phantom Girl turned around to face the trio. Her eyes grew a bit cold and lifeless when staring back at them.

"It was the fifth moon of Kallax, for the record," Imra said. "You nearly fooled us. I'll give you all the credit in the world. You nearly fooled us."

Clark and Karen were put behind Saturn girl as Phantom Girl and Lighting Lass dropped down to the ground. Imra pulled back from the dark and unsettling thoughts coming through their minds. She took a look at them.

"Don't lie to me!" Imra yelled.

"Yes, I can see, you were smarter than we thought you were," Phantom Girl's voice said growing darker and more demented.

"Yes," Lightning Lass said. "The great Saturn Girl was going to be one to trick. We made the mistake of not splitting you up."

Their faces contorted into demonic stone representations of themselves with glowing red eyes. Their bodies grew in mass as well. Dark shadows fluttered around them. The three heroes stepped back to go up against the two entities which posed as the Legion of Super Hero members.

"Oh, you grow weaker as we grow stronger," the Lightning Lass Entity declared with a harsh growl. "I guess Superman really isn't all that super any more, is he?"

Lightning Lass nailed Superman and dropped him down onto the ground. Superman pulled himself to a standing position as the Phantom Girl entity swooped in from the ground. Power Girl flew at the entity and knocked it backwards off of the edge.

The entity floated in mid-air with a hiss. The cold air wrapped around it and it turned into the one thing that many who traveled through time feared most of all. It turned into a time wraith.

"I warned you wouldn't want the time wraiths to eat you. You should have listened!"

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Thursday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 1** **st** **, 2018.**


	96. Chapter 96

There's a blog exclusive chapter featuring Clark alongside Lois Lane and Daisy Johnson. Head to the Page of Important Links, the Web of Chaos Archives, and either the Stronger Together or Blog Exclusive chapter links. It's titled "Tension Busters."

* * *

 **Chapter Ninety-Six: The Ultimate Weapon Part Three**

Karen realized something very early in their battle against the demonic entities. There was no way they were going to outrun these entities. Trying to outrun them would be just like outrunning time itself. It was a futile endeavor one hundred percent of the way. Karen chewed down on her lower lip and took in a deep breath. She only had one thought in her mind.

"Run!" Karen shouted over her shoulder.

They moved off to the side. Dust kicked off into the air as the wraiths chased them to hunt down their prey. Karen never liked to run away from a battle, but circumstances indicated there was a first time for everything. One of the wraiths closed in with its skeletal hands outstretched, ready to grab onto Karen. Karen turned around and blasted the ground with heat vision to give them more cover. Smoke just flew up from the air.

"That won't hold them for long," Imra said. "We need to hold them off long enough for us to find the exit."

"It has to be close," Clark said. "But, will they let us get there in time?"

The question had been left unanswered. The wraith came close to them. Karen grabbed Clark's wrist and they veered off to the side. Imra closed her eyes and she could feel the darkness become more overwhelming with each step of the way. Her heart stammered a couple of beats the more they moved closer to the edge of this realm.

"We know the exit has to be close," Imra said. "We're just going to have to keep pushing forward and hope we can get to the exit."

The trio made their way down the beaten pathway. The wraith jumped out of the way. Imra used whatever mental attack she could muster to push it back. It was beyond difficult to repel a wraith in the state she was in. Somehow, Imra managed to do it, despite the struggles. Her eyes drooped over harshly and she drew in a very deep breath. Imra pulled back from the adversary who disappeared into the night.

"Keep going," Imra said. "Don't stop."

She had a pretty good feeling they closed in on the exit. The wraiths would not be getting as anxious as they were if they did not get this close. They were getting very close to something. They were getting very close to making an exit.

"I think that I can hold them off," Clark managed. "I can hold them off while you two find a way to get out of here or something."

"No," Karen said. "Absolutely not."

She was so firm in her statement that it took Clark aback. No one was making any sacrifices today. They would all get out of it together. Two of the wraiths circled around them. Karen, Imra, and Clark stood together. They somehow knew that numbers would make it harder for the wraiths to divide them and pick them apart. Clark could feel the adrenaline pumping in despite the fact he wanted nothing better than to pass out.

"More are coming," Clark groaned. "I can tell."

They passed through the rocks which dug into their feet. It would be a lot easier for them to jump over the rocks and fly in the sky. Given the circumstances though, flight was not exactly a very possible thing. They would just have to keep heading off in this direction and hope they could reach the edge of the mountain. Clark turned his neck from one side to the other, his heart still beating.

"We're getting closer," Imra said. "I can feel it. They're getting more restless."

No need for Imra to say anything. The hideous howls coming from these creatures painted more than a gruesome picture. Clark, Karen, and Imra made their way over. The wraiths came very close to attacking them. Clark punched a wall and sent the rocks flying at them.

It would only slow them down for a couple of seconds, but seconds could make the difference between life and death. The group kept moving, never once backing down from. They could not stop because stopping would mean their demise.

' _It has to be close,'_ Clark thought.

They made their way to the edge of the mountain. The wraiths grew even angrier the closer they went through the air. Imra put her hand up to stall their progress. Her heart beat a couple more times as she waited for them to fly across the way. They were getting closer and closer, and Imra's nerves were at the edge.

"Okay, this has to be it," Imra said. "I'm sure of it."

Imra stepped to the edge of the mountain and peered down. A large lake swirled around them. Imra could see it being their one way out. Her Legion Ring kicked back to life for a small second because of the strange energies swirling around in the pool.

"I'll see you on the other side."

In one daring move, Imra stole a quick kiss from her hero. She and Clark only met lips for a brief second, but it had been stunning. She moved to the edge and then jumped on it. She entered the lake as time started to flow among her. The water was scorching hot for a second and them cool.

"We better follow her."

Karen shoved Clark off of the cliff into the lake so he did not get any bright ideas about making a stand to save their asses. The next few seconds passed before Karen jumped off of the cliff and landed into the lake with a very solid splash as well.

The time wraiths howled in agony as their prey had gotten away. They would continue to thrive and survive.

* * *

Lara sat in front of the console deep in thought. She had the Fortress locked completely down, but for some reason, she did not feel too confident about the ability to keep the Fortress locked down. Henshaw broke free once before.

"I know Astra's patrolling on the outside," Lara said. "But, I'd like it if I had a little bit more control over what happened. He should not have gotten close to being in here."

"I know," Raya said with a frown. "I know."

Raya hated it, but there was not much they could do about it at this time. They were stuck with their backs against the wall in the Fortress. And they could not find a way to grab Kal-El as well. Raya returned to studying the footage of Henshaw blasting him. A second before Clark would be annihilated, he disappeared.

"Henshaw's not come back just yet," Astra reported in. "And when he does, I'm going to rip him in half."

"We're going to need him alive," Alura said. "He'll lead us back to Cadmus."

"I think his cybernetic components will do a pretty good job once we take them apart," Astra remarked. "But, if you want me to, I will leave him alive."

"Please do," Alura told her sister.

Astra just responded with a sigh and a brief smile directed at her sister. The things she would do to make Alura happy, they were many, to be honest. She just wanted to keep the peace.

Raya decided to stop watching the footage of Henshaw mostly because it had been entirely frustrating for her to watch. And also because she thought that there was no more to be gathered from these moments of footage. The group all had to play the waiting game to see what would happen.

"I wish I had more answers," Lara said.

"Instead, you're getting more questions."

Raya's statement rang unfortunately true for Lara. The more questions they had, the fewer answers they held. Lara wanted to tilt her head back and just scream. It would feel kind of good to just let her frustrations out at this level.

The similar energy flare from earlier had been picked up on the sensors of the Fortress. Lara thought for a second the security had failed. The lockdown almost finished, and she would have to see whether or not they would reapply it. Astra suggested they let it fail.

' _Can't say that I disagree with her."_

Another beacon flashed which caused Lara to jump almost ten feet in the air. More flares of energy kicked up around the Fortress. Lara put her hand on the edge of the console and waited for something to happen.

Two more time beacons popped up and they were coming right to the Fortress. The lockdown ended, and Lara turned to Raya and Alura.

"Wait here," Lara said. "I'm going to go investigate this."

Lara stepped out of the Fortress and joined Astra in the snow. Astra turned to her fellow survivor with a very evident frown popping up over her face.

"What is it?" Astra asked. "Henshaw returning?"

"No, another time traveler," Lara said.

Astra could not say with absolute certainty whether or not she approved of the time travelers any more than Henshaw. The very act of going through time flew in the face of the cold hard logic she had been brought up on. Regardless through, Astra looked on to see who was coming out.

Two individuals dropped down from the edge. Both dressed in skin-tight uniforms which their bodies filled in quite nicely. The dark haired girl looked on from the distance, from the edge of the ice. They gazed upon the Fortress and were spellbound by the sight of it.

"I can't believe it's still here!" one of the girls gasped in excitement. "After all of this time….well obviously it would have been still here. I mean, it didn't get demolished…or disappeared….or something…."

"Maybe it just got moved," the redhead said in an even voice.

"May we help you?"

Both girls turned around to see the fabled General Astra In-Ze, and they had to be spellbound by the sight of such a strong and powerful woman. Standing next to the General was the mother of their hero herself.

Lara noticed their excitement as they tried to get out their words. She also noticed two rings which resembled the one that Imra wore, and a ring which Karen claimed she wore when arriving from the future. Lara had so many questions to say and so little time to get them all out.

Another blast of light prevented Lara from getting anything out. She looked up to see the latest arrivals making their way to the Fortress.

* * *

Hank Henshaw turned into a glorified bloodhound as he hunted down Superman or at least his remains. Henshaw put on the image of what happened. The blast of warm light shot through the air and connected with Superman at the speed of light. It was to destroy him. Henshaw had to power down certain systems to conserve power.

"No," Henshaw said.

He noticed something which had been overlooked in the previous studies. The image of Superman vanishing just seconds before he would be hit by the final blow. Henshaw's eyes widened the second later when looking at everything. He tried to piece together some kind of explanation which would be obvious. The force did not knock him out, someone teleported Superman out.

Henshaw began to track for any temporal trails. He would find Superman, somehow. Even if he escaped, there could be no survival. He drained Superman of enough solar radiation to let his body hold.

"We have a problem," Henshaw said.

"Yes, you didn't kill Superman," Lex said. "Color me surprised."

Henshaw's eyes glowed red as he attempted to keep himself calm. No matter how many breaths he took, nothing would make him as calm as possible. Frustration just built to another level. He looked up to the sky. A bird flew by his head. Then a plane flew over his head. Neither was Superman.

An energy portal burst open and in flew Superman down to the ground. Henshaw stopped a second later to see a strong and completely refreshed Man of Steel.

"Sorry, I needed to take a pit stop to recharge."

Henshaw wasted no time in correcting the mistake. He would not try for a long range attack this time. He would take Superman down. Superman dodged the attack and Henshaw turned back around. Superman fired a heat vision beam at the ground forcing him to go up.

"You're still recharging from your battle earlier, aren't you?" Superman asked Henshaw.

Henshaw grabbed Superman around the head. Both Superman and Cyborg-Superman kicked up high into the air. They crashed down through a sign and landed on the other end. Both rolled about on the ground until Superman launched his adversary off to one side as hard as he could.

"Not for long!"

Henshaw rolled to his feet and almost collapsed. His arms and legs pumped off to one side and then to the other side. The Cyborg Superman and Superman surrounded each other. The battle between both sides took place with both firing punches.

Superman punched, punched, punched, away at his enemy. Henshaw took out a blade made of Kryptonite. Superman caught him with a huge attack to drop him down to the ground. Both smashed down onto the streets. The Cyborg-Superman rose up.

The Man of Steel circled around the city block three times before unloading on Henshaw with a huge punch. The punch sends Henshaw hurling back against the ground. The Cyborg Superman flipped over onto the ground and landed in a standing position.

"You think this is over," Henshaw said.

Superman came behind the Cyborg-Superman. The Cyborg-Superman fired a blast. A shield surrounded Superman's body to block the blast. Henshaw's eye widened before Superman blitzed him with a huge punch. The Man of Steel pulled back and kept punching away at his enemy.

"I'm ready this time," Superman said. "And it turned out, I did more than recharge."

Henshaw could see it and could not believe he had fallen for such an obvious ruse. The cyborg recovered and threw himself directly at Superman. His hand reared back and tried to grab Superman by the throat. Superman kicked off and slammed the full force of his elbow down onto Henshaw. He hurled Henshaw off to the side.

The Cyborg-Superman skidded to a stop. Several guns pointed at his body. The Cyborg-Superman turned around to see the Martian who stole his life, along with the DEO surrounding him. The lights flashed, as Power Girl and several other heroines dropped down to surround him.

"It's over," J'onn said to him.

The Cyborg Superman stood his ground despite the DEO agents all closing in on him. A small smile popped over Henshaw's face when looking at all of them closing on in. Did Henshaw think it was over?

"Yeah, you better go."

"Ms. Danvers," Henshaw said. "I knew your father."

Alex wanted to do nothing better than to rip this son of a bitch apart and melt him down for scrap. She held herself back despite her base emotions getting the better of her. It was very hard to do. Daisy put a hand on hers, in warning. The members of the DEO looked from Henshaw to Henshaw. Many did not ask any questions, but it was a very confusing situation.

"You think I'm coming along with you quietly?" Henshaw asked in a soft tone. "You're mistaken, I'm afraid."

Henshaw tapped the side of his arm, but something went wrong. The self-destruct feature did not work and he did not blow them all away. No matter how many times he tapped the edge of the button. Then, the rest of his robotic components shut down.

"Secure him!"

Superman stood off to the side and waited to see what would happen. Henshaw was not moving, almost as if someone had cut his strings. He caught sight of J'onn bending down and mentally shutting down the human part of his mind. The two locked eyes and Superman understood his implied thoughts.

' _One could never be too careful.'_

* * *

Many times, Hank Henshaw sat at the other end of this prison cell. Now, he was a prisoner in the organization which he ran for fifteen years of his life. The real Henshaw looked to the faux Henshaw, along with Agents Alex Danvers and Daisy Johnson. The two girls regarded him with agitation.

"You're not getting out of this cell anytime soon," J'onn said.

"If the DEO's standards have not fallen since I left, I should hope not," Henshaw said. "Because, if I do, I will hunt down every alien and make them pay."

"I'll be blunt," J'onn said. "Your employers sold you out. You owe them nothing. You should give them up."

Henshaw just cocked his head for a few seconds. "No, it was not my employers who betrayed me. He did…Lillian made a crucial error bringing him back. He's no different than Lionel Luthor, no matter how much he wishes to distance himself from that."

Daisy and Alex both looked at each other as time passed. Seconds just ground by on the clock. The eyes of Henshaw turned to them both.

"You're speaking of Lex Luthor," Alex said. "Do you know where he was?"

"I follow the orders of my superior," Henshaw said. "I will not betray them, no matter what."

"Even after they sold you out," Alex said. "Wow, you're Lillian's lap dog alright."

These words did not really affect Henshaw. He owed Lillian Luthor a debt which could never properly be repaid. He did not expect any of them to understand what he had gone through, and the sacrifices he had made for this country, and this world. Aliens were a disease that should be stopped out no matter what.

"Your father didn't know how to play for the right team," Henshaw said. "And his daughters have made a mistake. Of course, you're no longer pure. You're a freak. Although, if you played for the right thing than Cadmus could have taken care of your little scarab problem."

Alex's eyes shifted. She did not believe Henshaw for a single moment.

' _He's the one who is more machine than man,'_ the scarab thought. _'I believe you should not throw glass at stone houses, as the saying goes.'_

The scarab might have gotten the saying completely and utterly wrong. Alex just looked at the last man to have seen her father alive. It was still a bitter pill to swallow. Henshaw just smiled when looking at Alex. The wires connected to the back of his head allowed Daisy to access his programming. She bit down her lip as Alex put a hand on her friend's shoulder to try and get her to clam down.

"Please tell me you're having luck in cracking through him," Alex said.

Daisy took a second to look at the code. It was complex sure, but she could crack it. Only problem was Daisy was not planning to crack the code. She was checking for two things.

"Well, there's no Trojans in him, so that's a good thing," Daisy said. "But, the bad thing is there are no signals leading back to Cadmus."

Daisy blew down on her lip and came back with one of the most obvious sighs possible. She knew that they shut off Cadmus. No one was coming for him, which was both a good thing and a bad thing all rolled into one. Daisy threw her head back deep in thought.

"It's funny how this all ends," Henshaw said. "I've run the DEO for years and made one crucial mistake. And then I'm here, years later, sitting across from the Martian who stole my life. And now, this is how it ends….it's only a pity I won't be around to see aliens be exposed for what they truly are."

The DEO, his dream to hunt down and destroy all aliens, it would have to die.

"What happened to my father?" Alex asked.

"Well he's dead," Henshaw said.

Alex held out the cannon from her armor. It pointed directly at Henshaw who just stared her down with an unblinking smile. One could see how much he rattled the girl. He smiled at her rattled expression.

"You can't kill me because I've already been dead for years," Henshaw said. "The only thing that's keeping me alive is the need for revenge. And once I escape, I will come for you Martian."

As far as the DEO knew, this Henshaw as a robotic duplicate sent to infiltrate and destroy the DEO. He went rogue and went after Superman. Everyone bought the story as the most logical explanation, and J'onn knew there could be problems once it got out on the outside.

"How did my father die?" Alex asked.

"He was executed as a traitor by Cadmus," Henshaw said. "It was very painful after we extracted all of the information we needed. The fool thought that humans and alien could stand together in harmony."

Those lips curled into a very evident smile.

"He was mistaken. Cadmus will win the day."

* * *

Clark got off the phone with Kara, who hung out at the DEO. He flew back from the Kent Farm, up into the caves. He passed through the cave walls and appeared back into the Fortress of Solitude. He would be lying if everything had gone as planned.

"So, any luck?" Karen asked him the second he stepped on through the gates.

"Henshaw isn't leading back to Cadmus," Clark said. "But, at least he doesn't have anything on it that will infiltrate the DEO and cause us problems."

"Daisy checked him over?" Karen asked.

"Yeah, and Chloe helped," Clark said. "He's clean of all viruses. But, he's not leading back to Cadmus. And obviously, he refuses to say a word about his masters. He's loyal to the end."

Clark smiled at Karen, who just sighed. She put a hand on Clark and smiled. It was good to take advantage of time to get Clark healed up and also to pick up a couple of items. The Legion returned them back before they were missed.

"Lex is the one who shut Henshaw down," Clark said. "I haven't been able to get ahold of Tess."

It went without saying that Tess was busy hunting down Lex with every instant of her free time. Karen moved in to check on the Fortress. Clark heard the sound of running water stop and then he waited. He knocked on the door.

Imra answered the door seconds later. She dressed in a Superman nightshirt which came down to just barely touch her thighs. Clark realized she did not wear a single stitch of clothing underneath.

"Panties became obsolete in the twenty-fifth century," Imra said.

"Are you serious?" Clark asked her.

Imra just smiled and beckoned Clark to follow her in the room. Clark watched the night dress ride up to show a hint of Imra's creamy ass cheeks underneath the shirt. Clark found himself spellbound by the very look of her. Imra lead the way with a sway of her hips. She moved from the right to the left and then circled around. She sat down on the bed.

"I'm sorry for almost getting you killed," Imra said.

"It's fine," Clark said. "We're going to track down the time thief."

"Thank you," Imra said. "And I'll do what I can to help you."

The fabric of the Superman night shirt really formed a nice seal around Imra's beautiful body. Clark had been blown away by this woman's look. She reached in and cupped Clark's face.

"You won't believe how many years I searched for this shirt," Imra said. "Superman merchandise goes at a premium in the 31st century. They're antiques."

Irma squeezed Clark's bicep and smiled. His hands touched her side the closer the two of them drew into each other. Imra breathed as Clark grabbed her ass and squeezed it. The cheeks poking out just gave Clark a hold.

"The shirt looks nice on you," Clark told her.

Imra shrugged and shrugged off the shirt. She stood before Clark completely naked and she looked absolutely gorgeous in all of her beauty.

"Looks better on the floor."

She quickly unbuttoned Clark's shirt and took it off. Imra kissed Clark, pressing her bare breasts against his chest. Then her hands moved down to undo Clark's pants and pull out his hard cock.

* * *

Imra's fingers caressed Clark's big cock and rolled down to the base. His hard cock pushed into the heated hand of the woman.

"I have to taste this," Imra said.

"I have to taste you too," Clark said.

Both of them found their way over to the bed. Clarks cock stood up as Imra straddled his abs. Her juices stained Clark's hard abs. She scooted back so her thighs were pointed at Clark's face. Clark's huge cock rubbed against her face. Imra licked Clark's hard cock and just smiled. Her warm mouth took an inch or two in at time. A deep suck brought a moan from Clark.

Imra's warm mouth pushed against Clark's hard cock. He reached behind Imra and grabbed her ass to squeeze it. Her thighs opened up and Clark's tongue caressed the edge of her warm lips. Imra's thighs closed around Clark and released a steady amount of juices down onto his face.

Both lovers engaged in a very passionate dance with each other. Imra went down on Clark's cock while he ate out her pussy. Her warm throat opened up.

' _Oh, I love your cock,'_ Imra thought. _'Please, Kal-El, make me choke all over your cock.'_

Those thoughts projected into Clark's head with Imra stroking his balls. She grabbed them, squeezed them, and milked them. Imra pushed herself and took more of his cock into her throat.

' _I guess there are no gag reflexes in the future,'_ Clark thought in a sexually induced haze.

Imra blew Clark like there was no tomorrow. She was pleased to see how great he returned the favor. His tongue pushed deep against her and then kept licking around the center lips. Clark's hard prick pushed even deeper into her mouth. Imra sucked on Clark and moaned around his cock. The harder he pushed into her mouth, the more pleasure she flex.

Juices spilled into Clark's face. He just had to keep eating her out. The taste spurred him on. Plus, the more he licked her, the harder and faster she sucked his cock and played with his balls.

' _Oh, you're so amazing,'_ Imra thought. _'The girls are going to kill me for keeping this all to myself.'_

Imra's eyes watered at taking such a big engorged cock deep into her throat. She stayed the course and took Clark into her. Clark's hands brushed all over the back of her legs and made Imra almost explode in lust. She could not take any more. This cock could never leave her throat, there were no two ways about it.

Yet, all good things would have to come to an end no matter how amazing. Imra blew Clark. She messily blew him and made his cock rise up. It pushed into the back of her throat. Imra closed her eyes and sealed his cock up into her throat. She came again at the thought of having cum spill into her throat and gag her.

Clark shoved his cock into Imra's throat and spilled into her mouth. He pushed deep into her mouth. Both released their pleasure in a flood of juices.

Both lovers moved apart. Imra laid on top of Clark and could feel his cock brushed against his thighs. She turned around so her hero could get a nice look at the perfect ass.

"All for you," she said with a sultry smile. Her eyes peaked from her bangs.

Clark grabbed Imra's juicy booty and squeezed it. She caressed his manhood and got it to full mast. Clark held the back of her neck and rolled down to her body. He touched Imra's nipples and made her shake all over him. Her juices stained Clark's cock when working it close inside of her warm pussy.

"Good," Imra murmured. "I'm glad you're giving me this. Give me your cock."

She slid down onto Clark's big cock. The head just brushed against Imra's slick lips and made her want even more. She lowered herself down onto him and felt a huge amount of Clark's cock shove deep inside of her body. Imra's eyes shifted over the moment she dropped down onto Clark and filled her up.

The warm pussy grabbed onto Clark. He filled up her body. Her pussy rose up and dropped down onto Clark shoving more of his length inside of her. Clark touched Imra's hair and then cupped her warm breasts. He squeezed them and encourage Imra to keep riding him.

Imra bit down on her lip, a sight she was sure her hero could see from his vantage point on the bed. Juices coating his cock allowed Imra to slid down onto him. Clark pushed his hands against her and rubbed her nipples. Imra rose up and dropped down onto him.

"Oh, keep riding me!" Clark encouraged her.

She pulled away from Clark and turned her position. Imra ran her hands all over her body and then Clark did the same. Clark reentered her with waves of warmth surrounding him.

Imra arched herself back and rode the cock of her hero. She bounced up and down. Clark touched her breasts. The Last Son of Krypton squeezed her breasts and made Imra explode into waves of never-ending lust. Superman grabbed her breasts and made her cry out for more. The moment had been beyond amazing from Imra's perspective.

"YES!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "YES!"

She drove down onto Clark and came all over him. Imra worked herself up. She was pretty sure anyone in the Fortress could hear her moans.

"Minx," Clark growled when running his hands down her body.

They switched positions with Imra hanging over the side of the bed. Clark held her up and drilled his cock into her. They moved from front to front with each other. The Super powerful cock pushed deep into Imra's tight body. She milked him as her own orgasm flew past the gates.

"Yes," Imra said. "Baby, make me cum all night long. Make me cum, Superman!"

Her pussy throbbed at the constant reminder of Superman being the one to drive his big cock inside of her wet pussy. Imra's eyes glazed over for a second. She hung onto her lover, seeing stars. A blast of white light emitted from behind her eyes.

Clark's throbbing balls pointed down at Imra's wet pussy. He needed to drive inside of her fast and deep. Clark pulled from Imra and drove into her one more time. Their bodies met together as Clark moved closer to the end.

A few scattered thoughts came from her lover's mind. Imra knew he was close. Her legs moved into position. Clark ran his fingers down those beautiful legs and made Imra almost lose herself on his cock. His mouth, hands, and cock worked in tandem to drive her nuts.

"Cum for me," Imra breathed hungrily. "Oh, fuck, cum for me!"

Clark drove his big cock into her tight body. Her juices surrounded Clark's big cock and made him want to bust a nut inside of her. Imra's soft legs caressed his sides. Clark responded by rubbing on her perky little nipples and sucking on them.

Both lost themselves with Clark losing his load inside of Imra. Her insides clamped down on him and made Clark spill inside of her body.

Imra felt more recharged than ever before. This was the first time from Clark's perspective the two joined in love-making, although not the first time from her perspective. Time travel could be a very funny thing.

Clark finished, for now, but Imra was far from done.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Saturday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 3** **rd** **, 2018.**


	97. Chapter 97

**Chapter Ninety-Seven: To Serve and Protect.**

* * *

The last couple of days have been very interesting, and to be honest, Phantom Girl and Lightning Lass of the Legion of Super-Heroes were both pretty pleased that things did not go down really bad. They still needed to great the time thing.

"I can't believe Imra," Phantom Girl said. "To think, she was with Superman….and by with Superman, I mean, she was really with Superman."

"How can you tell?" Lightning Lass asked.

Phantom Girl just broke out into one of those grins as if someone knew something. "Trust me, a girl can tell. You don't have that type of glow on your face unless you're with someone like Superman. There's just no way."

The two members of the Legion shook their heads. At least they had a chance to be in the amazing Fortress of Solitude. They thought the Fortress had been lost after all of those years, buried throughout time. Tinya leaned back and smiled.

"So, do you think Superman actually had to destroy this Fortress?" Tinya asked. "Or did he just bury it so deep no one found it, even seven hundred years later?"

Ayla answered with a shrug and a shake of her head. The Legion of Superheroes representative thought that anyone's guess was just as good as the next. People argued what happened to Superman's Fortress of Solitude constantly over the last several years. No one had a good idea.

"Still talking about this after all of these years. Well, I suppose we should focus on the present right now."

Saturn Girl stepped out. Imra dressed in a black tank top and a pair of jean shorts which fit her body nicely. One could say this particular woman had been in a pretty good mood when she walked with a saunter and a sway of her hips. Both of her teammates just looked on at her with a smile.

"I can't believe you jumped the line in front of us," Phantom Girl said.

Imra placed her hand on Tinya's shoulder and leaned in to give her teammate an innocent smile. "Sorry, team leader privileges gives me some perks that the rest of the team doesn't have."

The expression of frustration on Tinya's face was pretty horrible. The other two looked up instantly for the next arrival with Tinya gasping instantly. Ayla showed a little bit more refresh.

"You must be Ayla and Tinya," Clark said with a smile.

It was odd to meet someone you've already met before several times for the first time. The members of the Legion all looked at Superman for a second. Ayla leaned in and grabbed Superman's hand and shook it.

"Sir, it's an honor," she said, practically gushing. "I mean…I know we know more about you than you know about yourself, and….I think we should keep our mouth shut about what we know in the future…and we are in the middle of a mission you know."

"It really is an honor," Tinya said with a smile as wide as possible. "We still, we still have to find him though. You know, the time thief. The reason why we went back in time in the first place."

"Yes, I'm glad the two of you remember that," Imra said. "And I'm still curious about what separated us."

It was a pretty good question. There were many enemies who were looking to do the Legion harm and they would have sucked them into this different time period. Superman turned to the three heroines and motioned for them to come closer to him.

"My Fortress is at your disposal to do what you need to with it," Superman said. "I have a feeling you're going to need all the help you're going to get going forward."

"You would be correct," Imra answered without skipping a beat. "And thank you, we do need all of the help. I'm glad that we can work together. I just wish we could have gotten together under better circumstances."

' _And I hope those better circumstances would not have ever involved getting eaten by time wraiths,'_ Imra thought with half of a shudder.

She turned to look over the Fortress in all of its glory. Clark, Kal-El, Superman, walked over to get a call. He explained that he enlisted the help of the DEO to try and nail down the time thief. Imra decided it would be a good idea to get some help.

"Hey, Daisy," Clark said.

"I've got some facial recognition on the man the agents chased down earlier," Daisy said. "Granted, they're not our agents, they're from another mysterious government agency of mystery. There are a lot of those around, believe it or not."

Clark could believe it honestly. Various government agencies always seemed to be up to something, and Clark hoped that they were on his side.

' _There's also Cadmus,'_ Clark reminded himself very darkly.

"I'll swing on by and we can compare notes," Clark said. "I'm going to bring by some friends who are investigating this. Maybe we can get something together."

Clark got off the phone and turned to the Legion girls who all broke out into smiles. Imra sobered up before any of them did. She reached in and put her hand on Clark's shoulder with a smile.

"Let's go," Imra said. "The sooner we capture this time thief, the better."

* * *

Alex Danvers plopped herself in front of the desk and had been resigned to a very long day's work. She held the piece of metal she found from Henshaw's body. This was alien metal the likes of which she had never encountered in her life. Alex bit down on her lip when looking over the metal.

' _You're upset about this Henshaw, aren't you?'_ the blue beetle scarab asked.

' _How could you tell?'_ Alex asked. _'The fact he implied that my father was some kind of traitor, that he suffered. Never mind, my father was convinced to help the DEO under Henshaw's thumb because he wanted to protect Kara. He was a good man who had been forced away from his family.'_

' _Yes,'_ the scarab said. _'I think that Henshaw is playing what humans like to call mind games with you. And you're allowing him inside of your head.'_

' _My head's plenty crowded enough with the both of us in here, thanks,'_ Alex thought.

Alex received a call from Carol, but she had to put it off. She had so much important work to do. Carol might have wanted to talk about what Alex found out from Henshaw about their father.

Truthfully, though, Alex did not know much of anything. Henshaw had been talking about Jeremiah as if he had been held for days and tortured for any amount of information before being executed as a traitor to Cadmus. He seemed pretty happy out there.

"Are you alright?"

No need to call Carol back because the woman herself showed up in person. She placed a hand on the back of Alex's chair and made her stand up straight. The two sisters locked eyes with each other.

"I'm not going to lie," Alex said. "I've been all over the place as of late."

Carol responded with a nod. The oldest Danvers sister had been haunted by a couple of thoughts regarding her father for a while. Alex had a very rosy view of the man who raised her. Carol had a more realistic view and remembered Jeremiah Danvers as a good, but flawed man. He most certainly might have been willingly involved with something like Cadmus, until he realized what it was actually doing.

"Let the dead rest," Carol said. "I know you're angry what happened, but nothing can change the past."

"I'm….I'm just wondering how much he told them," Alex said. "Granted, I'm sure the bulk of the information about Kryptonians came from Lionel Luthor, but still….he wouldn't do it willingly."

"No."

Carol said this statement hoping to make her sister better. He did not harm anyone willingly, that was what Carol thought about her father above everything else. She drew in a very evident breath and slid her neck back to look up at the sky.

"I have a feeling we'll nail this guy pretty soon. Just a hunch I have."

Daisy stepped into the corner with Carol and Alex looking up at the arriving DEO agent. They had been joined by Clark and the trio of time travelers a short.

"Any luck with your mystery guest?" Alex asked.

Clark shook his head and one could see the frustration begin to mount in his tone. The look on his face made Alex wonder about something.

"We have more problems," Alex said.

"What did you expect?" Daisy asked. "Imra, do you think you can explain it to her like you did me?"

Imra responded with a sigh. Yes, she figured it would be for the best they were on the same page. She motioned for Alex to sit down.

"Our greatest enemies, the Fatal Five, have also come to the present," Imra said. "The more time travelers who come into the time period, the greater chance there is for something to go horrifically wrong."

"You don't say?" Alex asked. "The Fatal Five are…."

"They are the greatest enemies the Legion of Superheroes has ever known," Imra said. "We've caught a glimpse of one of them on one of your traffic security cameras. Emerald Empress is the leader, and one of the constants of the Fatal Five."

A soft sigh came from Imra. Clark tightened his arm around her and she returned back to the conversation at hand.

"The time thief is bad enough with the information he stole. It can't fall into the wrong hands. The Fatal Five going after the information has made this even more of a time-sensitive situation."

The good news was they did not grab ahold of the case just yet. They would know if that happened. The bad news and this was the more unfortunate thing, they did not know how long it would take before someone could figure the case open.

"We have a lead," Kara said poking her head around the corner. "Do you want me to come?"

"The more hands on deck the better," Imra said. "The Fatal Five is not going to play nicely, especially when they know we're onto them."

"Which is why I'm coming too," Carol said.

Time was running out. They needed to swoop in and grab the package from the time thief for all of their sakes. The sands of time poured into the hourglass.

* * *

The Fatal Five set up headquarters in the twenty-first century. Emerald Empress smelled the air and crinkled her nose at it.

' _It's no wonder humanity is practically extinct within the next few centuries,'_ the Emerald Empress said. _'It might do them a kindness to speed up the process.'_

Emerald Empress grinned at their captive time thief. He paced back and forth in the cell. Outside of the cell on the table laid the case. The Emerald Empress put her hands firmly on the case. The case would not budge no matter what.

"We've been working around the clock to try and get that open."

Another member of the Fatal Five stepped from the shadows. Emerald Empress acknowledged her with a nod. A blue robe came over her body, with metallic parts underneath. Caress just smiled at the Emerald Empress. The two of them walked over.

"The Legion closes in," Emerald Empress said. "The benefactor has warned us what will happen if we fail to get the information back in a timely manner."

Caress answered with a very grim nod. The Benefactor warned them of a lot of things. She had a question just dying to get out. Emerald Empress turned to Caress and gave her the once-over. The woman leaned back for a second and then decided to spit out the question.

"Have you ever seen the Benefactor?"

"He sends his information through transmissions," Emerald Empress said. "He's allowed us to remain one step ahead. He's even delayed the Legion for us. We just had no idea that it would be so difficult to get the package open."

The package the time thief brought a thousand years into the past taunted Emerald Empress. She turned to the time thief who remained very agitated in the cell. He rose up from the cot in the cell, spent the next couple of minutes pacing around, and then dropped down on the cell cot several times. He repeated this ritual several times over the next couple of minutes, getting more progressively agitated as time went on.

"I'm sure you've figured out by now you're not leaving that cell," The Emerald Empress responded. "Not unless you've told us how to crack the box open."

"I've told you once, and I've told you again!" the time thief practically spat out. "I've told you everything that I know. I didn't steal the box for myself. The person who stole it from, they were going to pay me. How they got it open, I don't know!"

Emerald Empress raised an eyebrow. The thief almost ran into the cell and smashed into the bars hard. It was about as futile of an exercise as you don't imagine.

"Well, until we figure out a way to open this box, then you stay right here," Emerald Empress said. "There is no honor amongst thieves at this time or any other time. You're not leaving until we find a way to get the box open. Do you understand me?"

The Time Thief gave a grudging nod, grumbling all of the way. The Emerald Empress turned back around to focus on the box. Caress stood a couple of feet away from her.

"Why doesn't the Benefactor come and get the box to open it up if he wants it so badly?" Caress asked. "Why do we have to be the ones who hold onto the box?"

"Because," Emerald Empress said with a firm glare towards Caress. "Because he insists on us transmitting the information in this box to him. It's the way he wants to communicate."

Caress frowned at the Emerald Empress's words. She put an awful lot of stock in someone who was not seen and rarely heard. The other members of the Fatal Five did not even hear from this mysterious benefactor, even though Emerald Empress put a lot of stock in him and swore that he existed. She supposed that they would have to agree to disagree on certain situations.

She moved across and noticed the other members of the Fatal Five move. Another member of the Fatal Five, a red skinned woman with fire surrounding her approached the scene.

"The Legion and Superman approach," she said to the Emerald Empress.

"So, they have found the entrance," Emerald Empress said. "Regardless, we have a few surprises. Twenty-First-century technology is not without its uses as you'll find out soon."

Emerald Empress started to push a couple of buttons on the council to get ready for the attack. The console lit to life. She wrapped up the little surprise she had for Superman and her enemies at the Legion before turning back around to address the rest of the members of the Fatal Five.

"Inform the Persuader and Thatork to be in position, Flare."

The woman known as Flare nodded before she joined Caress in getting ready. The Emerald Empress turned and looked at the case to get a fresh perspective on it.

* * *

Up in the sky, Superman dropped down in front of an abandoned warehouse. Blue Beetle, Quake, and Captain Marvel followed him from all sides. Supergirl joined seconds later, along with Lightning Lass, Phantom Girl, and Saturn Girl. A small army of protectors closed into the lab on all sides.

"So, an abandoned lab?" Clark asked Chloe.

Chloe chuckled at Clark's very obvious exasperation about the entire situation. "Yes, an abandoned lab. I know, it seems like the tastes of villains have changed very little over the centuries, haven't they?"

Clark would have to imagine so. He stepped into the lab followed by the ladies of the Legion of Super-Heroes. The others moved around towards the back entrance. Imra stepped forward and looked around.

"Appearances are not what they appear," Imra said. "Especially when you're dealing with the likes of the Fatal Five."

Time had not had any noticeable shifts. They remained rooted on the ground.

"Well, if the Legion had the box opened, and used what they had, it's not like we would be standing here and having this conversation," Tinya said. "Right?"

Imra responded with a non-committal nod. She figured that Tinya had a pretty good point. They could have been erased to the past if they were not careful. She stepped in and noticed something on the edge of the wall. Imra touched her hand on the tackboard and ran her hand down it. The image flickered.

"That looks like…." Ayla said. "It can't be?"

"What?" Clark asked.

Imra figured it was best she explained to him the best she could. "It's a time portal. I've seen the design before, but it was a trip we've taken further out into the future."

More questions raised and precious few of them looked to have any kind of answer attached to them. Clark put his finger on the bridge of his nose and leaned back with a very evident sigh. He was trying to piece together something, and he came to one obvious conclusion.

"So?" Clark asked. "Are you saying that the Fatal Five is taking technology from even further into the future than….."

A loud click echoed and Clark looked above his head. Several drones popped out from seemingly out of nowhere and circled around Clark's head. The Man of Steel looked up to spy the drones above his head. They circled around his head and one of them locked onto him. A blast of red light fired at Clark. Clark evaded the attack and moved around the drones before moving them in the head.

A crackle of light shot through the air and slammed one of the drones down. Lightning Lass moved back and attacked the drones.

"I forgot how insufferable the constant use of attack drones was," Imra said. "I'm so glad criminals grew out of that faze by the middle part of the twenty-second century."

She used an invisible mental shield to block the attack. Phantom Girl jumped up and put her hand through the drone to register a miniature explosion. The drone collapsed down onto the ground, with smoke billowing out of it. Phantom Girl flipped down onto the ground and almost collapsed down to one knee.

"Duck!" Clark yelled.

Phantom Girl spun around and caught the drone in her hand. She blasted it down to the ground. She stood shoulder by shoulder with Saturn Girl and put one of the drones down as hard as humanly possible. The drone just shattered underneath the combined attack from the two heroines.

"Yeah, this isn't getting any easier," Lightning Lass said. "They've upgraded them with future technology."

"There's got to be some computer controlling these," Clark said. "Fry the power to the building!"

Phantom Girl was already on it. She shifted through the drones and then disappeared in a blink of an eye. A skilled hacker could find a way to stop anything, especially before they wrecked her hero.

The sound of one of the larger drones crashing through the window disrupted all of their concentration. Kara smashed the back of the drone. Her fists repeatedly and endlessly smashed against the drone and reduced it into pieces.

Three orbs came up. They created an energy field and trapped Supergirl in it. The drones triangulated and pushed in the energy walls. It grew more cramped the more Supergirl struggled against the energy wall.

Clark jumped up and smashed his fist through one of the orbs. The orb dropped down and Kara slipped through the crack. The two cousins stood shoulder by shoulder and launched their heat vision at the drones. The drones cut through and crashed onto the ground.

Daisy joined the battle, bent over. A couple of cuts were on her face. Alex and Carol came on from the other side. Daisy declined help and rose up to a standing position her own. She held a hand out and aimed it towards the drone. The drone smacked into the wall.

"I think I've got it!" Tinya yelled.

The drones all shut down and dropped down to the ground. Clark could hear something rattling in the wall.

"Someone help me with this wall!"

Clark punched the wall hard. Kara and Carol joined him. Daisy cleared her throat and motioned for them to stand back. She rocked the wall back and tore it completely open.

On the other side of the wall laid a glowing silver orb. Imra moved over to the orb instantly.

"Diversion tactics," she murmured underneath her breath. "Of course it was."

It did not mean they could not take the orb and study it and try and figure out whether or not it would lead them. This orb had to be the key to something.

* * *

"I don't doubt this orb has to be the key to something. The question is what."

Daisy set the orb on the table of one of the mobile DEO command outposts in the area. She bit down on her lip and hooked the orb up to the computer. Some careful maneuvering required Daisy to take this a bit slower than normal, interfacing a thirty-first-century piece of technology with a computer from this century.

"Okay, got to take this carefully," Daisy said. "The last thing I want to do is mess us all up by blue screening us to death."

Some careful work from Daisy configured the orb into the DEO computer. The technology was not found and why would it be.

"Okay, fine," Daisy said.

The others stood and allowed the hacker to do her work. Finally, Tinya spoke up.

"Why don't you try and seek out similar frequencies?" Tinya asked. Daisy turned around for a few seconds and gave Tinya a very long look. The poor girl looked a bit terrified at being stared down like that. "Sorry."

"Actually, that's a good idea," Daisy said. "We should look at that right now"

The technology was so advanced that if there was anything like that on Earth, they would know. Daisy felt her computer run sluggish to keep up with the output pouring in from the orb.

"Come on, don't die on me," Daisy begged her computer. "That's the last thing I need right now, for you to die on me. Don't…"

Daisy groaned and kept moving in to hack the computer. It was taking a while to do this, and time was running short. She could feel a tension headache coming on. Daisy pressed her fingers to the keyboard and tried to bite back the swears she wanted to just flow out.

Clark kept his attention on Daisy, but he figured it did not do her much good to have people stare at her when trying to track down information While Daisy hacked away, Clark turned his full attention to Imra.

"So?" Clark asked. "What's in the case?"

Imra responded by opening her mouth. She figured some kind of explanation was in order. The Legion of Superheroes owed Clark a lot of things and what they owed him most of all.

"It's…."

A loud bang echoed from the side of the command post to rock all of the people inside. The girls of the Legion realized what happened instantly. Another slam of the side of the command post rocked them. Alex flew into position to put the shields up to prevent any further attacks.

"It might have been too little too late," Kara said.

"No need to find the Fatal Five here, if they're knocking on our door!" Daisy yelled.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Monday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 5** **th** **, 2018.**


	98. Chapter 98

Another Stronger Together Blog Exclusive Archive takes place between Clark and Patricia Swann. Head to the Page of Important Links, the Web of Chaos Archives, and the Blog Exclusive Chapter Archives or Stronger Together Chapter Archives to check it out. It's titled "Check Up."

And on to your feature presentation.

* * *

 **Chapter Ninety-Eight: Fatal Five Part One**

* * *

The constant and the never-ending bombardment of the Fatal Five's to the command unit of the DEO rocked them all. Alex put her hands up into the air the second the command unit received another direct hit. The hit rattled the entire command post and caused them all to receive a frustrating amount of motion sickness. Daisy put her hands on the edge of the computer which she used to perform the hacking.

"Another shot like that and we won't be able to withstand it," Alex said.

"Should we go out?" Kara asked.

Daisy shook her head at the younger girl's words. She moved into position and activated the computer. They would need to get the defenses on to repel the Fatal Five. Saturn Girl closed her eyes and tilted her head back while taking a few obvious breaths.

"The Fatal Five is sending warning shots because they want us to know they're there. They aren't going to attack us just yet…and there…we're going to have to get to them as well."

"Well, we're not going to sit down and take it like good little soldiers," Daisy said. "If we're going to get a chance to fight back, then we're going to get a chance to fight back."

The fortified base kept another explosion from rocking side base. Daisy dragged her nail down the side of her face and entered a very deep sigh. She tried to get the monitoring on to get some visual. It was possible they were attacking long range and were completely and totally out of sight. Daisy really hoped they were not so she could get a pretty good fix on these bastards.

"Okay, let me get a fix on them," Daisy said. "And I'm sure…."

The doors slid open and the three members of the Legion of Super-Heroes stepped out of the back of the van, followed by Superman and Supergirl. They all looked from the left and to the right. They saw a brief image flicker before the very obvious realization of the matter in all of its ugliest set in.

"The Fatal Five are gone," Superman said.

"Maybe," Supergirl said. "But maybe not…look."

Supergirl extended a solo finger off to the side when realizing they had left some kind of trail for them. The Girl of Steel stepped on in just a little bit closer. Phantom Girl and Saturn Girl walked on in as well with Saturn Girl stopping and looking at the air. A chill rose from her body when studying the energy trail.

"They left something behind," Saturn Girl said. "I think it was intentional."

Intentional or not, this was the only trail they had to locate their adversaries. There was no question about it, they would have to take it for better or for worse. The Legion, Superman, and Supergirl gave chase to their enemies, flying off in the opposite direction towards them.

This left Daisy, Alex, and Carol at the Command Station. Carol watched one sister fly off before turning to the other sister who was watching her best friend hard at work.

"We're going to figure out this future technology yet," Daisy said with very resigned determination. "I haven't found a piece of alien technology which I hadn't been able to decode yet. And you better believe your ass that I'm not about ready to start failing right now."

Daisy bit down on her lip and got to work in decoding this mysterious orb. The defenses were up, and Daisy had a couple of the best people out there watching her back, so she was not worried at all. Daisy just had to keep plugging away and keep doing what she was doing. It was not going to be easy.

* * *

Lex Luthor explored the floors of Cadmus and learned more information by the minute which intrigued him and learned a fair bit of information which frightened him as well. The organization had been well funded and well researched.

' _Not sure how I feel about some of the things my mother is doing.'_

Cadmus reached complications of their goal. Lex studied every single company record of Cadmus and also watched on the security cameras the employees. His mother did not confront him about the entire Henshaw incident just yet. Lex did not feel the need to explain anything he did either, so it was just best if they spent some time apart. Lex read over company report after company report.

Every now and then, a signal indicating a power surge beeped up. Lex looked at the signal for several minutes and realized something was here. Each signal brought Lex's interest further and further to the center. He kept studying the screen with intrigue growing by each possible minute.

Lex reached down and saw a couple of the company records had been sent out. While Lex could not quite follow the paper trail to its most obvious destination point, one thing became abundantly clear that someone had been infiltrating Cadmus and messing with their records. Lex wondered if his mother had been aware of this.

' _No, she hasn't,'_ Lex reminded himself. _'Why would she be aware of any of this. She's blinded by her own tunnel vision.'_

The young man could have left at any time, but he was not ready just yet. Lex looked further into the system and observed the small strains of alien code which found their way into the system and infected it. Lex could tell something was up instantly by just looking at it.

Something about this alien code seemed very familiar to Lex as well. The more he thought about it, the more questions it raised. And the more questions it raised, the more frustrations came to light. Lex put his nails on the side of his head and took in another deep breath.

A couple of the scientists walked about. Did they not know what had been infecting the system? Lex took a few steps away from the lab. One of the guards stood up to eye him.

"If you know what's good for you, you're going to me pass."

The guard looked very conflicted. Lex stared said guard directly in the eye and made him back down and allow Lex to pass. Lex looked around the facility and images popped up. Three time travelers at least could have been accounted for. Lex followed the progress of the time travelers with a growing frown. One thought popped into the back of his head when studying the movements, back and forth of the time travelers.

' _This will cause complications.'_

"We're looking for this man, sir," one of the scientists said.

An image popped up of a gentleman carrying a case. He looked like the unsophisticated type, little more than a petty thief who arrived. He stumbled upon something great and now had been on the run after people had been chasing him for the last little while.

"Fascinating," Lex murmured underneath his breath. "Do you have any idea what he has?"

"No, but there are branches of the government who would do anything to get their hands on this particular item, sir," the scientist responded.

Lex put his hands on his scalp and entered a very scathing chain of thoughts.

' _The government would not have any idea how to use this. They would end up killing more people than they would help. I can't allow the United States government to get their hands on this, no way. Or any government for that matter. I'm the one who has to take it.'_

"Is there anyone else who would be after this item?" Lex asked in his harshest and most sharp voice directed at the scientists as they had got to work.

"No, sir," the scientist responded a couple of seconds later. "Wait, yes, there's someone, sir, I don't know….I don't know what to make of this."

The young Luthor heir appeared rather unimpressed by the shaky statement coming from this particular scientist. He put a hand on the back of the young man's chair and forced him to look over his shoulder. "Given that you're a scientist, it would be for the best you made something of this and soon. Do you understand?"

Said scientist answered with a shaky nod when grabbing onto the edge of the chair. Lex Luthor breathing down his neck made it very difficult for the scientist to accomplish much of anything in this particular position. He really did have to try though.

"I believe there are at least five more time travelers," the scientist said, sounding very nervous and shaky as he spoke. "They are traveling in a group. And these aren't like the other time travelers. They aren't afraid to use force."

A grainy video footage image appeared for Lex's visual consumption. One of them swung a huge ax down onto the ground and nailed the wall hard. The wall split down the middle.

"Keep monitoring the situation," Lex said.

"And we haven't still figured out what caused Mr. Henshaw to shut down," another scientist said.

Lex shook his head in amusement at the man. He put a hand on the back of his chair. "Well, you best keep searching for those answers then. If Cadmus has been infiltrated by rogue agents, I'm sure the Commander won't be happy to find it out. And she's the type of woman you want to keep happy at all costs isn't she?"

None of the scientists had the nerve to comment about the very detached nature of Lex's statement regarding his mother. They just all got back to work and left Lex deep in thought.

* * *

Saturn Girl picked up the trail. Many thoughts went through the heroines head and for once, they were not the thoughts of other people. She felt very anxious the closer they got. Supergirl and Superman joined the rest of the Legion.

A silver orb with spikes rolled on the ground. Saturn Girl's mouth hung open halfway before she quickly snapped herself around to look at her fellow teammates.

"Everyone get back!" Saturn Girl yelled at the top of her lungs.

The orb burst open to release a cloud of gas. Superman found it very hard to see through the cloud of gas with his X-Ray vision. The vision blurred over the more Superman tried to back off. The Man of Steel shielded his eyes just in time for a large glowing ax to swing out of nowhere.

The Persuader came an inch away from nailing Superman. The Man of Steel came face to face with one of the dangerous enemies the Legion warned him about. One of the Fatal Five rushed towards Superman while swinging that huge ax.

Superman avoided the ax from coming down on the back of his head. He blocked another shot with the ax and pushed back his enemy. Superman pounded his enemy with multiple punches which brought him back down onto the ground.

A projection of white-hot light came off to take Lightning Lass off guard. Phantom Girl turned around just in time to come across Flare who popped into the position.

"Hey, little girl!" Flare jeered. "Afraid of the heat."

She generated a huge amount of heat around her which made Phantom Girl step back a couple of feet in sheer agony. So much heat came at her as fast and furious as one would expect. Phantom Girl stepped back just in time to appear into perfect position to nail her enemy.

Saturn Girl moved on in for the attack only to come face to face with Tharok of the Fatal Five. The metallic, enhanced criminal moved towards her with a smile.

"I wonder what the Legion would do without their fearless leader," Tharok said.

"They'll survive," Saturn Girl said. "the Legion is more than one person. Unlike the Fatal Five who would struggle without the Emerald Empress telling them what to do every step of the way."

This particular statement did not endear Saturn Girl to the member of the Fatal Five. He unleashed a wave of energy. Saturn Girl blocked said wave of energy with her mind. The energy came very close to digging into her head and weaponizing all of her thoughts. Saturn Girl refused to be broken so easily.

Tharok bombarded Saturn Girl with multiple attacks to almost put her down on the ground. The Legion of Superheroes representative dropped to the ground and took a deep breath before returning to a standing position. She would have to keep fighting no matter what the cost. Saturn Girl would not go down that easily, no matter what.

Caress jumped into the battle right in front of Supergirl.

"Girl of Steel!" Caress said. "I'm not impressed with you."

She excreted some kind of acidic substance from her body which forced Supergirl back a little bit. The battle between the Persuader and Superman continued off to the side.

"Well, I'm not impressed by the Fatal Five either," Supergirl said.

She drove down to the top of the head of the woman in question. Caress caught the foot and flipped Supergirl down. Supergirl flipped over onto the ground just in time. A sound of a rushing figure out of the corner of her eye caught Supergirl off guard. The Persuader flung his ax down onto the ground from the other side.

"Switch?" Supergirl asked.

Both Kryptonian cousins responded with a nod before blasting forward against their adversaries. They both connected with their enemies. Superman took Caress down onto the ground. The acid trail burned Superman for an instant before his body had been healed.

"Come on!" Supergirl yelled to the Persuader.

The Persuader took his huge ax above his head and obliterated the side of the building with Supergirl coming out of the way. Several cars exploded with Supergirl flying backward to avoid the attacks of her very deadly enemy. The Girl of Steel hovered in mid-air for a second before waiting for her enemy to rush on through.

Several more explosions in mid-air made Supergirl stand up on edge. Her deadly enemy moved closer towards her and made one more frantic push at her. Supergirl put the ax in her hand and then kicked him off to the ground. The Girl of Steel flew around the man in bright and rapid-fire circles all the while punching at her enemy. Said enemy kept swinging his fists at her to try and nail Supergirl. The Girl of Steel flipped up off of the ground and drove her feet into the back of her enemy's head to drop him down to one knee.

A green energy bubble engulfed Supergirl. The eyes of the Girl of Steel widened. She frantically slammed against the bubble. The energy surrounding her refused to bend at this point. It only made it very difficult for Supergirl to get out no matter how hard she tried to pound out from the energy bubble. She scratched and clawed all the way as frustration just rose.

Saturn Girl found herself in an energy bubble next. Phantom Girl and Lightning Lass joined their leader. Flare smiled when observing the struggling members of the Legion in their perfect position. They were captured and unable to break free no matter how hard they struggled.

Superman flew high into the sky. Something engulfed him just a second later. Caress smiled when putting her hand on the edge of the bubble. Her smile mocked Superman.

"Well, we might have to keep you at the very least as a trophy," Caress said. "It would really kill the morale of the rest of the Legion brats."

They waited for any kind of news to finish them off. Something else appeared across from the sky.

"What's that?" Caress demanded.

Superman curled up into a very evident smile. He looked extremely amused by how upset the Fatal Five had become during this time.

"It's backup," Superman informed them.

"Hardly," Caress said. "You're not going to get out of here this easy."

The orbs transported one at a time and disappeared into a blink of an eye. They disappeared just in time to see Power Girl come around the corner. There was no Legion, no Supergirl, and Superman. The Fatal Five were still there and Power Girl blasted as fast as possible to her enemies. She would not let them get away.

Tharok opened up a portal and the deadly enemies of the Legion disappeared through the portal. Karen caught the energy trail being left behind by them even though they could not access the portal themselves.

' _That should be more than enough for Indigo to decode.'_

* * *

Daisy Johnson tried not to let her frustration get the better of her. She found looking over this mysterious alien orb to the future to be an exercise in frustration.

For the next couple of minutes, Alex looked over at her and looked like she was trying to struggle what to say. Daisy turned her attention to Alex a couple of seconds later with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, do you have anything to say?" Daisy asked her.

Alex brought out into a half of a smile and a half of a grimace. "Really depends, to be honest. Is whatever I'm going to say going to get me into any trouble?"

Daisy frowned. She was not really that bad when she was hacking, was she? Okay, Daisy could be a little frustration and try to interface with thirty-first technology was harder than she thought. And Daisy did not even think it would be easy, but she did enjoy the challenge involved. Daisy's fingers brushed her hair a few seconds.

"It's far into the future," Alex said. "But, it must have been based on something further back."

"If you would accept my assistance, then I would be only too happy to help," Indigo piped in over the computer system. "Because I feel the orb is the key to what I'm looking forward."

As much as Daisy's pride got stung, accepting help was one of the best things she could do going forward. Daisy tilted back in the chair and took a look at her progress notes which amounted to pretty much less than nothing. Daisy slumped herself in the chair and drew in a deep breath.

"Okay," Daisy said. "What do you got?"

"I'll know in approximately one minute," Indigo said. "Give me a chance to operating interface the technology."

A radio signal popped on and Power Girl came over it. Daisy knew from the sound of her breathing that it was not anything good at all.

"I'm tracking the Fatal Four," Power Girl said. "They've gotten away."

"Is Kara with the others still?" Alex asked.

Alex had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach that something happened. She could not put her finger on what happened, although she just had one of those feelings. The sickening feeling only increased at Karen's hesitation.

"Well, I assume so," Karen said. "I arrived just in time to see Supergirl, Superman, and the Legion being transported in orbs by the Fatal Five. And they opened a portal and escaped before I could get to them."

Alex remained depressingly calm despite the situation. It would not do them any good for Alex to get upset and to enter a state of rage.

"How are you coming along on tracking them?" Alex asked after regaining her composure.

Her voice shook a little bit. Carol, who did not say anything for a second, activated the earpiece.

"Karen?" Carol asked. "Tell me immediately where she is when you find it. I'll be with you…Alex stay here and protect Daisy."

Alex was not really happy about this particular situation. Daisy could tell Indigo was not as bad online as she would like. There were a few kinks to work out.

"I've found the trace," Indigo said. "Unfortunately, due to my programming only being partially repaired, I can't de-code how to open the portal. I can share one fact with you…it's in the Phantom Zone."

One hand to the face caused Alex to rub the side of her temples. This entire mess was just getting far worse for the moment. She did not really know how to react going forward, only with very solid groans. Alex rubbed her temple a little bit more and grimaced.

"I did track a similar signal to one of the orbs to a military base across town," Karen said.

"The Fatal Five is hiding underneath the military's nose?" Alex asked. "That's pretty brazen of the Five."

"And another obvious trap," Karen said. "They might be out to capture more heroes. Indigo, is there any way you can decode the portal?"

"Unfortunately, as I told you, all of my components would not be online and safe to be commissioned for several more weeks," Indigo said. "It is fortunate Alura had a very primitive version of myself on the ship and was able to roll me back to this point. Now she has to painstakingly code in everything else."

"I feel her pain," Daisy said.

They would have to work on finding a way to re-open that portal.

"Carol, I have an idea," Karen said. "Do you think you can meet me?"

"Yes," Carol said. "I'll be back."

Carol received the coordinates. Alex leaned back in the chair. She knew better than to disagree with Carol, at least outward. She had to police both Alex and Kara when they were younger when their mother was away at business conferences, and Carol had a pretty imposing presence.

' _I'll give her about a couple of hours and find my way in,'_ Alex thought. _'So what do you say about opening up a portal to the Phantom Zone?'_

' _Under most circumstances, I wouldn't advise it,'_ the scarab warned her. _'But, considering you're not going to listen, it would be a waste of bio-energy.'_

Perhaps the scarab disappearing about something should have been Alex's cue that she should really not go through with this very insane plan.

* * *

Superman awakened within the orb. It was hard for him to get a sense of his surroundings. A large box laid out on a table in front of him.

"So, it's the Man of Steel."

A very attractive woman with green hair dressed in a tight green top and pants to match stepped over. A glowing eyeball like apparatus flew next to her. The woman would have been even more attractive had it not been for the constant look of distaste she exhibited towards Superman when looking him over.

"I expected you to be much taller, to be honest," The Emerald Empress said when looking over at her enemy. "So, when you die tonight, then the Legion of Super-Heroes will never come to be."

"I'm still here," Superman responded.

"For the moment," The Emerald Empress said. "My benefactor has not given me the go-ahead to finish you off. The moment that he says so, then you'll be finished."

Saturn Girl woke up in the pod next to her. Emerald Empress was more power hungry for revenge after the last time the Legion fought her.

"Benefactor?" Saturn Girl asked.

"Yes, our Benefactor has given us the means to take over whatever time period we choose," Emerald Empress said with a malicious grin spreading from ear to ear. "We can achieve our dreams seamlessly in the 31st century as we can in this primitive past."

A sense something bad was happening spread through Imra's body. "Whomever you're working for, they're not worth it."

The insidious laugh came from the Emerald Empress. She put a hand on the side of the cage and broke out into a very evident smile. "Oh, I completely disagree. And this proves it."

The box finally cracked open and a glowing motherboard with three dots forming in an upside down triangle appeared before them. The Emerald Empress smiled when looking at it.

"It's time for me to locate Brainiac Prime and his legendary mothership. And the knowledge which has been lost for the centuries will be mine."

Emerald Empress's eye widened when staring down at her captive prisoners. The other three stirred awake.

"Good, I want you awake for your end."

* * *

Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Wednesday. Thanks for Reading.

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 7** **th** **, 2018.**


	99. Chapter 99

**Chapter Ninety-Nine: Fatal Five Part Two**

* * *

Astra joined the girls with the frown coming across her face as she did. Daisy and Alex were busy tracking the movements, while Karen and Carol were on the move. Astra stood with Carol and Karen given how Astra wanted a more hands-off approach.

"Are you getting any closer on your end?" Astra asked a few seconds later.

"No," Alex said. "It's a slow process to reconstruct a portal to the Phantom Zone."

Astra could only imagine. Actually, she felt the need to correct the other girl. "It's a slow process to safely construct a portal to the Phantom Zone. Creating one is not that big of a deal. It's creating one without running the risk of something following you through that's the big issue."

"So, the scarab told me," Alex answered. "I think we have everything nearly aligned."

"We're going to have to head straight through the portal for your location," Astra said. "Just one second."

Astra zipped off. She returned with Daisy, Alex, and the equipment they needed to activate the portal. Both girls staggered rather shell-shocked. Daisy drew in a very evident breath to show how frustrated she was about the entire situation. He gaze fell on Astra with evident agitation in her eyes.

"I told you I would be here in just a second," Astra said.

Words failed Daisy Johnson for this moment. The entire group was here including several impressive pieces of DEO equipment. Daisy held the computer and the orb up. The energy which Indigo traced from the orb had been emitting some kind of pulse through the air. Daisy could only begin to guess how to signify it is.

"So, are we ready to go?" Carol asked.

One could tell that Carol was trying not to be too angry with this entire situation. The expression in her eyes showed a woman who was very agitated though about her sister being captured. Karen put a hand on hers and then turned to Astra. Astra inclined her head to tell them yes, they were ready.

"I'm ready to go as well," Alex said. Carol opened her mouth. "It's going to take a lot less time to let me go then argue that I can't go."

Carol looked at her sister and had been very impressed by her sound logic. It was the type of argument Carol might have made against a superior officer who told her to stay behind.

"I'm impressed," Astra said. "I hope that your scarab will be enough to give us the protection to navigate through the Phantom Zone."

The Phantom Zone did not do kindly to physical powers. Astra and Karen, while not helpless, would not have a full usage of their powers while being in the Phantom Zone. Carol, Astra did not know, but she would assume the same. Not helpless, but not able to work to her full potential.

"Do you think it will really come down to me?" Alex asked.

"I'm just saying you should be prepared," Astra said. "The scarab will be useful. It makes me glad that I didn't kill both of you."

' _Doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy inside?'_ Alex asked her other.

' _It gives me tingles,'_ the scarab thought in the most sardonic manner possible.

"Alright," Daisy said. "I'm now interfacing the technology with the purpose. Chloe, are you there and ready on your end?"

"I'm ready, as is Lara and Alura," Chloe said. "One of you is going to have to stay behind and make sure that the portal gets re-opened on our end. The last thing we need is the portal collapsing or even worse."

"The portal collapsing is the least of our worries right now," Astra said.

Daisy always thought that Astra looked on the sunny side of life for most things. The computer hacker made a decision though because she had apparently been volunteered. "I'll stay behind and help man things from this end. You're going to have to go into the Phantom Zone and….well, retrieve them."

"We'll get them back," Alex said. "We're going to get them all back. We'll stop the Fatal Five."

' _They're going to pay,'_ the scarab added, very pleased to hear Alex's thoughts reflected against her own.

The three of them moved their way to the portal. Daisy watched them retreat. One could see the evidence of nerves crossing over the face of the computer hacker when watching her friends leave. Daisy threw her head back and had only one thing to say.

"Good luck," Daisy murmured underneath her breath.

Something told Daisy they were going to need it if they hoped to survive what was going to come down the pike. Daisy brushed strands of hair away from her face and waited, potentially a bit impatiently to see what was going to happen. She kept Chloe at an ear's reach in case anything was needed.

X-X-X

Emerald Empress encircled the table with the piece of one of the most beloved pieces of technology throughout all of history. She had them in her grasp. All of the secrets in the universe were very close to being grabbed. Emerald Empress stared at the design with great.

"You know you're playing with fire, don't you?"

Supergirl's voice came out in the instance. Emerald Empress looked at the girl. She was quite a lot younger than the one who plagued the Fatal Five in the distant future. While she was not as big of a nuisance as Superman, it was not to discount her ability to cause frustration to anyone she fought.

"You don't know what you're talking about, little girl," Emerald Empress said. "To us, you're little more than children."

The rest of the Fatal Five stood behind her. Supergirl, still contained in the pod, was able to muster one of the more defiant stares possible. Her arm cracked against the side of the wall.

"I'm a little girl who knows the damage Brainiac has caused. And how using any part of him is going to give you problems. You have to listen to me."

Those words fell on deaf ears. The Emerald Empress had been already blinded by power and she was not going to stop at anything. She turned to Tharok with a smile on her face.

"Make sure to get the transmitter prepared."

Tharok answered with a very swift nod as they prepared the transmitter. They were going to try and make contact with the original Brainiac Mothership. Kara's eyes widened. She turned to Imra who had her shoulders slumped. One could see the growing frustration in the face of the team leader of the Legion of Superheroes.

"Hopeless," Imra stated. "There's no way they're going to listen. And there's no way out."

Imra saw that even if they did find a way to break out of these containment cells, they would have to fight a Fatal Five which had been augmented by technology even further in the future. Their powers were completely useless in the Phantom Zone as well.

It was just a bad idea all around.

Clark took a moment to analyze the restraints around him. He could not get out by conventional means which meant by tearing his way through the restraints. Clark thought of things in a more cerebral away. Everything, no matter how sophisticated, have a weakness.

Tharok's voice sounded on edge as it cut through Clark's thought process. "This takes times, do not rush perfection."

Emerald Empress tapped her finger on the edge of the desk. She was not necessary rushing perfection. She just wanted this done and done soon so they could have the power the benefactor promised them. The other members of the Fatal Five all smiled at the Emerald Empress and her very irritated expression.

"Make sure to hook it up to the transmitter so we can broadcast the signal," Emerald Empress said. "And once we lock onto it, we'll open a portal and we'll be able to take control of Brainiac's mothership."

They ignored the sound of a groan coming from Kara's direction. Future technology or not, they had no idea what kind of fire they were playing with. And something told Kara, they did not care all that much about playing with any fire. Her thoughts entered an extremely frantic process.

Kara's eyes widened a few seconds later when she heard a spark. At least it would take them a few minutes to get the technology aligned properly for it to work as it should.

' _Yeah, let's just give humanity a few more minutes before it gets completely doomed,'_ Kara thought to herself.

She did not mean to sound so sarcastic, it was just the way it came out. Constantly, Kara looked around and she tried to figure out a way out of here. No matter what, Kara could not figure a way out of here.

Out of the corner of Kara's eye, Clark's fidgeting and moving became more obvious. Seconds passed before Kara figured out what was about ready to happen.

"You've found a way out?" Kara whispered out of the corner of her mouth.

"I'm working on it," Clark said. "There's an instability in the pods. When I figure out how to exploit it, we're getting out of here. We might have to work together, and I know for a fact I'm going to need your help."

"Anytime."

Imra, Tinya, and Ayla all looked on just the same as well. They were in a position where it would be difficult for just one of them to break out on their own. They were going to have to work together to find a way to escape from these cells in time.

The alarm started to blare from the other end of the corridor. The three members of the Legion of Superheroes all looked up. The Fatal Five disappeared in the hallway.

"Someone's coming," Clark said.

Of course, it was very hard to tell whether or not it was good, or bad. Still, it was a distraction, and it allowed Clark, Kara, and the Legion to continue to find their way out of the cells holding them into place.

X-X-X

Astra In-Ze never wanted to be back into the Phantom Zone after spending an extreme amount of time inside before she escaped when Clark, Karen, and Raya did. She had been surrounded by people put here by her own hand and Alura's. They were the two biggest contributors to fugitives. Then, the Council turned around on her, on Zod's word, and sent Astra to the Phantom Zone. After she fought all of those battles and brought peace to Krypton, it was a very bitter pill for her to swallow.

"Let's keep going," Astra said.

It struck Astra as very odd they did not encounter any Phantoms as they went deeper into the Phantom Zone. She stopped short of a large tower which looked brand new. It was not the more simplistic looking technology in the prison.

"What's that?" Carol asked.

Alex held up her hand and performed a scan. The scarab told her pretty much everything she needed to know in a blink of an eye. "It's a field around the prison. It's keeping the Phantoms at bay."

"I wondered why we were not swarmed the minute we entered the Zoe," Karen said. "I guess the Fatal Five needed something to protect themselves as well."

Astra looked over her shoulder. She could hear the Phantoms outside of the field. They swarmed around and they were not too happy with the invisible wall which struck them. The quartet of women moved closer to the edge of the prison.

"This place was built too well," Astra said. "I know because I helped build it."

A crushed skull fragment on the ground told the story of how well this prison panned out for the people involved. The tension continued to rise the further the group made their way into the Phantom Zone.

"The moment everyone goes outside of the field's reach, we're beyond dead," Astra said. "So, we should stick close and…."

Astra could hear a very familiar sound. It was just as she feared. They made some modifications to the prison since the last time Astra laid eyes upon it. Foreknowledge would not help her here. Carol, Karen, and Alex stood a few feet behind her.

"Come out and fight me properly."

"The Fabled General Astra of Krypton? I'm a fan of your work. It's a pity you've gone soft."

The Emerald Empress turned up with the rest of the members of the Fatal Five. Astra sized up her enemy and the two of them went eye to eye with each other. Neither backed down from the other as moments passed.

"Are you sure I've gone completely soft?"

The other members of the Fatal Five in Tharok, Persuader, Flare, and Caress moved behind her. It was a battle of five against four. Astra withdrew a blade from her costume. She motioned for the Emerald Empress. Caress closed her eyes and sent a jet of acid to her enemies.

"Oh, come on!" Karen yelled. "They have no problems using their powers here? That's a whole lot of bullshit if there ever was one?"

Flare rushed towards them. Carol grabbed her by the arm and she kicked up into the air. The two of them circled around in the air until Carol planted down onto the ground. Carol got up just in time to see Flare blast her with fireballs. Carol's durability made her survive an onslaught a little bit longer than anyone else would. She drew a breath and looked at her adversary as she continued to attack her.

Alex went to full armor just in time to face the Persuader. The Persuader's large ax extended by another three feet and sent a blast of light towards Alex. Two brutal swings slammed against the ground of the Phantom Zone. The scarab locked onto the enemy and kept firing.

A bombardment of shots caught the enemy and backed it off a few feet. Alex raised her hand and fired another blast at him. The Persuader stepped back.

"Oh, an actual Reach Scarab!" Tharok yelled. "I've always wanted one."

The Emerald Empress used a stun blast to send Astra to her knees. It felt amazing to send one of the greatest Generals in the universe crashing down to her knees.

"Peal it off of her body, and it's yours."

The Persuader tried to split Alex down the center with his ax. The armor reinforced and several miniature rocks popped off. The rockets fired at the Persuader and rocked him to a single knee. Alex threw her head back and sent more rockets at her enemy to rock him down to the ground.

' _He's not going to go down that easily,'_ the scarab commented.

Alex was going to offer out a very sarcastic response of no kidding. The scarab charged up and blasted her. A sound of something coming from the prison caught the attention of the fighters.

Superman, Supergirl, and the Legion stepped outside. They did not have any powers. Caress charged Superman. Superman caught Caress's arm and hurled her down to the ground with a Judo Throw takedown. Superman let go of the arm and Caress pushed up once again.

"Good, you're learning," Astra said.

Emerald Empress wiped the blood from her lips when rising to a standing position. She was angry out how her prisoners found a way of an escape.

"Protocol five!" she yelled.

Emerald Empress and the rest of her subordinates pressed wristbands on. The energy fields surrounded them and made them invisible to Phantoms.

The tower shorted out above them. Astra could have sworn, and she knew some colorful vocabulary during all of the alien languages she knew.

X-X-X

J'onn stepped into the scene with several of the DEO agents. The moment Daisy locked into place, it was his responsibility to send some backup for her. And he thought that given what lurked in the Phantom Zone, there would be no better back up than him.

"So far, there's nothing since they went into the Phantom Zone," Daisy said. "I'm not sure if that's a bad thing or not all things considered. I really don't really know."

Daisy brushed a lock of hair away from her face. There was a lot of unanswered questions regarding the nature of the orb. The orb was her connection to the Fatal Five and it opened up the portal.

"You should just stand by," J'onn said. "Ms. Sullivan, are you standing by?"

"Yeah," Chloe chimed in. "I don't know what's happened. It's almost like it's gone way too quiet. I'm not sure if it's a bad thing or not….wait…what?"

J'onn could hear Chloe grow completely silent. He did not like the sudden silence coming in. J'onn persisted when he did not hear from Chloe for two full minutes.

"Ms. Sullivan, are you still there?"

J'onn's voice was even, although there were a few instances where concern dripped through his voice when he spoke. Chloe broke on in through the broadcast.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," Chloe said a half of a second later. "There's something going on….I'm going to patch in Raya, she'll be able to tell her."

Raya came onto the communication link. "There's an interdimensional instability growing. It may interfere with the portal."

A bright light emitted from a warp and then shot past their heads. Daisy followed the progress of said light as it flashed through the sky. It kept going further and further until it hit a certain point. She had no idea where that light went. Daisy just stood flummoxed when the light passed through the portal and disappeared into some undetermined point in the vast reaches of space.

One thing Daisy could see was the orb. She had been bombarded off of the chair with a loud sonic blast. The other DEO agents moved back and the orb itself flashed several colors.

J'onn grasped the orb. The orb backlashed and sent J'onn flying back a couple of feet to land on the ground. The Martian pulled himself up.

"I think it's fried."

The very nonchalant statement made J'onn raise his eyebrow. Daisy just responded with a shrug. She called them how she saw them and how she saw it right now was one fried orb laying at her feet. Daisy's gaze fell upon the orb when staring it down.

"I think you're unfortunately right, Agent Johnson."

Daisy was afraid of that. The orb being fried meant it was beyond difficult to track everyone. Daisy just hoped they were going to able to hold the portal open somehow on the other end. Or she was going to be able to repair this orb somehow, someway.

Given she could barely get it working, to begin with, Daisy did not fancy her chances.

X-X-X

The group found their way inside of the prison. There was no question about it, they were up with their backs against the wall.

"So, how long do you think we're going to be able to hold up in the prison?" Karen asked Astra.

"Well, if they didn't tamper with security, a long time," Astra said. "This prison was built to hold prisoners who did not get stripped of their bodies before getting sent to the Phantom Zone. They would not have lasted."

Astra wondered the Council's reason for wanting a prison like this. If she had to guess, now with the benefit of hindsight, it would be to house political prisoners who decided that it was not in their best interests to toe the line that the Council had set up. Astra could not prove it, but she proved it.

"And now it will only be a matter of minutes," Imra said. "Unless we can find a way to get the tower back online and repel the Phantoms."

"We don't have much time," Clark said. "I hate to be pessimistic…."

"No," Astra interjected while holding up a hand. "You're adopting a realistic approach to the situation and not a moment too soon."

Clark did not really know whether to take that as a compliment or not. Her fingers brushed over her head. The group moved in to see if they could salvage anything. Alex tried to activate her suit.

"I'm not getting a signal to the outside," Alex said. "And that Motherboard…it's making a strange noise."

"I don't suppose that we could disconnect it," Carol said.

A frantic shake of Kara's head answered that question before too long. "I wouldn't even try to do that. Trust me, it will not end well at all."

The signal had been sent, she was for certain of that. Whether or not they would be able to get out of the Phantom Zone with the signal, that was another thing entirely. Kara bit down on her lip and took a couple of deep breaths. She turned her head around a couple of times.

"I could help you."

Karen turned around as did Imra. A weedy looking man rested in the cell.

"You," Imra said. "It's you. You're….."

"Yes, I stole the technology," the thief said. "I thought it was valuable. I had no idea it was a component to the universe's greatest destroyers, especially at the height of his strength. I don't know what you ended up doing to cripple him so much, Superman."

' _I don't know either,'_ Superman thought to himself.

"Problem," Tinya said. "I think the piece when transmitting has found a way to phone home."

No matter what anyone had to say, that did not sound good at all.

"I can tell you how to repair the shield," the thief said. "And I can tell you how the Fatal Five is exiting from the Phantom Zone."

"You want something," Astra said.

"Only my freedom," the time thief said.

Clark took a few seconds to consider the positives and negatives of this. He deactivated the lock on the cell. The time thief moved out and gave a smile towards him. It was a smile which Clark did not particularly feel completely comfortable with, but never the less it was there.

"Thank you, Superman," the time thief said with gratitude. "You're a true hero."

"Doublecross us and you'll wish you hadn't," Astra said.

The time thief nodded. He did not wish to agitate this woman. Astra terrified him beyond all belief. The Legion did not look too happy either, but they understood that you had to release a smaller fish to catch the bigger ones.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Friday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 9** **th** **, 2018.**


	100. Chapter 100

There's another blog exclusive chapter, featuring Clark alongside Astra and Maxima. Head to the Page of Important Links on my profile to the Page of Important Links to The Web of Chaos Archives or the Stronger Together Archives. It's titled "Battle of Wills."

* * *

 **Chapter One Hundred: Fatal Five Part Three**

* * *

Lara set back in the Fortress. She enjoyed a challenge as much as the next person. And this challenge would be one of the more absurd ones to get around if she had been perfectly honest. She had been in contact with Daisy and along with Chloe, they had been establishing a link to the orb the DEO had created.

No technology had been beyond repair, at least Lara thought. Something happened though to knock this one offline. The Fortress went dead for only about thirty to forty-five seconds. Lara pressed herself against the console and kept working the best she could to accomplish her goals. Lara knew they could reroute some of the backup power to get this portal orb jump-started.

"So, far, getting a message through to the Phantom Zone is a non-starter."

Lara figured as much. They had to try to get something on through the Phantom Zone. Lara tried to follow the transmission from the Phantom Zone. She got a general starting point. The transmission shot out of one portal and opened up another wormhole in space to keep going out. Lara struggled to find out the exact location of the wormhole. Her mind went a million miles a minute with thoughts of what could have happened.

It was not hopeless, Lara refused anything could be hopeless. She did not want to face any kind of depressing reality things could be hopeless. Lara ran through everything in her mind one more time.

' _Let's see. I can reroute some of the backup power to boost the signal. It might work. I'm going to have to temporarily weaken the barriers between Earth and the Phantom Zone to pull it off. It's not something I particularly enjoy doing at any rate, given the potential problem areas inside of the Phantom Zone. Given my son's in there, there are not that many options.'_

Lara broke free from her stoic demeanor. Raya put a hand on Lara's shoulder to steer her back to some kind of steady conversation. She grabbed Lara and pulled her away.

"You've been working on this for hours. Why don't I take over and see what I can do to find Kal and the others? You can check in with the DEO and see what they're up to?"

Lara answered with a nod as Raya went to work. She moved to the other end of the Fortress and sank down. She only sank down on the chair. The only solace Lara felt was Astra was there and Astra knew her way around the Phantom Zone about as well as anyone else. Lara's thoughts turned to that and she came back with a very evident sigh.

' _They will be fine. They have to be fine.'_

The communication to the DEO switched up and Lara leaned back in the chair.

"So, is there any luck?" Lara asked Daisy.

One could hear the frustrated sight coming from Daisy Johnson. "Well, I think we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is there's nothing that came from the Phantom Zone whenever that little warp came through. I mean, nothing other than a radio signal which could be dangerous in its own right."

Lara answered this statement with a very evident nod. She could tell that Daisy was struggling to get the next few words out.

"The bad news is, I'm not sure if there's any way to retrieve our friends. The orb was our connection to them and it's just not reacting. I couldn't even access it with Earth technology when it's active.'

"And now when it's inactive, you're having even further problems," Lara stated. "I figured about as much. Give me a moment to figure out what I can do next."

Lara did not really know what do to and that was going to be a big problem as far as she was concerned. She brought up the information they had found on the orb. Not very little, it was based on a power source further in the future and the original inspiration had been based.

She racked her mind as Raya kept tracing the signal on the other end. Maybe if they could find the exact point of how the portal had been knocked offline, they could keep on going. Lara had been very skeptical though of this entire mess. She bit down her lip and blew a strand of hair away from her face.

"I have an idea, but it's insane."

Daisy took a second to laugh. "Hey, given that all of the good, sane ideas aren't getting us very far, let's hear what the insane one amounts to."

"I can reroute some of the backup power from the Fortress to the orb and try and give it a jumpstart," Lara said. "If anything can fix the orb, it's the Fortress."

A long pause followed from the other end of the call. Lara could almost hear the gears grinding in Daisy's head as she weighed the plusses and minuses of the scenario. Lara admitted it sounded completely absurd from her end, but given the alternative, they had no real choice to work with.

"Yeah, I can see how that would work," Daisy said. "So, suppose hypothetically it works? How much time do you think we have before we find anyone from the Phantom Zone?"

Lara already had been performing the calculations before Daisy had jumped onto the call.

"I would have to say we have a good five to ten minutes before the portal closes, power or not. That's at the most charitable explanations. It would help if we find what knocked it out in the first place, but no such luck."

"Yeah, no such luck," Daisy said. "By now, I should be used to working on the clock."

* * *

Astra and Alex worked side by side to get the shields back online. Desperate situations made for some pretty strange bedfellows. Alex bit down on her lip.

The time thief paced back and forth. The Legion kept a close eye on him. He did not know why they did not trust them to be honest. Did they not know that they were the only ones who could protect him in a situation like this? The time thief circled around.

' _The Fatal Five would kill me. The Phantoms would kill me. They're the only ones who can protect me. They are the only ones who have a chance of saving me.'_

The time thief circled around the corner and drew in a very deep breath. He almost sank down on the chair and avoided the looks from the Legion.

"None of this would have happened if you had not stolen that piece of equipment," Saturn Girl said. "I must ask you one more time, what did you hope to accomplish by doing that?"

The time thief entered complete defensive mode. "I had no idea it was a piece of Brainiac! Had I know that I would not have obviously stolen it!"

One could cut the tension with the knife. Clark continued to peer across the way at the time thief. The Legion distrusted him. Clark really did not wish to make the deal with someone who had brought that much danger to the world. However, he had really no other options.

He turned his attention to Kara and Karen, who were working on the portable shields. A look of triumph spread over Karen's face when she caused the shield to flicker to life. She almost could have danced. Karen threw her arms across the way and pulled Kara into a very powerful hug. Kara grinned the second her cousin pulled away from her.

"Oh, I like how we've accomplished something," Kara said with a very evident grin pressing over her face. "The question is can we get any more?"

Alex backed away from the main shield around the prison. Astra turned it on and it rose around the prison. The Phantoms stopped pounding on the edge of the prison and retreated like they were vampires having been scorched by the sun. Astra watched them leave outside of the window, her smile growing even wider.

"We know this works," Astra said. "I'm glad. "

"We're all glad," Clark said. "We just need to rig up some of the portable shields. And we can have him take us to the Fatal Five."

"They…they should have a portal," the time thief said. "Maybe if you give me one of the shields, I can go there right now. You know, make sure it's all safe?"

The time thief reached for the shield. Astra shot out and grabbed the time thief by the wrist. The thief winced with Astra pulling his hand away from it. He looked like someone who had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He answered with a very obvious shake of his head.

"Okay, you can't really blame a guy for trying, can you?"

"You're going to come with me," Astra said. "I'm going to wear the shield….or you can just sit in this prison and hope that the shields around it don't hold."

Sticking with Astra was the better of the two options. Neither of them was ideal, but this was the better of the two options, to be honest. Kara and Karen finished fixing the shields. There were only enough to half of them, so they had to go in pairs. Karen, Kara, and Clark took the shields, as did Astra. Carol took a shield as well.

Imra stood with Clark, Tinya with Kara, Alex with Carol, Ayla with Karen, and the time thief went with Astra. The group all moved out and were ready to go against the Fatal Five. Each of the partners grabbed onto the one holding the shield and the power from the shield enveloped two parties.

' _It was lucky that we matched up so evenly,'_ Clark thought.

"Which way?" Astra demanded.

"To the North of here," the time thief answered in a very shaky voice.

* * *

Emerald Empress had been promised power and prestige beyond her wildest imagination. She got absolutely nothing in return and that frustrated her to no degree.

"I should have received access to Brainiac's mother ship," Emerald Empress said. "What went wrong?"

She held the motherboard in her hand. Tharok lifted his hand out to clutch the motherboard and look it over. A frown came over his face when studying it. Each second they spent here, was a second that they had been trapped in the Phantom Zone.

"It appears that something went wrong," Tharok said.

"I'm aware of that!" Emerald Empress snapped.

The other members of the Fatal Five gave her a wide berth. Even the normally stoic and unshakeable Persuader appeared to be less stoic and less shaken when the Emerald Empress paced around. She walked to the edge of the room.

A loud blast echoed from the distance. Emerald Empress stepped out of the doors of their Fortress. She came face to face with both Superman and Saturn Girl who stood on the outside.

"The game's over."

Emerald Empress laughed. The other members of the Legion showed up with Supergirl, Power Girl, and Captain Marvel following them. She raised her hand.

"You were able to repair the shields," Emerald Empress said. "I'm impressed. The Phantoms won't rip you apart, which is a shame. I'm going to have to do the job personally."

Saturn Girl let go of Superman's hand for a minute so she could properly focus. Emerald Empress rose up high and sent an energy blast to Saturn Girl. She put a shield over all of them to block the energy blast. The Emerald Empress did not come out too favorable in that encounter.

"Fine!" Emerald Empress yelled as she wiped the blood from her chin. "You want to play it that way?"

She motioned her hands. The rest of the Fatal Five popped into the battle. Tharok, Caress, Flare, and the Persuader all stepped in front of their adversary.

"Are you insane?" Flare asked. "You think we can beat ten of them?"

"Nine," Emerald Empress said. "We're going to destroy them all."

Flare threw herself into the battle with reckless abandon. It was very reckless to try and fight the Legion of Super-Heroes, the Blue Beetle, Superman, Supergirl, Power Girl, and Captain Marvel at the same time. Not to mention the fabled General Astra of Krypton.

"For the Fatal Five!" Flare yelled at the top of her lungs.

She blasted through the air. Supergirl came at Flare in the air. Both of them connected with each other in mid-air. Flare undercut Supergirl and nailed her with a very vicious undercut to the ribs. More uppercuts started to stun Supergirl. Supergirl caught her enemy by the arm and drove her down onto the ground. Flare howled in misery when the shoulder popped up against the ground.

Astra jumped back to dodge the swing of the Persuader's ax. She did not have any powers. Astra did not need them. She evaded two shots. The deadly game of ducking and dodging continued when the Persuader rushed towards Astra one more time.

Karen caught the Persuader's arm and caught him with a jaw-jacking uppercut punch to the face. She cracked her enemy in the mouth and dropped him down to a kneeling position. Karen stepped back and caught her enemy with a violent spear to take him down to the ground.

Caress stepped back and engaged the Blue Beetle in battle. Her teeth curled into a wicked grin. Caress motioned for the Blue Beetle to come for her.

"I'm going to peal that pretty little scarab off of your body!"

The Blue Beetle motioned for Caress to bring it in battle. The two of them engaged each other. Carol flipped Tharok over her head and he crashed down onto the ground. Tharok now dropped down onto the ground and pulled himself up for the attack.

Caress waved her arms and sent out a discharge of poison at her enemy. The Blue Beetle continuously dodged the vapor waves. Each of them inched closer to her. The Blue Beetle kept one step ahead.

' _There's a flaw in her attack. Exploit it.'_

Alex Danvers nodded and blocked the attack from the Fatal Five member. The two locked up and tried to attack each other. Alex flipped Caress down to the ground.

One of the glowing orbs appeared in Tharok's hand to entrap one of his enemies. Carol came from behind him and caught the orb before turning it back around in the blink of an eye. Tharok responded by howling and struggling to break out from the orb. He slammed repeatedly on the orb.

"See if you can get any more of those containment orbs," Carol told Kara.

Flare came up for round two against Supergirl. The Girl of Steel engaged her enemy in battle. Both of them fired kicks at each other. Sweat rolled down Kara's face when she tried to attack Flare. Flare's hand glowed red and she fired a blast at Kara.

The Persuader pulled himself up and rushed Astra. Astra avoided the ax from driving down across the back of her head. Astra reared back and caught her enemy with a very vicious uppercut punch to the chest. Another uppercut punch came to the chest of the Persuader. Astra dodged down and came back before hitting a pop up punch to drive her enemy down onto the ground.

Astra continued to find everything she had. She looked over her shoulder where Tharok flipped over onto the ground. An energy orb surrounded Tharok and caused the member of the Fatal Five to be captured.

' _They have the right idea,'_ Astra thought.

The Persuader came up against Phantom Girl and Lightning Lass. Both of the girls lured the Persuader away from General Astra so she had plenty of room to work. Astra stepped back a couple of inches and grabbed one of the orbs off of the shelf. The orb opened up and trapped the Persuader down onto the ground.

Caress grabbed the Blue Beetle from behind. Alex struggled against the grip from the other side of the suit. No matter how hard the Persuader locked onto the suit, Alex had to get out of there, somehow and some way. Her breathing intensified and grew even more labored.

"No!" Alex yelled at the top of her lungs. "No! GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Supergirl swept the legs of Caress out from underneath her. She turned towards Kara to try and blast her with acid. Carol came up from the other end. The three Danvers sisters circled around Caress.

"I'm going to enjoy seeing you all suffer…."

Saturn Girl lifted an orb off of the shelf and dropped it on the back of the head of Caress. She had turned to utter silence when being trapped into the orb. Caress slammed her hands against the edge of the orb and valiantly tried to break free. These had been built to trap Superman and the Fatal Five had no opportunity.

Emerald Empress rushed from the scene and made her way to the Phantom Zone portal. It was her ticket out of here. Superman moved in front of her. Emerald Empress picked up a blade from the wall and charged at Superman with it.

"You have no powers!" Emerald Empress yelled. "You have no hope!"

Superman switched his attacks up to keep Emerald Empress of a guard. Each punch frustrated the woman, even more, when she sent the blade careening to Superman's chest. Superman blocked the blade and came back with a huge punch which rattled his enemy. The Man of Steel flipped his adversary over onto the ground and then jumped up on top. Superman sent Emerald Empress crashing to the ground.

Saturn Girl levitated one of the containment orbs out. It ensnared Emerald Empress out.

"There's our way home," Superman said. "Get ready."

Astra moved in and activated the portal. She motioned everyone to get through. They each took a contained Fatal Four member when passing through the portal onto the other end.

* * *

The Fatal Five had been held in stasis in the ice crystals in the Fortress until the Legion of Super-Heroes could be taken back home. The time thief found himself inside of an ice cell as well.

"I can't believe that I'm imprisoned in the Fortress of Solitude!" the time thief yelled.

Saturn Girl's eyes shifted to him. "This is for your own good."

The time thief responded by shaking his head. "No, you don't understand. This is the best thing that's ever happened to me. I can't believe I actually get to see the Fortress of Solitude. I remember my grandfather telling me stories about it all of the time and everyone wondering what happened to it…but….Mr. Superman, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes?" Superman asked.

"Can I have your autograph?" the time thief asked before hastily adding. "It's for my daughter."

"We're going to have to halt the autograph session."

Astra appeared at the edge of the Fortress gate leading into the main chamber. One could see how serious this was by the very grim and unsettling look on the woman's face. Astra guided them into the central chamber. Clark, Karen, and Kara all lead the way.

Daisy sat with Alex and Carol in the Fortress of Solitude. They could see Raya, Alura, and Lara all looking on with very grim expressions on their faces.

"We found the signal to the transmission," Lara said. "It was sent to Brainiac."

"And not the Brainiac you had to deal with on Earth, either," Alura commented. "It's the original Brainiac, on the mothership. The Fatal Five just transmitted every piece of information that Brainiac needs to complete his goal of assimilating all the information of the universe and then wiping out all organic life."

"Emerald Empress claimed that they were searching for information on the First Earth," Astra said. "I talked her and she was very cooperative."

"I can imagine," Alura murmured underneath her breath.

"What's so special about First Earth anyway?" Daisy asked.

Kara decided to field this one. "Well, First Earth is where it all began. Someone causes a change on the First Earth, they could cause a ripple effect to reset everything in the entire multiverse."

"Or they can prevent humanity from ever rising from the first place," Superman said. "If humanity never rose to prominence and evolved, then I would not have been sent here."

"And you would have died with Krypton," Kara added. "We all would have died with Krypton.

Kal-El of Krypton peered out into the Fortress. There was a wide universe full of possibilities he had yet to explore. He came to one final conclusion.

"I'm going to have to find the Brainiac Mothership, no matter what the cost is," Clark said.

Clark had a mission now to find Brainiac. He sent his drones to Earth to try and take things over and to release Zod from the Phantom Zone. Now, the prime version of Brainiac, which was the worst and most powerful of them all threatened everything.

"We will," Karen said. "We all will."

"Together," Imra added.

Past, present, and future hung in the balance and they all had little time to waste. They would have to pool together everything and locate Brainiac. He would be well hidden. They would just need to be one step ahead of him.

* * *

A large metallic ship floated out in the furthest reach of space. Brainiac Prime awakened on the ship having received a transmission. Drone Twelve's mission in the not so distant future had been a success and Brainiac had the decision that he needed.

Several other drones appeared with crystal orbs containing the data of several planets. The drones infiltrated the planet, drained the information, and brought it back to Brainiac's huge storing house. It contained rows upon rows of tiny little glass orbs containing the data of dead planets.

The BrainInteractive Construct used the data to go to more worlds and collect more data. He discovered different worlds each with their own discoveries by pilfering these planets. The so-called Forbidden Zones were ripe with potential which Brainiac had to sniff out.

"Finally," Brainiac Prime droned. "I have the information that I need. Drone-Four's trip to Earth did not go as planned. But it does not matter for I have the information on Earth-Prime. I will be able to complete my programming and then, my directive will be complete. Organic life will cease. All redundant data will be eliminated."

Drone-Four failed to return and another drone Brainiac sent missed. BrainInteractive Construct Drone Number Eight failed to return to post.

"There has been a flaw in programming with the designated Number Eight drone of the BrainInteractive Construct," Brainiac said. "Some of the old Indigo code has not been purged."

The master computer blinked to life and ran through several different scenarios. The other drones lined up, about thirty of them in total. Only drone-four and drone-eight had been missing from the lineup.

"Locate and eliminate."

The final leg of his directive had been delivered. Only soon would Brainiac be able to find what he wanted. His mission to acquire data would be complete.

"Prepare to acquire the necessary power to open the warp drive. Accumulating data and searching for First Earth."

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Sunday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 11** **th** **, 2018.**


	101. Scanning to the Edge

**Chapter One Hundred One: Scanning To the Edge**

* * *

Time passed very quickly, almost in the blink of an eye. Indigo's systems came completely back online in the Fortress. Tess kept her eyes peeled for anything. With the original Brainiac coming back online, they needed all of the help they could get. Indigo qualified as the help they needed. Raya, Lara, and Alura leaned back a slight bit. Alura finally spoke up for a little bit.

"Indigo?" Alura asked. "Are you alright?"

"Alright is a very relative term which can mean many things. To answer your question though, I am finally back online. Time is most certainly of the essence to get me back online as you could have figured out. I can see what you can see and I know what you know."

Indigo closed her eyes. She checked all of the vital systems and found they were functioning about ninety-five percent of the way. The devil was in the details and the last five percent dragged on endlessly. Indigo quivered underneath the pressure of trying to boot back online.

"We don't mean to rush you back online," Lara gently said. "He's coming. He's coming soon."

Indigo closed her eyes again. The battle with Darkseid left her main system more ravaged than she could ever realize. She did not know whether or not she could ever be the same again. Indigo spent the next couple of moments looking over every scenario in a swift and very logical manner. Her eyes came back open.

"I see. The BrainInteractive Construct Prime has found a way and he is trying to recall us all. I have vague memories of his instructions. I did not want to do something like that, not now and not ever again. Brainiac is not going to be my master. Not if I can help it."

"No, he won't," Tess confirmed with a very soft smile on her face. "You are one of us now. We just need your help in hunting down Brainiac."

Indigo closed her eyes to focus on Brainiac. Something in her data banks snapped her back into the conversation. The more Indigo struggled to locate Brainiac, the harder her processors worked.

"It should be a straight answer," Raya said.

"Maybe not," Alura said. "We should be fortunate that Indigo has worked this long against Brainiac's directives. He's programmed his drones with very specific instructions."

Alura took one look at the computer screen. The Council based Brainiac off of the original Indigo line of code which Alura put together. The baseline was enough of the same for Alura to get thinking she could potentially formulate a code which could shut Brainiac down.

The only issue which Alura could see would be getting close enough to upload the code into Brainiac's database. That was where they unfortunately failed. They needed to find him and Indigo was their only ticket.

"I…he's sent the recall module. But, there's something about it which is preventing me from stating the location."

"You're not compelled to join him, are you?" Lara asked.

They would have to shut down Indigo if she had been compelled in any way to join Brainiac. No matter how much of a use she was, she could be an equally prominent liability if push came to shove.

Alura sat in front of the Fortress computers where Indigo had been hooked into. She typed in a couple of commands to access Indigo's programming. Each thought grew direr when she functionally accessed Indigo's database. She really hoped for a way inside even though it was very difficult.

"We could disable the fail-safes and potentially gain the information," Alura said. "There are a couple of issues with that, unfortunately. The big one was that it would leave her open."

"Yes, I would highly not advise it even if you would acquire the information," Indigo said. "I don't care about any physical discomfort it would cause. I can't just allow you under any circumstances to use me in a way which would allow Brainiac to take over this Fortress."

"The chances of that happening?" Tess asked.

Lara already made the calculations in her head regarding what would happen if Indigo tried to take control of the Fortress. "They are unfortunately pretty high. We don't want to run the risk."

For one insane moment, Lara thought about letting Indigo loose and having her run back to Brainiac. No way under any good conscious could Lara allow Indigo to do this, no matter what.

"It will be approximately thirty-three hours before I'm fully functional," Indigo said.

They really hoped there was a planet to save by the time Indigo had gotten back online. Lara turned back to the computer. They would have to keep searching for Brainiac the old fashion way. She hoped, perhaps foolishly, the prime copy would show his hand. The sensitivity of the Fortress power crystals tuned to emissions of crystals made Lara prepared for anything which might come.

' _It's now time.'_

* * *

Clark hovered over Smallville. This place was home and had so many memories Clark could not even begin to sound off on all of them. A small feeling of longing in the back of Clark's stomach tied it up in knots. He realized, unfortunately, this could be the last time he laid eyes on Smallville. He dropped down onto the ground and took a very long walk over the fields.

No matter how far Clark came, and he came a long way, Smallville would always be first and foremost in his heart. He moved his way to the farm and noticed Connie busily working on the farm. The girl looked up at Clark with a smile and she came across the way to wrap him up in a hug.

"It's good to see you," Connie said. "I'd figured I'd stop by the farm for a couple of days, while Martha is back. See if she needs any help. And it's a good thing that I'm here because there's a couple of things that need to be done. And hey, because you're here, you know."

"It's good to see you too," Clark said. "It's good to see this place one more time."

"One more time?" Connie asked. "Please, don't talk like that. It makes you sound like you're on your death bed or something."

The hybrid Kryptonian and human grimaced at the very thought of it. Her voice dropped in a half whisper when leaning over in Clark's general direction.

"You're not on your death bed, are you?"

"No, I'm not," Clark said. "But….I'm dealing with something that could put all of Earth in peril."

"Yeah, that happens about once a year, maybe more," Connie said before wincing at how casual she had been when talking about the potential destruction of the planet she loved. "Okay, that didn't sound very good coming out of my mouth as it did in my head. Still, you know that….."

"I know," Clark answered by reaching in and squeezing Connie on the edge of the hand. "So, how are your new friends out west?"

"They're quite the interesting bunch," Connie admitted. "I think I'll fit in nicely with them. They could use all of the help they could get. And it allows me to do my own thing, free of my big brother."

Connie gave Clark the once over look and popped over with a smile emitting from her face.

"No offense, but you cast a pretty big shadow over us all," Connie said.

"Hey, I'm just leading an example to follow."

Clark patted her on the shoulder and turned back around for Connie to get back to work. He could see Martha from the window. Martha smiled and waved for Clark to come into the room. Clark stepped into the farm with his mother hugging him.

"I didn't expect you to show up," Martha said.

"Well, I had to," Clark said. "And I really wanted to…given the circumstances of what happened."

"Lana told me," Martha said. "I'd ask if you're having any luck tracking down Brainiac. But you wouldn't be at this farm if you were having any luck tracking him down."

Clark sighed, no he didn't have any luck in tracking Brainiac down. Every time Clark turned around, he smacked into dead-end wall after dead end wall.

"I'm really sorry for not visiting you more often than…."

Martha held up a hand to stop Clark from going on a round of pity and apology. She squeezed his hand and smiled before pulling back away.

"You still have your family and friends in your thoughts. They have to be for you to push forward. They gave you strength against Darkseid, and they're going to give you strength here."

She put a glass of juice and a piece of pie out in front of the table. No matter what the age, no matter how much the power, Clark always could count on indulging himself on one of the simpler things in life. A nice home cooked meal showed that even Superman could appreciate things that many people took for granted.

"After he was done, I hoped you would get a break, time to rest."

Clark gave his mother a sardonic smile. "Me too."

After Darkseid, Clark felt very good about himself. Would evil even be completely defeated? No, and Clark was sadly certain he would always be fighting some kind of great fight.

"Brainiac's my greatest challenge."

"He's the reason why you're here in many ways," Martha said. "I can't say it was a bad thing that we found you. I don't know how any of our lives would have been had you not been found. I don't think many of us really want to know."

Clark just smiled. He had so many experiences on Earth that he might not have had on Krypton. Unfortunately, Brainiac was partially responsible for the deaths of the people on Krypton. He was most certainly responsible for many other deaths, wiping out countless planets to acquire the information.

"You're up for anything. Jonathan always said that you'd be alright no matter what the world threw at you and I would agree."

* * *

Alex repeatedly walked around the cell containing Hank Henshaw. A large part of Alex knew that she could not keep passing this cell. Yet, there was something enticing about going back and forth by this cell several times. It was almost like surveying the aftermath of the car crash.

"You want to see whether or not you can get more out of him can you?"

Kara leaned against Alex and steered her away from the cell. Alex sighed. She knew deep down this particular level of obsession was not healthy for her. Henshaw did not speak other than a couple of grunts and one-word answers to the attempts of interrogation.

"I'm worried that you're taking what he has to say too seriously," Kara said. "Whatever he is, he's made by Cadmus. The man is dead, and what he might know about Jeremiah…what if he's lying?"

"What if he's telling the truth?" Alex countered.

Alex visualized her father's final moments before his undisputable demise. They were very ghastly the more she thought about them. He gave up information, perhaps under the threat of torture, or perhaps under the threat of his own family members receiving a similar fate.

' _It's always. They're awful.'_

"You should really stop obsessing over this, Alex," Daisy said with a nervous look on her face. "It's not good for your health."

' _Listen to them,'_ the scarab thought. _'There are more important things for us to deal with right now. He's nothing. He's nothing but a pawn which has been discarded by the operation which has left him. Let him go, and let him die. There's nothing you can do about him.'_

Alex could very much disagree there was not anything she could do. Still, Henshaw was not talking to anyone. He had only a few small cutting comments towards J'onn, but other than that, he did not say a single word. Alex wondered if it was going to stay that way. It was very likely to have done so.

Clark stepped on inside. Daisy, Alex, and Kara turned to him.

"And you're just waiting for Brainiac to strike," Kara said.

"No, we're working down every avenue to find him," Clark said. "I was hoping that the DEO would have had better luck in tracking him down."

Daisy answered with one of the most un-ladylike snorts one could ever muster. "I wish it were that simple. Brainiac won't make it simple. Even if we did have a piece of one of his drones…you couldn't find him with the entire drone."

A loud scream came from the cell. Clark, Kara, Daisy, and Alex snapped into action when they face off against Hank Henshaw. Henshaw's eyes crystalized over while in the cell. Clark stepped a tiny bit closer to him and put the hand on the cell. His eyes opened and were now glowing. They emitted a very bright light which made Clark take a couple of steps back.

"I'm glad I could speak to you face to face, Kal-El, before I wipe you out of existence. I'll leave you to the end."

"Brainiac," Clark said.

"I'm using this Cyborg Superman as a proxy to communicate my final message to you," Brainiac said. "You should know that even after all of the times you prevented me from achieving my objective, it will be all for nothing. And you are too late to stop my latest attempts. There's nothing that you can do."

Brainiac's dull taunting dug into Clark's mind. He looked towards the figure with his glowing eyes which swam to the point of evident malice. Daisy could see Henshaw's human vitals go to the lowest as Brainiac ripped Henshaw's human body apart in his attempt to get control of him.

"The Fatal Five were the perfect pawns. They unwittingly handed me the final part which I needed to achieve my plans. Knowledge which I acquired, but my future self-had unable to have acted upon. I know what happens next. I have calculated ways to avoid it. I am twelve steps ahead of you, Kal-El. You can't even begin to comprehend the depths that I will go to achieve my goal."

"You won't do it," Clark said. "You can't do it."

"There's a high probability that you will perish in your attempts to stop me," Brainiac said. "You will be better off just allowing it to happen. Organic life has reached its end. In a matter of hours, it will be as if we did not have this conversation. You will never be able to find my ship on time and you will most certainly not be able to get past security on time."

Clark disagreed and would rise to the challenge. He had no choice other than to stop Brainiac. Henshaw's eyes rolled back and the infection left the system. Henshaw slumped against the edge of the wall and took several deep breaths.

"Mother?" Clark asked.

"Yes?" Lara asked.

"How close is Indigo? I don't mean to put any pressure on you, but we need her right now."

* * *

Lillian sat in her office at Cadmus and prepared to go out to check to see how they were on their latest project. Her attempts to leave had been halted by a knock on her door. Before Lillian had a chance to answer or tell the party in question to enter the room, the door swung open. Lex stepped into the room with his gaze over his mother's face.

"What can I do for you?" Lillian asked.

"Is this a bad time?" Lex asked.

"No, it's a busy time," Lillian said. "We are still trying to locate the time travelers which are teaming up with Superman."

"That's not important."

Lillian spent a moment considering her son's statement. Why would he imply that time travelers from the future were not important? Lillian spent the next couple of minutes trying to piece together some kind of answer. Lex wore the look of someone who knew something was going on and had been pretty pleased about it.

"What do you mean it's not important? What's going on?"

"Don't you know?"

Lillian brushed off her son's calm tone. This reunion between both of them was not going as well as they would hope. Lillian wished she had learned to be stronger sooner, Lex's life would have been better, and he would not have fallen under the corruptive influence of that alien.

' _If only things had been different. Your life would have been better, Lex. Your life would have been so much better if things had been better for you.'_

"You're going to tell me, aren't you?" Lillian asked.

"Cadmus has been compromised."

These four words caused Lillian to stand at the edge of the room and her body to shudder. She could not believe a single word her son said. She had worked hard to make sure everyone was on the level and everyone is on the same page. Her son walked from the office and Lillian followed him down the hallway. She had to quicken her strides to keep up with Lex as he turned the corner.

"Everyone is a believer of the cause. No one would turn on it. No one would dare do so."

Lex stopped and chuckled. He did the slow burn turn to face his mother. Lillian kept herself standing up pretty straight the second Lex gave her the once-over.

"Oh, I'm not talking about any one person," Lex said. "I don't know if any of them are deceitful. They aren't people that I would personally trust. Strange in particular, I'm sure you're keeping on a very short leash to make sure he doesn't go off the reserve again."

Lillian blinked and wondered what her son was talking about. Lex just decided to spell it out for his mother to the point where she did not even have to read between the lines.

"You barely understand the alien technology you've brought in," Lex commented to her. I do, however, thanks to my time with Brainiac. And it's already infiltrating the system. And there's nothing you can do about it."

"I've made a huge mistake," Lillian said. "Why do you have to be so difficult? Especially after everything that I've done to help you."

Lex simply responded with a frown. He was not going to have this turned back around. Lex reached over and grabbed his mother's shoulder forcing her to look him in the eye.

"I'm telling you nothing, but the truth. Are you foolish enough to believe you're in control? I'm going to have to tell you something. You're not in control. You haven't been in control for a very long time."

The lights in the hallway started to flicker. Lex broke out into a wide ear to ear smile.

"Brainiac's the one who is in control now. And he has all of the resources you've painstakingly collected to save the planet for it's…what's the term that everyone uses when they're trying to justify how much of a sociopath they're being?"

Lex mockingly cupped his hand to his chin in thought. He came back to the conversation with a smile. "Oh, yes, the Greater Good."

Brainiac's symbols popped onto the computer. Lex was not completely done yet.

"You condemned Lionel about his obsessions. Don't act like you're innocent though. You are just as obsessed as he is, and your obsession will mean the downfall of all of humanity."

"Everyone report!" Lillian yelled.

A loud cackle in her ear signified how much Lillian lost control of this entire mess. She grimaced and pushed the earpiece back a tiny amount. She could fix this. There was a part of her that still would fix this if she worked hard on it. She was not going to lose that easily.

A self-destruct sequence of the base kicked into gear. Lex moved into position across from one of the pods. He pressed the pod and opened it up before he stepped inside of himself.

"Lex, wait!" Lillian yelled.

"The only piece of technology Brainiac has not taken," Lex said. "You left me to my fate with Lionel by faking your death. Now, I'm going to leave to your own."

Lillian's anguished cries fell upon deaf ears.

"Consider us even."

The doors opened and the pod flew out of the hatch before the base shut completely down. Lillian watched her son leave. The doors burst open by one of the scientists wielding an energy cannon. The scientist grabbed Lillian's shoulder and forced her back into the conversation.

"Director, we need to get back control of the base before it uses the weapons we created to serve humanity to destroy it."

Lillian's head snapped around several times and she relentlessly nodded. Yes, they were right. They had to, they really had to do this before it was too late.

* * *

Indigo came completely and one hundred percent back online. She spent the next couple of minutes coming to her senses before realizing what was happening.

"What is it?" Lara asked.

"Brainiac is trying to locate all of his drones and bring them back," Indigo said. "And if they are not going to come back, then they are going to be destroyed."

"You disabled your self-destruction module a long time ago," Tess said. "So, you should be fine?"

"I would agree, although fine is a very relative term for what I am," Indigo answered in one of the more calm tones possible. "I'm afraid though the moment Brainiac knows that I'm trying to trace the signal, he's going to throw everything at me to erase the defect."

"We're going to have to get you close," Alura said. "I think if we get close enough, we can destroy him."

"Yes," Indigo said. "He knows I'm dangerous because of how far I've evolved past my core programming."

Indigo detached herself from the module and took a couple of steps forward. She returned back to some point of clarity. It had been a long time since she had been whole again. She smiled when coming face to face with Kal-El who gave her a warm smile in turn.

"It's good to see your face again, Kal," Indigo said "And to answer the question that I know you have, yes, I know where his ship is. And I know what we have to do to shut it down, but it's not going to be easy."

"Especially when he has the information from the motherboard," Kal said.

Indigo spent another second focusing on the signal Brainiac transmitted. She snapped back into the conversation.

"It's not a matter of where Brainiac is. It's when."

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Tuesday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 13** **th** **, 2018.**


	102. Chapter 102

**Chapter One Hundred and Two: Past, Present, and Future Part One**

* * *

The calm and peaceful farm town of Smallville had that calm and peace wrecked twelve years ago by a meteor shower. Now in the year 2001, pretty much everyone returned to their business. Despite returning to their business, there was a specter of something dangerous in the air.

A bright light appeared in the backwoods of Smallville. Three metallic objects dropped down from the sky and landed on the ground. They impacted the ground the very instant they arrived in Smallville. The flickers from the eyes turned around and flashed.

These three Brainiac Drones had one single objective in mind. They shifted into the guise of townpeople which made it much easier for them to blend in and allow for a more seamless experience.

"We must locate the one known as Clark Kent," the first drone stated to all of the others in the most robotic tone. "He will grow up into Superman."

"Yes, and he is the human guise of Kal-El."

The first drone took on the guise of a common bearded man dressed in a pair of overalls. The second drone dressed up as a car mechanic with curly black hair. The third drone shifted into a gentleman with spiked hair with a more punk rock look.

"Historical records state that the Kent Farmhouse is close to here," the first drone said. "Act natural."

A semi-truck rolled down the street. They stepped their way onto the streets. Children laughed and played in the distance. They ignored these sounds because they were not key to their directive of locating Kal-El and ensuring that he would be brought down.

"The fastest way is through this field."

They crossed the field. Their sensors indicated radioactive traces of the planet of Krypton. It would be referred to as Kryptonite. They just resembled a small group of men passing through the field, although they did not look like the type of people who would hang out together, as the humans had a fondness of saying.

Another blast of light opened up a wormhole. Three figures landed on the ground. They dressed in red flannel shirts and jeans to blend in. Imra held her ring out and it flashed in the distance. Ayla and Tinya stayed a couple of inches behind her.

"So, is there any luck?" Tinya asked in a very nervous voice.

Imra leaned back a fraction of an inch and rolled the ring over the edge of the portal. She nodded.

"There's been a recent transportation from the past. Someone is most certainly here. And we're going to have to find them before they cause any damage."

The leader of the Legion girls stopped at the edge. This was where Clark Kent's earliest adventures stopped. She saw on the billboard, Smallville High's homecoming game and dance were advertised.

' _This is how the story begins,'_ Imra thought. _'Simply, on a day like any other.'_

"I don't have to remind you that if we interact with anyone, we run the risk of causing time splinters," Imra told the other girls in the Legion.

"Yeah, we know, this isn't the first time we've been out here," Tinya said with a slight roll of her eyes.

Imra looked at them more seriously than she had ever been before. It was chilling how serious this woman could get.

"This is a day where Clark Kent, Kal-El, takes the first step on his journey to become Superman. And you know what else happens today?"

"It's a day where he ends up saving his greatest enemy after he wrecks his car," Ayla said. "Wow, this really is a pretty important day."

Regardless of what they said about Lex Luthor, he was a very vital component of the story and the journey of Clark Kent. They needed to ensure Clark was at a certain point on this day. They rushed to go after the drones, knowing how much time was of the essence.

' _They've already got a head start, and they know where he is,'_ Imra thought.

They moved past the field where Clark's ship crashed in all of those years ago. Imra could not appreciate standing in the middle of such a beloved historical landmark properly due to the fact her nerves racked something fierce.

* * *

Clark sat in the Fortress computers. He, with the help of Indigo, scanned through the greatest reaches of the universe, Lara, Raya, and Alura maneuvered themselves around as well.

"Any luck?"

Kara leaned into the Fortress. One could see the growing look of frustration etched on her face and it was hard to fault her for being wound tighter than a cheap watch.

"No, sorry," Clark said. "We're going to find it no matter how long it takes. No matter how many corners of the galaxy we're going to have to hunt, we're going to find it before it's too late."

Clark steadied himself against the edge of the console. He could hear something going on in his mind, like two ticks in a clock. Karen just smiled and wrapped her arm around Clark's waist. Kara moved in to put her arm around the other side. The three of them looked up in the vast reaches of space.

"He's not making this as easy as I would have first hoped," Indigo chimed in, a tone of frustration going evidently in her voice.

Clark opened his mouth to say something. Suddenly, something hit him. Pain worse than anything Clark ever imagined. He jolted forward, dropped to his knees in the center of the Fortress. Clark threw his head back and screamed out to the heavens.

"Kal!"

Alura stepped over to check on him. Lara and Raya rushed over. Raya tried to reach out to touch Clark. She could not grab onto him at all. It was almost like he faded away.

"Oh, Rao, it's already happening!" Kara yelled.

Clark's screams echoed as he struggled against the waves of time themselves. The determination burned through the eyes of the Man of Steel the harder he swam against the currents trying to drag him down underneath. Clark rolled his shoulders back with a heavy breath popping over him. The Man of Steel flung himself constantly around and screamed even more.

"Hang on!" Kal yelled. "Indigo, he hasn't left."

"No, but he might have dispatched sentries to get to Kal-El!" Indigo yelled.

Clark collapsed on the ground. Karen was able to scoop him up and drag him off of the ground. His body coated with sweat and the pain began to fade the second he stood up straight on his feet. Clark took in a couple more breaths.

"It felt like white hot knives seared through my organs," Clark groaned. "I thought I was going to die."

"You weren't alone," Lara said.

They did not kill Clark yet. And they would not if they had to get to that ship. A flicker came into the Fortress to distract Lara momentarily.

Lois walked a very shell-shocked Lana into the Fortress. Chloe walked a couple of steps behind them. All three girls looked shaken to various degrees. Lois managed to be the pillar of strength no matter what.

"We have a problem," Lois said. "Lana, do you think you can tell him what you saw?"

Clark took Lana's hand. She calmed down from the nerve-racking frustration. Clark's warmth inspired her to press on.

"I saw it. I saw you die. And it wasn't a recent thing. I saw Brainiac's drones tear you to pieces out behind the Kent Farmhouse. I watched it happen and then for a second…it was almost like I ceased to exist before I snapped out of it."

Lana almost shivered at the thought. Clark rubbed her shoulders and made her just a bit calmer when steering her to a seat to sit down. Astra popped herself into the Fortress just as Lana sat down. Alura moved over to quickly let her sister in on what was going on.

"If you die then, then…well, I'm dead," Chloe said. "Lana's dead as well, and a whole bunch of people, and yes, Lex is dead…and the entire world…I don't know how different it is."

"Smallville is a war zone because of no one being around to stop the meteor mutants," Lois said. "If the US Military didn't decide to trap all of the people inside and blow it up with everything inside."

That grim thought passed through Clark's mind. He was still here and he was still alive.

"I have a question," Astra said. "Time travel isn't my expertise, but wouldn't that just create an alternate timeline? Give the infinity lines theory?"

"Normally, yes," Indigo said. "But, given the methods Brainiac is using, which are tied to First Earth, he's creating a time storm. He's manipulating the Crisis-Effect to his own gains. In the end, there will be only one Earth which he will absorb and destroy."

"And he will rewrite everything in his own image," Clark said. "We have to stop him. Now."

No one could disagree with Clark's assessment of the situation. They had no choice. Brainiac must have been stopped by any means necessary.

"I have a lock where they went to the future," Indigo said. "The Legion is there."

* * *

In the autumn of 2001, a younger Clark Kent made his way around the farm. He completed his early morning chores before heading off to school. He hoped that his Freshman year of high school would be one to remember.

A loud crash from a truck breaking down caused Clark to turn around. The teenager looked at an old man who limped over towards the fence. The man put his hands on the fence and peered at Clark. Clark did not think anything of it. He cleared his throat.

"Do you need any help, sir?"

"Yes," the older man said. "My truck has broken down across the road. Do you think you could give me a hand to change the tire?"

Clark thought it was a simple enough thing to ask. No reason not to trust this old man either. He helped his father change the tire of the tractor more than enough times. Clark walked over the way towards the old man. The old man hacked loudly to the point where Clark had grown just a tiny bit concerned by the man and the look of him.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Maybe I can get you inside and get you something. Are you hurt, do you need a doctor?"

"No, I am in no need of medical assistance. But, you may be."

Several cables shot out from underneath the man's overalls and wrapped Clark. Clark tried to signal for help. One of the cables wrapped around his mouth to block out any senses. All which could be heard was some mumbled screams as Clark attempted to break free from the track.

"Farewell, Kal-El. You inspired many in the future. But, here, all people will remember is Clark Kent, the boy who was killed on his own farm before school on one more."

The struggles Clark underwent caused him to go more frantic. No matter how much he tried, Clark could not break out of this position.

' _No, I can't die.'_

"This was built to someone of much stronger power. But this should ensure your silence."

A large piece of a glowing green rock slipped out into the hand of the old man. Those cables fastened Clark into place. He kicked out. No, give to the cables at all. He kicked out once again and still no give the cables. His third attempts to kick out ended up leading to some growing weakness as he slumped down and took a large breath. The Kryptonite piece closed in on him.

A flash of light appeared. The old man turned just in time to see a beam of light shoot through. The light sliced the drones.

Indigo stepped in just in time. Lana's vision and Clark's episode both pointed her to the location of where she needed to be.

Two other drones came across the way.

"Destroy the obsolete model."

"I'll show you obsolete!"

Indigo blocked one of the drones impaling her through her chest. Indigo twisted the arm of drone back and forced it to the ground. The other drone came after Indigo only to be nailed in the back by lightning. The drone turned around and fired an attack on them.

Clark rose up to his feet as Indigo froze time around them all. The first drone stabbed Clark in the shoulder with the Green Kryptonite knife and dropped him down to the ground. Indigo yanked the drone away before he could do any more damage and pummeled him with repeated attacks.

The hero fell to the ground with severe burning. The Legion moved closer to the drones.

"We have what we want."

They disappeared into the time stream. Imra turned and could feel herself become weakened. Clark's life faded and if Clark died, she would most certainly not be there. There would be no Legion of Superheroes if Clark died before he could even perform his first major act of heroics.

Indigo leaned down and grabbed younger Clark. His dead weight held over her when Indigo dragged him down over.

She could hear in her head the voices of the drones.

"Brainiac just said that they've done well," Indigo said. "I need to get him back to the Fortress."

Imra almost had a lecture about time splinters. Another chill rattled her body and made Imra rethink any lectures. She simply nodded and waited for Indigo to flash into the future with Clark slumped over her shoulder.

"We have to find them," Imra said.

Tinya reached over to pick up a piece of the wire left behind. The wire burst into dust and disappeared thus kicking that particular avenue.

"We just have to look for them."

* * *

Clark Kent came face to face with himself. It was hard to believe he had grown this far over the past several years. The Man of Steel spent the next couple of minutes just looking.

"You were so cute back then," Chloe commented.

"Yes, and more naïve and innocent as well," Clark said. "I mean why did I…why did I just come and help a man at the gate without even thinking twice?"

"That's just the small town sensibility in you," Chloe said with a smile.

Lara moved over. Past self or not, seeing her son in this level of distress was not good on her psyche. She walked over to the edge of the containment unit and pressed a hand into it. She tested the radiation level.

"It isn't as damning as it could be," Lara said. "Brainiac, if he wanted to kill Clark, he intended to impale the Kryptonite through him."

It had been a long time since Clark had been affected by Kryptonite thanks to the radiation shielding build into his suit. One might have thought having a large "S" shield on the shoot was the epitome of cheese until you realized that the symbol served a more practical purpose. Not only it celebrated Clark's family heritage.

"He'll be alright," Clark said.

"Well, yeah," Chloe said. "Otherwise, neither of us would be standing here right now. You'd be gone, and I'd be gone…and hell this Fortress wouldn't be here at all, would it?"

Clark shook his head. Lara moved in to perform the necessary surgery. Indigo stood by to monitor his vital signs. They went through an extremely delicate and frustrating procedure to remove the crystal pieces of Krypton.

Raya took over with the search. She was half worried what would happen. The only thing which prevented the worry from overtaking and destroying her was the fact she had to stay with it. She had to focus and had to move through no matter what.

"Radiation levels are down," Indigo said. "When this is over and once he is healed, I'd highly advise returning him to about ten seconds after the drones left, with his memory cleared. As far as he knew, he helped an old man with a flat tire and went out of his day."

Clark recalled these memories going into his mind of that day. He could not recall going in the Fortress.

"That's understandable," Clark said. "I agree that's a pretty good idea. Is he healthy?"

"The Kryptonite is now out of his system, although his cells are weakened," Indigo said.

Lara jumped in right where Indigo left off. "It's going to take some yellow solar radiation therapy to get him back to speed. We don't want to overwhelm him because his powers haven't quite come into their own just yet."

"Overwhelm?" Clark asked. "What would happen if you…."

"You go full super-nova and explode," Astra chimed in with a steady hand on him. "You're not feeling the pain, are you?'

It never ceased to amaze Clark how Astra could go from one point to the other without even blinking. Astra stepped back. They all stood there.

Clark turned to Lana who peered at the cell. She shook her head.

"The vision is gone and everything is normal," Lana said. "At least until Brainiac gets his hands on First Earth, then again…."

"I can't believe this!"

Raya interrupted them with a scream. Clark moved over, with Kara and Karen coming in from the other room to join her. They all knew something was wrong. Raya threw her hands back and acted like she was going to break out into a scream.

"Krypton," Raya said. "He never really left home. His mothership is on one of the moons outside of Krypton. Or outside of whatever's left of Daxam?"

At the mention of that particular planet, Astra pulled a face as if she had been force-fed poison.

"Wait, the Daxamites have been wiped out?" Astra asked.

"Yes," Indigo said. "But, no."

Astra figured it was some kind of future thing they should not get into. Indigo moved over and locked coordinates for the galaxy Krypton was in.

"We can reconfigure the Phantom Zone portal to beam Kal, Karen, and Kara outside of Krypton. It's a risk…and yes, Brainiac-Prime is on the outskirts of the Rell Moon. That's where his ship is."

"And that's where we're going to be," Clark said.

"Suit up," Indigo said. "There's still some chunks of your planet around and then other hazards which could navigate around."

The three Legion girls popped up from the past. Clark smiled when they showed up.

"You figured out Brainiac is outside of Krypton on Rell Moon as well, haven't you?"

"Well, that skips the exposition," Imra said. "Are you ready to go?"

* * *

It had been a long time since either Karen or Kara had been on Krypton. Longer from Karen's perspective when she stepped out into the rock and felt a very evident chill come up against her body. Each step brought Karen just that much closer.

The trio of Kryptonian survivors wore super powerful suits which blocked out the radiation and any harmful effects. The Moon of Rell had a poisonous atmosphere after the explosion of Krypton.

"He's close."

Indigo appeared on the moon. Saturn Girl, Phantom Girl, and Lightning Lass approached the moon and walked over. The group of three became a group of seven when edging a little bit closer to the moon. The chills just increased the further they walked out.

"There it is!"

The soil squished on their feet. Green smoke billowed from the soil. Clark even felt a little dazed with the suit. He increased the sensitivity of the shields around his suit. Clark moved in front of a ship which was larger than Metropolis standing in front of him.

Several drones moved forward. They carried Kryptonite into the ship. Wires jutted out. Indigo scanned the ship to see what they are doing.

"They are transmuting the radioactive chunks of Krypton into power. This power will be strong enough to open a portal to anywhere in the multiverse."

Clark just frowned. They could see about a hundred of those drones lined up against the ship. Some of them carried crystal orbs onto the ship as well. Others collected as much of the ship's pieces as possible.

"They're going to detect you the moment you pass this point."

Indigo drew a line into the sand of the moon of Rell. The line smoked and the entire planet started to rock. They jumped back and green steam shot through a crater in the moon. The steam heated up the planet an insane amount.

"I'm going to have to be the one to get on the ship."

Clark steadied his breath. "What if Brainiac captures and tries to reprogram you?"

"Not to worry," Indigo said. "I've taken steps to prevent that from happening."

The question of what steps Indigo took would have to wait. Karen, Kara, and Clark hovered above the ground when feeling a ripple. Their blood felt cold once more. A loud rupture shook the ground in front of them. Imra hitched in her breath.

"Time quakes are starting. We really are running out of time."

Indigo nodded in affirmation. "Let's move."

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Thursday. Thanks for Reading.**

* * *

 **To Be Continued on March 15** **th** **, 2018.**


	103. Chapter 103

There's a blog exclusive chapter featuring Clark along with Alex and Astra. Head over to the Page of Important Links, the Web of Chaos Archives, and either the Blog Exclusive Chapter or the Stronger Together chives. It's called "Common Ground."

* * *

 **Chapter One Hundred and Three: Past, Present, and Future Part Two**

* * *

The final steps to building a better universe were in Brainiac's midst.

"Soon, the power to return to Earth Prime will be acquired. Current status report puts me at approximately ninety-six point twelve percent. I will need every ounce of power to get through and to erase everything."

Brainiac coordinated all of the attacks from the past, present, and future as a means to distract his opponents. Everything happened for a reason and soon, those reasons would be obvious. He checked to ensure all of the crystal orbs were intact before scanning the area around him.

"My forces are now in position in the thirty-first century. The remaining members of the Legion of Superheroes will not be sent in from the future to assist their rivals. The inevitable result of the battle is irrelevant. It only matters whether or not they are stopped."

A tripped sensor caused a blare to come out over the screen. Brainiac's interest shifted over towards one side of the television screen. He noticed the Kryptonian survivors along with the Legion arrive. He sensed they were not alone.

"They have created the means to effortlessly step onto the Moon of Rell without any problems. An impressive effort, but one that will result in failure. And they have brought Drone Eight with them as well."

Brainiac calculated every single beat of his plan to the letter and ensured that he would be in perfect position.

"I must wait for them to get close enough," Brainiac said. "And once they are in position, I will arrange a suitable reception to drive them back."

The one who got away approached, and she would be the key to get onto the ship, only if Brainiac allowed it. He gave them enough room before heading out for the kill.

"Drones Thirteen through Twenty-Four, you have your orders," Brainiac declared. "Stop Superman at all costs. Delay him from reaching the ship. And bring me back Drone Eight. She is still of some uses to me."

The drones deployed from the ship. Brainiac awaited to see what their success was.

"Only two more percent. More of the matter referred to as Kryptonite will be brought before my ship and will need to be transmitted."

* * *

Narrowly, Lex escaped Cadmus Labs. He walked outside of the parking deck. The neighborhood surrounding this facility was not the best-kept neighborhood in the entire city. Lex found himself caring very little about how the neighborhood had been unkept.

Over the years, Lionel set up this satellite facilities for LuthorCorp. This was one of the few Lex had some confidence that Tess and Lillian did not know of at least as of yet.

Lex stopped short of the elevator. He had been hyper-sensitive to certain feelings ever since waking upon. One of them was the fluctuations within the multi-verse and what it was doing to him. He could feel his presence almost slip away once or twice.

' _Brainiac has pulled Clark from the past out of the timeline. He's not dead because otherwise my presence here today would be threatened. And I would not have finished this thought.'_

The unfortunate dependence Lex held to Clark Kent reared its ugly head a couple of times. He moved forward towards the elevator.

' _I could not become the person I'm about ready to come without your intervention. And you will give me the inspiration to save the world.'_

The elevator brought Lex up to an office on the top floor. He wasted no time in exiting the elevator and crossing the hallway. Winds made the windows rattle. The musty smell filling the office showed that very few people had been in this office for quite some time and even fewer people had cleaned.

Lex pulled a face and walked over. He activated a button to boot up the computers.

' _I don't think they've been infected by Brainiac just yet. That's not his plan.'_

Lex flipped on the television. The images of the stock market reports came on. The scroll across the screen indicated the stock market entered a state of panic even though Lex could not hear due to the television being mutated. His frown deepened the more news came in over the television screen.

' _Stock market manipulation. I could not think of less of a tired and more inspired plan.'_

Another ripple came through Lex. He could feel a sharp pain going through his stomach as if something impaled him. Lex drew in a deep breath and collapsed down onto the chair.

A flash drive pressed into his hand and dropped onto the chair. Lex continued to hear the rattling of the wind. He rose up and left the office area into a lab on the other side.

Lex returned just moments later to see the computer system having booted completely up. The LuthorCorp Network had been about as secure as possible. His access had been restricted. Lex typed in his password and found that it had been changed.

"Good one, Tess."

"I try."

The sound of a gun clicking behind him made Lex stand up straight. There were no hairs on the back of his neck to stand up, but never the less he could feel the sense of dread. Lex turned his head around to watch Tess move towards her.

"And here I thought you didn't know where this facility is."

Lex raised his eyebrow at the woman in front of him. The only reason the redhead did not blow him straight away was she obviously wanted to know what Lex was up to.

"I'm amused actually you found out. You're going to shoot me after all of what we've been through. Why didn't you do it before?"

"You couldn't be killed even if I wanted to," Tess answered.

"Yes, there is a problem. Being exposed to Brainiac, to Zod, and then to Doomsday's DNA, I had become very indestructible. You could have sent me to that prison….what was it called again?"

Lex knew that Tess knew he knew exactly what he was talking about. The gun drew ever so closer to Lex's face. Lex just smiled.

"Oh, yes, it's called the Phantom Zone, isn't it?"

No amusement came over Tess's eyes. Lex just took the next couple of seconds to stare into her face when she locked eye to eye with him.

"It's funny, if you're going to kill me right now, it will be when my mind is clearer than it's been in a long time. And I wouldn't blame you what you've done. Or the steps you've taken to ensure that I didn't get out."

Lex saw nothing other than the business end of the gun staring down. He knew it would be unwise to tempt fate when staring down death. Many had stared down death and had blinked in the face of it. He just broke out into one of the more obvious smiles.

"You helped me see the light in your own strange way. I had to spend months hear training my mind to avoid being controlled by anyone again. It's helped a lot. And it also includes not being fooled by ruptures in the timeline."

Tess did not lower her gun, and Lex appreciated she did not. Regardless, he pointed out something which popped up.

"See that building there? That was not here when I stepped foot into this facility. There are changes in the timeline, small ruptures. I could look in the mirror and have a full head of hair for all I know."

Tess did not even say anything. Lex just reached forward to grab her shoulder. The gun was now stuck directly in Lex's face. Tess could have pulled the trigger and splattered Lex's brains on the wall.

"Enough with the word games. What are you up to?"

Many people would have flinched at having a gun directly in their face. Lex had been through so many near-death experiences it was almost amusing having the gun buried in face like that. He took a deep breath and chuckled in response.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you? After all, we've been through, you're going to kill me. After all of the things that I've survived, you're going to be the one who is going to kill me."

Lex remained rigid in the face of Tess's weapon in his face. He popped up with a smile.

"You kill me, you don't learn anything. And if you don't learn anything, you're not going to be able to save the world. It's amazing how that works, isn't it?"

The gun only held a couple of inches away from Lex's face. He could see the gears grinding in Tess's head as she debated what to do with the weapon. The weapon closed in on Lex and grew ever so close to pulling the fatal trigger on him.

"I know what Cadmus is up to and I know how deeply Brainiac has infected their system. And I know what could be done if we wanted to stop Brainiac for good."

Tess's hand wavered for a second. She did not drop the gun. Still, she paused for long enough to consider Lex's statement. Perhaps there was something to it?

"Or you can kill me right here. And when you kill me right now, you learn absolutely nothing. What is it going to be, Tess?"

Several ticks of the clock passed before Tess lowered the gun. She did not let go, but lowering it showed she was at least interested. She walked closer to Lex and stared him in the face. Lex's hands were front and center. If he ever reached for a pocket, Tess would shoot him without any questions.

"You have ten minutes," Tess warned him.

A sardonic smile flashed across Lex's face. "I'm only going to need seven."

* * *

Another time quake rattled the ground. Clark could only begin to guess that the time they spend would be in minutes.

Saturn Girl jumped halfway up in shock. A dozen Brainiac drones moved their way into the picture. She turned to her fellow Legion of Super-Heroes members. They blasted forward and cut a path through the Brainiac Drones.

Power Girl contributed to her attack by sending an orb into the air. The orb released a blast of electricity to shut the drone down. The Brainiac duplicate twisted his hands around. Power Girl smacked the drone down to the ground. Another drone jumped onto her back and wrapped its arms around Power Girl's throat. Power Girl flew backward and smashed the drone into side of the ship.

"No matter what!" Superman yelled. "Clear and path for Indigo and myself."

Supergirl kicked space dust into the Brainiac duplicates which scrambled their sensors. She reared back and smacked the drone down. It crushed like a tin-can underneath her attack.

"You will fail at this, Kal-El! My ship is almost ready."

A highly modulated voice which sounded more cold and impersonal than the Milton Fine Brainiac came up. Two of the Brainiac drones stepped and grabbed Superman. Superman twisted out and sent them down to the ground. He picked up a piece of metal and aimed for a weak spot in the chest plate. Sparks flew the second Superman pulled out of the robot and dropped him down to the ground.

"It's never too late," Superman said in his harshest tone of voice.

Indigo stepped on the ship, side by side with Superman. Three more Brainiac drones came down. One of them fired a burning red beam at the attacker. Indigo created a shield which absorbed the energy and fired it back.

The beams pinged off of the drones. They all crashed down to the ground.

"Even if you defeat my drones, you can't stop me!"

Another one rose up to grab Superman. Superman fought against the drone's assault and smashed him into the wall. The Man of Steel received a wire wrapped around his throat. He struggled against the attack.

Indigo retracted her arms into blades and ripped the creature apart. Sparks started to fly when the drone dropped down to the ground.

"None of you will be leaving here alive."

"I've heard that so many times," Superman said.

"As for Drone Eight," Brainiac continued. "She will be taken in for reprogramming. And if she cannot be reprogrammed, she will be destroyed."

Two cables retracted from the ship's walls and beamed at Indigo. Indigo blocked the cables with her hands and pushed herself to a new level of intensity.

"It's my job to correct an error when it happens. And you're the biggest error. And for the record, my name is Indigo. I am not the BrainInteractive Construct Drone Eight. I AM INDIGO!"

She smashed the sides of the walls. They needed to get to the master control room and shut down the ship before it reached Earth Prime. The power gauges almost flickered up to a high level.

"I strive for accuracy. That being said, your corrupted programming presents an unfortunate dilemma. And it's a pity that you're going to be destroyed."

Indigo refused to waste precious CPU explaining how Brainiac was the one who had been corrupted by the original programming created by Alura which happened to be her namesake.

Three drones appeared. Superman stood in front of them and drew in a very hard press. The sounds of battle from outside grew closer to inside.

' _At least the girls are making some headway.'_

The three smaller drones locked arms and turned into one super-sized Brainiac Drone who rose up to its fullest height. Indigo stepped back.

Power Girl and Supergirl popped through the tower. Supergirl punted the head of one of the Brainiac drones. It smashed through the glass leading to one of the rooms.

"The engines of the ships are powering up!" Indigo yelled at the rumbling sounds. "We don't have much time."

The large Brainiac Drone shot cables from its throat at Superman. Superman caught the cables and twisted his way out of the attack. He rose up and punched the attacker as hard as possible.

"Soon, your reserves will be drained. There's no yellow sun on this planet."

Superman pressed in the shield of his suit. Some of the stored energy in the shield filled his body and repowered him. He had maybe only two blasts before the reserves faded. This was a situation where he needed strength. Superman rose up once again and nailed the larger drone with a punch.

Another couple of punches rattled the super-powered drone. Supergirl and Power Girl pressed the shields on their chest plates and they had been invigorated by the same blast of yellow solar radiation. The three of them blasted at the Brainiac Drone as hard as possible.

"This is inconceivable!" Brainiac yelled.

Superman took the head of the object, Supergirl took the legs, and Power Girl took the torso. She threw herself at the adversary with reckless abandon. Each punch rocked the super-sized Brainiac drone.

"Clear the way!" Indigo called.

She had one last chance before the engine fired up. Another time quake indicated something was about ready to go down. This time quake was more dangerous than all of the others combined.

The Super Brainiac drone moved to stop Indigo. Supergirl grabbed it underneath the leg an flipped it over. A shield formed around it to block Supergirl's punch. She fired off two of them before pulling back. The Girl of Steel dropped and rolled down on the ground.

* * *

"You can take it or leave it however you want. I've given you insight on what's going on in Cadmus. And I've presented you with a flash drive of everything Cadmus has worked on during their studies. You might not want to plug it in before scanning it though."

Tess spent the next minute with her eyes firmly locked onto Lex.

"Is that everything?"

Lex nodded. Tess pulled the trigger and shot Lex once in the chest. She shot him once in the head as well and blew his head off of his shoulders. Sparks poured from Lex's decapitated head the second he dropped down onto the ground. Tess rushed over towards him.

"LMD, I knew it."

Lex would not have made it that easy. Tess had to be sure and she received some valuable information. She reached over to the flash drive and moved over. The virus scanner she and Indigo set up ran to check to make sure it was completely safe.

' _Okay, it's clear. Let's go.'_

Tess slipped the flash drive into the main port of the computer and took in a deep breath. She waited for it to come to life in front of her.

"So, any luck?" Tess asked.

"You mean trying to find a way to cripple Brainiac?" Chloe asked. "Sorry, but we're no closer to doing that now than we were about four hours ago."

"And we're running out of time."

Tess hoped that Indigo, Clark, Karen, and the others found a way onto the ship. Indigo really was their most secure bet.

"Daisy, are you there?" Tess asked.

"Yeah, I'm here."

Tess wished she had more time to comb over the information Lex's LMD brought to her She did not claim to know everything the DEO knew, but she knew this information could be of potential use. She flashed through everything on it.

"I'm sending you some information. It may be close to complete intel on everything Cadmus knows."

The gasp coming from the other line showed Daisy had been very intrigued. Tess tapped her finger on the edge of the desk and waited for some kind of answer to come out on the other end.

"Well, that's pretty close to a lot of what the DEO has, and some new information," Daisy said. "They were working on a way to disrupt alien artificial intelligence as well. And I think it was because they were trying to access the Fortress as well."

That particular piece of information unsettled Tess even though it did not surprise her. She took in a couple of breaths and focused herself on what was going to happen.

"We could adapt it to take down Brainiac if we are given enough time," Daisy said. "You know the problem as well as I do."

"I know, we don't have any time."

Tess hoped, as did everyone else, they could find a way to take down Brainiac at the source. Time was running out. Each tick of the clock brought nerves. Tess leaned down and thought there might have been something. She took a module from the LMD's neck and put it in her pocket.

' _Best to ensure that Cadmus doesn't try and pull any tricks if they have this technology.'_

* * *

Kara pushed up to a standing position. Her cape had been torn the second the mega-Brainiac Drone attacked her. Supergirl pushed through with more adrenaline and came up. A huge roundhouse punch caught the drone and almost doubled him over. Supergirl came on through with multiple punches. Each of them nailed the attacker and staggered him back.

"Come on!" Supergirl yelled at the top of her lungs. "COME ON!"

Power Girl came from behind the attack and nailed him with a thunderous punch between the shoulder blades. Sparks flew when Power Girl reared back and smacked him repeatedly. A constant barrage took him down.

The three members of the Legion of Super-Heroes joined the battle. Saturn Girl lifted up a large piece of debris to block the attacker. Phantom Girl came into its shin and caused sparks to fly. Lightning Lass came on above and nailed her opponent with a thunderous blast between the shoulders to knock it down.

All their attacks left them open for one huge running punch from Superman. Superman came in and ripped the drone apart. The three smaller drones shot out of the larger drone and dropped to the ground. Sparks started to shower around the area the harder Superman punched at the drones. The drone received a huge beating.

Supergirl took the left drone, Power Girl the right, and Superman the center. All three of them dropped down to the ground with sparks flying in every direction.

"Let's go and back up Indigo," Superman said.

Imra opened her mouth to say something. The three Legion of Superheroes girls faded from the area.

"NO!" Supergirl yelled.

The three disappeared as if they had not been here before. Supergirl clutched onto the wall and took a deep breath. Superman wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in close. Power Girl closed her eyes and spent the next second recovering.

"We need to move," Power Girl said. "Any one of us. We could be next."

"Hopefully they got pulled back into the future."

Karen echoed Kara's hopes because the alternative was not a pretty thing to talk about. The trio stepped over and another time quake echoed. They did not have much time to think about what happened to the Legion. Another

"Hang on!" Indigo called over the ship. "I was unable to stop him. We…we need to hold on!"

No question entered Clark's mind where they were heading. It was back to where it all began. They were heading to First-Earth, Earth-Prime.

"Brace yourselves for impact."

* * *

Thanks to everyone for all of the hits/favorites/follows/kudos/comments and I'll see you for the next chapter on Saturday. Thanks for Reading.

 **To Be Continued on March 17** **th** **, 2018.**


	104. Chapter 104

**It's funny, I've only missed a scheduled chapter on this website three times in my life. Once was due to death in the family. Another time was due to Internet problems. And other was yesterdays outage at** dotnet **. This chapter was posted as scheduled everywhere else. For future reference, should this website be down, check out the chapter at "Archive of Our Own". You can either find the link to my profile on my page of important links. Or barring that type in "Megamatt09 Archive of our Own" in Google. Or whatever your search engine of choice is these days.**

 **I have so many things to say about the skewed priorities about this website right now, which is making me lean towards not posting anything new here anymore, or at least posting it way after I post it elsewhere. While yesterday's hardware failure was likely out of their hands, I have to wonder if it's just the chickens coming home to roost after ignoring some problems under the hood for years. Also, them throwing the desktop users under the bus and focusing their attention on the mobile end of the website leaves a sour taste in my mouth, but that's personal preference more than anything.**

 **And now, on with the second to last chapter of this series. Under the Hood and Breeding Ground will be posted as scheduled today, providing this website doesn't cough up another hairball. And it's funny, I was just minutes away from praising this website for being functional(mostly) for the last couple of weeks before it did what it did.**

* * *

 **Chapter One Hundred and Four: Past, Present, and Future Part Two**

* * *

Superman flew out of the wormhole and landed on the ground. Something jarred them loose from the mothership when they had been shot out through several vortexes and landed on the ground. The Man of Steel took a couple of breaths. He felt a little bit staggered even with the breathing apparatus.

' _Good thing we didn't get knocked out in the vacuum of the multiverse.'_

One courtesy look around demonstrated to Clark they were not in Kansas anymore. He turned to make sure the rest of the group walked up behind him. Supergirl and Power Girl dropped down onto the ground. Supergirl almost sunk into the Earth before hopping straight up. Superman wrapped an arm around her to pull her steady.

"So, this is Earth Prime," Power Girl said.

Toxins surrounded the air and made some very visible clouds. They could barely see where they were going. Miles and miles of ground stretched without anything on it. Clark kept his attention on a forest in front of them. Only no leaves and no signs of life covered the tree. The area was pretty barren and Clark took another step forward.

Some very real bones littered the ground in places. Clark bent down to pick up a crumpled looking disc off of the ground. The second Clark gently touched the disc, it exploded in his hand. Clark drew in a very obvious breath when moving his way to the portal.

"It's about what we thought it would be," Supergirl said.

Power Girl shrugged. "It's the very first world. It's long since expired. Something happened here. But…you can see how powerful it is. It's the world which gave birth to the other worlds."

The suits warned them of a potentially lethal amount of radiation when walking a bit closer to the edge. The trio moved across the way. Their hearts thumped even louder the further they got along the path. The excitement was almost too much for them to stand.

Clark had one single-minded purpose. Indigo disappeared which could be a problem. Just because she was gone, it did not mean the mission was over. Far from it because in Clark's mind they just started the mission.

The ground underneath them rattled. All three hovered above the ground. They only moved where they needed to go at as low speed. One more burst of solar-powered adrenaline had been held in the suit, but they did not want to use it unless it had been absolutely and completely necessary. They flew a little bit to the left and then a tiny bit to the right as they waited for any signs of life.

It would stick out on this planet, needless to say.

"Do you hear that?"

All of them heard something. It sounded like a whirling of some sort which brought their attention forward. Clark leads the way and they looked over a mountaintop which almost looked like it had been made of clay. The mountains rose up and crashed down.

Several nano-bots transformed the raw material into something which looked like a tower. They noticed three Brainiac drones move from the ship. They carried pieces of equipment to assemble to the edge of the tower. A solid hum echoed.

"We must hurry. They are drawing closer. We might have dealt with the obsolete model, but I cannot account for Kal-El, Kara Zor-El, and Kara In-Zee."

The potential implication of what he did to Indigo made Clark's blood boil. He rose up to attempt to engage until Power Girl and Supergirl held him back.

"Look what he's building," Power Girl said.

The giant tower hovered much higher than anything Clark had ever seen any world. It shined bright from the edge. Some of the nano-bots finished the tower and the top of it resembled the head of one of the Brainiac drones on the ship. Clark's eyes followed the progress of the drones.

"He's building….."

Warm energy cascaded through the air as several windows popped open above Clark's head. Clark drew in his breath at the sight of the portals all breaking open. He watched them flash open and counted them.

"Fifty-Two," Karen murmured. "He's not just satisfied with the planets in this solar system."

"It went without saying. He was going to grab the information from every single last planet in the multiverse. Clark took a step towards the doom which rippled back and sent Clark down to the ground. He shivered despite the entire situation.

"We're going to have to find a way past this force dome."

One mantra flashed through Clark's head beyond everything else. He could not deny it anymore. The most obvious idea kept entering his head.

' _Get to Brainiac. Get to Brainiac.'_

Three more drones joined the first three drones. The portals opened wider and the green energy flashed through them. Brainiac drew a black mass from the ground of Earth-Prime. The mass buzzed like angry locusts.

"I've got an idea."

Kara piping up brought Clark back to reality. All things considered after what they had to deal with, he was all ears. Time was previously running down to the wire and they needed to keep working. With the Force Dome in place, their jobs were not going to be that easy.

* * *

Lara lost contact with the Legion of Super-Heroes, with Indigo, and with Karen, Clark, and Kara. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

"I don't think we would be able to survive another time quake like the one that just hit us."

Astra's words were a matter of fact. She had returned from Kandor and all of the Kandorians were safe for the moment and ready for anything. However, could anyone truly be ready for something that would rip apart the entire multiverse? Astra did not have an answer to this question.

' _Basic military training doesn't prepare you for the end of reality itself.'_

Raya blew a lock of hair away from her face and situated the time portal as best as she potentially could.

"I don't understand this. They were right there. Kal, Kara, and Kara were right there. They were on the Brainiac ship."

Alura's hands shook when trying to steady them in vain. She knew, deep down, that it would be unwise to get agitated about something like this. The problem was that her daughter, niece, and nephew were on that ship when it disappeared.

"I've been unable to track it from the Moon of Rell," Raya continued. She took a few seconds to adjust the settings on the Fortress, but it had been much to do about nothing. "It's left the multiverse."

They were sitting here without any problem. Lara felt hopeless. She was feeling a vibe which she had not felt in a very long time, not at least since the end of Krypton. Lara brushed a strand of hair away from her face and took a couple of deep breaths.

"Okay, let's try this again…."

A three-dimensional hologram of the outside of the Earth appeared. A doorway slowly opened around to it. It was directly between Mars and Earth. Lara did not know what was on the other end of the doorway, but she was pretty sure it could be nothing completely ideal.

A black cloud flickered from the outside of the portal.

"He's doing it," Astra said. "He's actually doing it."

Alura double-checked a calculation and it was as dire as they all thought. The cloud ate through a satellite and reduced it to absolutely nothing.

"Everything that clouds touches, it will wipe out in a matter of seconds," Alura said. "It's drawing the data, sending it back to Brainiac, and eating the ship."

"How long is it going to be before it reaches the Earth?" Lara asked.

"Ten minutes," Raya said. "Maybe faster."

The cloud moved at immense speeds. Raya could not help but clutch the side of her face. She could not have these outbursts of emotion when the entire multiverse lied in the balance. Raya drew in a couple of deep breaths and moved to the crystals.

"The portal is opening wider," Raya said with a drop of sweat rolling down her face. "It's going to get here in a matter of minutes."

"Yes, we know," Asra said. "We have one shot to try and close that portal. If it fails….."

Astra did not entertain the possibility of failure. She watched it go further and almost reach Earth's moon. They had to stop it.

The cloud engulfed Earth's moon which caused the crystals of the Fortress to flicker and then explode. The energy waves caused by the Moon being removed caused chaos. And they knew it was going to explode.

"It's gone, the Moon's gone!"

* * *

Supergirl burst out from underneath the ground. She was covered in RAO only knew what. The soil of Earth Prime made her long for a shower even though every inch of her body had been covered in a skin-tight suit. Kara drew in a deep breath and looked down in time to see Power Girl and Superman burst out from the bottom of the Earth as well. The trio drew themselves in with a deep breath as they approached the ship. Time was running down and they needed to hurry and get to the ship.

"Your efforts are futile. It's going to end for you. You're going to be the last thing that I see, Son of Jor-El. Before the Multiverse dies."

Brainiac's drones popped out from several pops. Supergirl dove at them and ripped them apart. Cables shot out to grab her.

Power Girl hurled a jagged rock at the drones to rip them apart. Superman punched away at the drones and caused them to all fly back as well. The ship was well within their reach.

Determination beyond all else spread through the eyes of Superman. He was the only one who could save the world now before it entered complete ruin. The drone dove down and grabbed him by the arm. Superman punched him out.

"Surely you could see how futile your efforts are. This is the night the universe will perish. All of the information will be stored on my ship. And then my mission will be complete."

"The entire multiverse includes you!" Clark yelled.

One of the larger Brainiac drones shot a missile at Clark. Clark avoided it. The large clay mountain exploded behind him. Clark picked up the hunk of clay and threw it at Brainiac. The clay connecting with the robot caused his flesh to melt. Superman popped up and punched him.

"If I am to be rendered useless, then so be it. I will have absorbed everything. As I perish with the rest, I will do so knowing that I know everything. Therefore, there is no sense in standing forward another moment later."

Clark blazed through the Brainiac drones. They flew. One of them grabbed Clark around the back of the head and forced them to the ground.

A loud blast rendered one of the drones to scrap metal. Clark dropped down to the ground. Indigo hovered over his head with an extended arm flying out and she stabbed the drone directly in the chest. The pieces of metal fluttered to the ground the harder Indigo hammered away at these drones.

"Time to get up!" Indigo yelled. "Time to fight!"

Superman renewed his efforts. He formed a cyclone and ripped three of the Brainiac drones into the air.

"I thought he dealt with you."

"He really thinks I'm that easy," Indigo said. "He's sorely underestimating what I'm capable of. It's always been a failing of his."

Clark answered with a nod and kicked himself up.

"I can get you to the central core while keeping the ships defenses at bay."

Brainiac did not shut up. He had continued to press on.

"You should not interfere. You will be deleted for you are obsolete. You're a flawed knockoff."

The ship opened up. Power Girl and Supergirl followed him a few feet behind. They cut a path through the drones lining up on the back of the ship.

"And for the record, as I keep telling you, I'm not the obsolete one. In fact, you're very obsolete. You're just a cheap carbon copy knock off of my original programming who just happens to have a few bugs in it."

One of the drones crumpled down to the ground. Clark followed the path through a central archway. He expected far more resistance, but Indigo lead him down the hallway as fast as humanly possible. The Man of Steel continued to move as fast as he could, blasting even more down this hallway.

The central core greeted Clark. Clark reached out and grabbed onto the core.

"What are you doing?"

"Stopping you once and for all."

It sounded like the most matter of fact thing in the world. The drones all came down around Clark the moment that he grabbed the Central Core. Clark's eyes watered when he grabbed onto it.

Zip, from one side, flew Supergirl. She plowed through the drones. They fell to the ground as hard as possible. Supergirl kept smashing them down to the ground. One of them grabbed Clark. She kicked its head clean off of its body.

Power Girl did not want to see her cousins be the only one to have the fun. She smashed the drones herself as well. Sparks shot through the air with Power Girl's brutal attacks smashing the drones back down to Earth. Power Girl pulled back from the attack and allowed them to drop down to the ground.

Clark tightened his grip on the core of the ship and yanked it out as hard as he could. The ship's core burned in Clark's hands. He drew in a deep breath.

The drones still kept moving in despite it being unmoved from the ship. A disembodied voice came from the core.

"The core is my brain, while the ship is merely my arms. There's still no way you can stop me no matter how much you try."

Clark had an idea. The drones now blocked him from leaving the ship. He drew in a huge breath and a gust of wind knocked them through the ship. He had Brainiac's core but the ship remained intact.

"I'm going to take this out into space and destroy it," Clark said.

Karen's eyes widened. "But…."

"I know it's a risk," Clark said. "But, that's what heroes do."

Clark pressed into his shield and gave himself the last burst of adrenaline. He flashed one more encouraging smile in the general direction of Kara and Karen before going up, up, and around.

"So, you're willing to destroy yourself if it means you're going to destroy me," Brainiac said. "A surprisingly logical perspective. Perhaps, I had misjudged you."

Superman did not do anything. He kept his breath held due to the fact his face shield cracked the moment he entered high altitude in the atmosphere of Earth-Prime. The Man of Steel pressed on. Every single push made his arms feel like they were being brushed by high powered equipment.

The Brainiac Core clutched into his hand. Clark moved past the wastelands of Venus and Mercury. He was in absolute agony, but he was close, closer than anyone should be to the sun. The sun burned purple and red, hotter than ever. It was almost ready to flash burn Clark the closer he had.

Clark's entire body sized up and he felt hotter than normal. The shields on his suit were beginning to fail. He drew in a deep breath and threw back. He had no reason to hold back now.

Brainiac's core flew into the sun. The energy blast rebounded and every single inch of Clark's body encircled with fire. He screamed out in agony when his body hurdled without any direction through the vacuum of space. It was a hell of a ride and Clark took a sudden stop.

And then, everything faded to black.

* * *

Clark groaned and looked up. He laid outside of a field in the middle of Kansas. He dressed in normal civilian clothes instead of the look of Superman. He pulled himself up and wondered what in the hell just happened.

The Last Son of Krypton felt lighter than air when rising up above the ground. He took a couple of breaths when moving towards the farm. The sound of chopping wood caused Clark to go forward. His entire head rang out in frustration.

Clark came eye to eye with Jonathan Kent who was chopping wood at the Kent Farm like it was just the most normal thing in the world. He whistled when moving over.

"Pa?"

Jonathan Kent turned around with a smile on his face.

"Son," Jonathan said.

Clark moved over to hug his father. Jonathan pulled away from him after a few moments of greeting.

"I shouldn't have seen you again," Jonathan said.

"Wait, I'm dead?" Clark asked.

Jonathan put a hand to his face and moved back. He closed his eyes in the deepest of deep thought. "Yes, but no. It's very confusing. You're…well, you're in between right now."

"But, you're here," Clark said.

"Yes, I am," Jonathan said. "But, not for long. They figured that a friendly face would make you feel more comfortable. Regardless, you've done it. Your actions have saved the Multiverse from Brainiac. Several worlds have been saved including Earth."

"Then, if I'm dead, I've died a hero," Clark managed with a smile passing over his face. "It was always what I was destined to be."

"No, Clark, it's what you chose to be. And you always made the right choices, because that's the man that I raised you as you. You are more than a Superman. You are my son."

Jonathan clapped his son on the shoulder.

"And you still have many years of your life to live out. You're just resting right now. You came close, but they pulled you back. Your friends and family, they'll always be the ones to pull you back when you're on the edge."

"Yes."

A perky looking Goth girl stepped onto the farm in front of them. Jonathan stepped back from her. She smiled and walked closer to Clark. She touched the side of his face.

"As much as I would like to get to know you more, it's not your time. You still have a purpose to play. And it's now time for you to return home."

"Goodbye," Clark said. "I never had a chance to when I was…when you were…."

"I know how it must have torn you apart for me to go that fast," Jonathan said. "But, I knew you and your mother, you would both be alright even without me. I did what I could to hold on. And I died knowing that you would become a man that any father would be proud to call his son."

He smiled as the mist surrounded him.

"You're still missed," Clark said.

He managed to hug his father one last time before everything returned back to normal.

"There will always be a part of me who will always be alive. Where it counts. And with your friends"

Jonathan touched his finger to Clark's heart.

"Remember, with only with your friends and family are you stronger together."

Then everything faded to black one more time.

* * *

 **Thanks for all of the favorites, follows, reviews, views, and kudos. And I'll be seeing you on Monday for the final chapter.**

* * *

 **To Be Concluded In the Next chapter on March 19** **th** **, 2018.**


	105. Chapter 105

**Chapter One Hundred and Five: Legacy**

* * *

Clouds of mist surrounded around Clark's body as he tried to pull himself back out of it. He shuddered and woke up inside of the Fortress. The first thing he saw when waking up was Karen's beautiful face. He groaned as a wave of light swam over his body.

"Thank Rao."

Lara stepped into the Fortress to look over her son with a very relieved expression on her face. She was not the only one who was relieved in this particular situation.

"So, I'm back," Clark remarked in a weak voice.

"Yes, you're back," Karen said. "And it wasn't a moment too soon either."

Everyone in the Fortress looked relieved that he was awake. Kara, Raya, Astra, Alura, and everyone else swam back into focus. Clark's head started to thump the moment that he woke up. He could barely focus on anyone around him, but yet, he was feeling very relieved.

"And it's not a moment too soon."

The three Legion of Super Hero Girls showed up. The last thing Clark saw, they had been sucked straight into oblivion with everyone else. Clark drew in his breath as Imra stepped over and smiled.

"Your actions caused a chain reaction to reset everything Brainiac had done," Imra said. "Now after everything that happened, it's a shame that I did not really get to see Brainiac's final defeat."

Clark nodded in response. Was it truly over? Did they finally defeat Brainiac? Clark rose to the bed. It had never been more obvious now how much he should really enjoy life and everything it brought to him. The Last Son of Krypton crossed the room and took another deep breath.

"You were an inch away from death."

Karen's calm voice cut over through the Fortress. She put a hand on Clark's shoulder if afraid he would slip away into the distance once more had something happened. Clark closed his eyes and drew in a calming breath before turning his attention towards Karen.

"I know I was," Clark answered a few seconds later. "I was on the other side before I came back, ever so briefly."

Karen answered with a nod and she leaned a bit closer towards him. They had been fortunate for him to be alive.

"Had Kara and I not reached you in time, then…well, we…we wouldn't be having this conversation here, would we?"

Clark shook his head. He could say without a shadow of a doubt that none of them would be having this conversation if those two girls had pulled him out of the brink. Clark stood up straight. He still felt a bit tired, but who could blame him?

' _How many times do you come back from the dead like this?'_

"We're just glad to see you alive," Kara said. "You're a miracle getting out like you did. You always do manage to slip your way out of trouble."

Kara wrapped her arms around Clark's waist. To be honest, Clark always thought that miracles surrounded his life. Any number of things could have gone wrong with the ship that brought him to Earth, yet Clark turned up there, one hundred percent and ready to go. He could not have been happier with the situation as it occurred.

"So, is he really gone? Is Brainiac really gone?"

Indigo stepped into the picture in the Fortress. She shined brightly the second she appeared in the midst of the Fortress. Indigo put a hand on Clark's shoulder.

"Yes, he's gone," Indigo said. "And finally, I'm completely free from his shackles and from his legacy."

"One of the greatest mistakes in the history of Krypton is gone," Astra said. "And not just Krypton, but the entire universe as well."

Astra hated that her home planet had to die because of that horrific mistake. Brainiac was something she and Alura both fought the Council on. They listened not too well to them at all, because the Council always thought they had to be in the right and everyone else, they were in the wrong.

Clark made his way through the gates outside of the Fortress. The sun rose on this Earth. Something which would not happen if Clark had not been there to save the day as always. He breathed in the crisp air and broke out into a smile on his face.

"You see that?"

Karen and Kara joined him outside of the Fortress. They both saw the very thing which gave them energy and strength on this planet shine brightly on the top of their heads. Regardless of what anyone said, there was one thing that was true.

"It's a beautiful day."

Clark smiled at Kara's words. "It sure is. It sure is."

* * *

Most of this could not be possible without the help of the DEO and friends. Lois decided to check up with the DEO after a long meeting with the Guardians of Oa. The second she showed up, Chloe turned her head to Lois and caught the look of agitation on her face.

"Let me guess, you got….."

Lois put a hand up to stop Chloe. "It's just the same old same old. You have to follow protocol because otherwise the universe collapses and all that junk. It's a real pain in the ass when you think about it."

"Oh, yeah, it can be," Daisy agreed as she stepped over. "We dodged a bullet there."

"Well, Clark dodged several of them," Lois said. "Which is strange, because bullets normally bounce off of Smallville, unless they are specially made from something that can hurt them, and even then but….."

Chloe put her hand over Lois's mouth to shut her up before she embarrassed herself even more. Her eyes flashed over in the general direction of the door as the man of the hour showed up to a great amount of applause from some members of the DEO. Clark turned up at the door.

"Thank you."

It had always blown Clark away how much people applauded him when he turned up. The Last Son of Krypton turned his head back around. Lana, Chloe, and Lois offered him smiles. They had been through this for a very long time, Chloe and Lana especially, but Lois made up for more than of her fair share of lost time. The three of them stepped back.

Alex, Kara, and Carol stood in the corner talking with each other.

"It was way too close, wasn't it?"

Daisy brought Clark out of his thoughts and he turned to her for a few seconds. Clark took a couple of seconds to answer her question.

"It was moments away from being destroyed. Not just our world, but every world. And Brainiac would have destroyed himself as well."

One could hear the obvious groan coming from Daisy. She tightened her hand around Clark's forearm and spoke in the calmest tone possible.

"You know, for someone who is supposed to be rational, Brainiac really isn't all that rational. He failed at logic a little bit too much."

"Unfortunately," Clark agreed with a grimace. "I'm glad he's gone so we don't have to deal with him anymore."

"Yeah, but you're going to have to deal with something else, won't you?" Daisy asked. "I mean, that's always what happens? The bad guy gets taken down? An even bigger bad guy pops up, and sometimes it messes with you on a more personal level if you know what I mean?"

"Yes," Clark answered in response. "But, for right not I'm glad we have time to breath."

Daisy backed off to allow a few DEO agents to move down back to their work. As much as she would have liked to sit here and keep relaxing, there was still some work to be done. Daisy drew in a deep breath.

"I've got to decrypt some files. It shouldn't take too long, but in case it does….."

Clark grabbed her around the waist and kissed her. Daisy relaxed into the kiss the more Clark pushed his tongue deep into her mouth. Daisy enjoyed the kiss, feeling a hunger just spread through her body the deeper and harder Clark kissed her.

"Good," Daisy murmured underneath her breath as she pulled away from Clark. "It's very good."

"Good?" Clark asked. "I'm glad it's good."

Daisy just grinned and stepped back from Clark before disappearing into the DEO. Clark edged his way over towards Carol who stood up.

"Well, it's calm now," Carol said. "But, maybe it's just me. After you save the entire multiverse from the brink of destruction, everything else pales in comparison."

Clark broke out into a round of laughter. "It really does, doesn't it?"

"Mmm, yes it does," Carol said.

"Completely," Alex said. "It's going to be hard to go back to Earth and do normal things tomorrow. I guess though there's nothing too normal about our life."

"Well, whatever happens, it's normal for us," Kara chimed in. "It might be weird for other people, but it's normal or us."

Kara sized up Clark with her eyes and a soft smile entered her face. Clark just smiled and looked at his cousin. He beckoned her closer. Kara edged a bit closer on Clark's command. He wrapped an arm around Kara and pulled her in tight. His mouth closed in on the side of her ear.

"Later."

Kara nodded in response. She could hardly wait until later, but for Clark, she would wait. It would be more than worth it.

Clark stepped back into the group where Lana, Chloe, and Lois were talking.

"So, what do you think the next great adventure is, Smallville?"

His eyes snapped back towards Lois who just offered him a smile.

"Knowing you, Lois, everywhere you're going to be, there's going to be an adventure. Especially since you became a Green Lantern, you're getting into trouble on a more intergalactic level."

Chloe and Lana burst out into laughter. Lois folded her arms which only caused the two girls to laugh even harder at Lois's agitation. Lois rose up and opened her mouth. They laughed harder until Lois began to wave her arms in agitation to try and calm the situation down.

"Okay, yeah, I get in trouble a lot," Lois grumbled. "Are you happy I admitted it?"

"Well, understanding you have a problem is the first step to recovery," Chloe said.

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter how much trouble you get into," Lois said. "It matters how much trouble you can get yourself out of."

Clark just smiled. That was just Lois in a nutshell. She could get herself out of trouble a lot. And when she could not get out of trouble, Clark had to be there. But, it was normally something that would demand his full and undivided attention anyway.

"It was way too close," Lana muttered.

"Yes, I know it was," Clark responded to her. "Are you okay?"

"Now that you're here, we're always going to be okay," Lana said. "I just…well I just can't believe it. What's going to happen next?"

Clark thought it was a good question. Only time would tell what would happen next. And that was a pretty good question to be perfectly honest.

' _Guess we're going to have to figure it out soon enough.'_

X-X-X

Lex Luthor mentally asked himself the question which came after a major crisis. He wondered what happened next. Lex sat on the edge of the desk and casually sipped on a drink. He turned to a picture of himself and Clark in much more happier times.

It was a happier time in Lex's life, and it was also a much more naïve time in his life. Anyone would have to agree about that. Lex crossed the room and picked up the picture. It dangled over the trash for about a good minute or so before Lex put it back down on the desk where it was.

' _We were so young back then. And now our paths have taken different turns.'_

As tempting as it was to drop that piece of his history in the trash, Lex declined to do so. No matter how frustrating the memories were, Lex just had to push forward. He checked something.

His mother had dropped off of the grid. Cadmus was a mere shell of its former self and it had been effectively destroyed. Lex held no delusions that his mother would return after a certain amount of time. She would be back, someone like that would always be back.

As for his father, still locked up, and likely still had all of the sophistication of a drooling special needs child. Lex almost pitied Lionel until Lex remembered what his father said. Pity is a wasted emotion. Lex recalled that much about his father with clarity.

' _Well, I best not pity him. That's not what Lionel would have wanted.'_

Lex encircled the room and took in another couple of breaths. His parents were not going to bother him. Lex, well Lex, had no idea what the future would bring. The entire world was a blank canvas which Lex could paint on. He just had to consider a lot of his options.

' _A nice trip to a tropical island before I figure out my next move. That would be perfect, I think.'_

Lex departed from the office. He locked the door behind him and made the short and brisk walk. A burly looking man waited outside of a car on the outside of the house.

"Mr. Luthor, your car is ready."

"Thank you…what did you say your name was again?"

"Otis, sir," he said. "And I'm just happy to help, sir. Just say the word, and…."

"Just drive me to the airport and I'll take the private jet out of here," Lex said. "Until I'm completely well, it won't be wise to make any life-altering decisions."

Lex had seen his mother at the root of all of her obsessions. Which had been bred due to the bitterness of Lionel and his own obsessions, and one could go down the line of Luthors from Point A to Point B. Lionel's parents were assholes from what Lex could find out, and Lionel was almost justified in having them killed all of those years ago.

' _Some time away from the world would be good. Let's just hope no one tracks me down.'_

He had his fill of family for now. Lex knew that he had to cut all of those ties if he wanted to stand alone and stand taller than anyone else. And Lex Luthor would stand tall above everyone else in the world.

* * *

The savior of the multiverse started with humble beginnings even though he acquired a not so humble title. Clark Kent returned to the Kent Farm. Clark returned to the loft where a cot had still been set up in it. He could see the Potter House from across the way. All of Smallville stretched out from miles around and he could see it. Clark dropped down off of the loft into a mattress which had been set up underneath it.

Clark blew the dust off of the mattress for a lack of anything better to do. He drew in a very deep breath and smiled. The beautiful day had remained as such.

' _Well, let's enjoy it.'_

"Hey."

Karen stepped up dressed in a slender white top which stretched over her chest. She wore a pair of extremely short jean shorts which drew Clark's attention to her beautiful and strong legs. Kara stepped out and wore a red shirt which showed her belly button and shined in the light. She wore a similar pair of tight shorts. Both girls sauntered closer to Clark with smiles on their face.

"So, this is a nice place to think," Kara said.

"I've been up here many times over the years where I can clear my head," Clark said.

"I can see why," Kara said. "It's so peaceful if you wanted to be alone, or even if you really wanted to be with someone."

Kara moved over and put her hand over Clark's. Everyone went back to business as usual after the multiverse.

"You two pulled me out of the fire," Clark said. "Thank you for doing that."

"It wasn't a problem at all," Karen answered with a soft smile. "It was what anyone would do. And you….well it was kind of reckless what you did."

"It was…."

"Yeah, I know," Karen said. "It turns out that you reset the Earth's destruction back. Astra mentioned she had memory fragments of seeing Earth's moon devoured and Earth going along with it."

Clark stepped out to where the sun had just finished setting and the moon rose up. It shined as a beacon across the sky as much as ever.

"It's still there," Clark said.

"Good," Karen said. "None of us would be here if you weren't there."

"And I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for both of you."

A long time passed as Kara just hummed in an impatient manner. Karen flashed her a knowing smile and Kara decided to take the next plunge. She grabbed Clark around the shoulders and pulled him into an intense kiss.

Clark had been caught off guard by Kara's bold actions. The only thing to really do at this point was to reciprocate her kiss and fire back. Clark's hand wrapped around the back of Kara's head and then ran down her body. All of the tantalizing bare flesh underneath his hands only fueled Clark.

A series of kisses to the side of his neck brought a further fire into Clark's loins. And speaking his loins, Karen's hand ran down and touched his crotch. She squeezed him and then pulled back. Karen brought back with a smile and then kissed him on the side of the ear. Another series rocked Clark's entire world before Karen pulled back.

Both Kara and Karen took Clark onto the mattress laying underneath their loft. Their hands got to work on Clark.

"I think he's ready to thank us," Kara said.

"Oh, always," Clark grunted.

"I'll be the judge of that."

Karen ran her hand down Clark's front before stopping at his crotch. Her soft warm hand cupped his hardness through his pants and gave it a squeeze. The fabric almost gave way.

"Yes, he's ready."

* * *

They took Clark's pants off and exposed his huge cock to the world. Kara smiled and ran her fingers down Clark's abs and gave him a series of kisses. His shirt came off as well in the process. Both of the Kryptonian goddesses leaned in and planted a series of kisses on Clark's abs and then moved down to his pelvis.

Karen and Kara took turns worshipping Clark with their perfectly warm tongues. He put his hands on the both of their heads and smiled down at them.

"Both of you are too much."

The throbbing cock touched Kara's lips. She brightened with glee as Karen allowed her to take the first taste of Clark's cock into her mouth. Kara wrapped her hand around the base of Clark's cock and rubbed down onto it hard. Clark's cock grew to the point where it reached the edge of Kara's perfect lips. Clark groaned the second Kara slid his cock into her mouth.

"Yes," Clark groaned. "You're perfect."

Kara grabbed the part of the cock which could not quite fit in her mouth yet and stroked him while sucking on the head. Her face pushed in while bobbing back and forth on his hard cock. Clark put his hand on the back of Kara's head and guided her into his mouth.

"Oh, Kara," Clark groaned at the top of his lungs.

"Don't forget about me."

Karen kissed the inside of Clark's legs which sent tingles. She took Clark's big bloated balls in her hand and squeezed them. The weight of them sent tingles down each part of Karen's body. Her nipples stiffened and pussy throbbed in delight. Karen took her mouth around his balls and sucked them.

Clark's senses went into overdrive with the double teaming actions of Kara and Karen. Both of them working on his big cock and balls, they were too much.

They switched positions after a wall. Karen took a little more of Clark's cock into her mouth then Kara. Kara looked in half in awe and half in thinly veiled jealousy. Karen's mouth came down to him. Her face pressed against him while deep-throating Clark's big cock like it was no big deal at all. Karen's soft delicate hands kept working him over and tugging on his big balls.

Karen slurped his huge cock into her mouth. She pulled almost out and then shoved her mouth down onto his big prick. She sucked it hard as humanly possible. Her warm mouth wrapped around Clark's thick rod when slurping down onto him. She moaned around his cock with delight spreading through her when taking him into her throat.

"Mmm!" Karen moaned at the top of her lungs when sucking him hard as humanly possible. "MMM!"

Those lovely sounds of that mouth working him over made Clark push a little bit further. His hands grabbed the back of Karen's head when thrusting in and out and out of her mouth. He had enjoyed the inside of her mouth just as much as Karen enjoyed his cock pushing on the inside of her mouth.

Kara stroked Clark's big balls and made them throb in her lithe hand. She squeezed them.

"You're going to blow a big load in her sexy mouth?" Kara asked. "Aren't you, Kal?"

Clark pushed deeper into her mouth. His throbbing balls slapped against Karen's chin the deeper he pushed into her throat. She stretched out her throat and sucked his hard cock as much as possible. Clark pushed deeper into her mouth and stretched her throat to the brink. Karen gave him a few sexy sucks with her salvia surrounding Clark's big cock.

Then he blew, and boy did he blow. His balls discharged their bounty into Karen's mouth. The first few blasts shot into her mouth. Clark grabbed her by the hair and pumped himself into her throat until he stopped splattering.

Karen did not waste a single drop. A good amount of cum lingered in her mouth, even though she swallowed some of Clark's tasty seed. She pulled away with him with a loud pop. His cock still dripped a little bit and Karen now rose up just in time to see Kara rubbing her shirts.

The older girl grabbed the younger one by the ass and pulled her into a very intense kiss. Kara received a nice taste of Clark's cum in her mouth. They encircled each other and ripped at each other's clothes. The animalistic fury and lust both of them held had their clothes torn off in no time.

Kara dropped down onto the mattress staring at her with a smile and devouring her body like a predator. Karen's larger breasts dwarfed Kara's. Their nipples rubbed together with Karen moving a little bit closer and kissing her.

Karen straddles Kara and attacked the younger girl with a series of hot and passionate kisses. Kara moaned into the mouth of her older, more dominant lover.

Clark rose back up from the ground. Both girls were opened up as they kissed each other. Clark smiled and then shoved his fingers into both of their pussies. Their moaning only got more intense. And Clark's fingering sped up.

Bright lights flashed in the back of Karen's eyes as she had been taken on the thrill ride of a lifetime. Clark knew exactly the right spots to touch her for maximum pleasure. His fingers dug deeper into Karen's wet pussy. She squeezed him and pushed Clark into her. Karen breathed in hungrily and breathed out the deeper Clark shoved his digits into her tight body.

"Fuck me," Karen breathed. "OH FUCK!"

Clark smiled. Kara's moans became a bit more subdued and a lot less obvious. They were still there and they sounded lovely.

Karen laid on top of Kara as Clark finger fucked both of them into a mind-rattling orgasm. Clark smiled and pulled over. He went from one girl to the other and tasted their pussy. Each lick inspired new lustful cries. These lustful cries only encouraged Clark to keep doing what he was doing.

His cock stood at attention and both girls were in position. He decided to take control of Kara's pussy. Karen shifted just enough for Clark to slip himself into his cousin's young, tight pussy.

"Kara!" Clark groaned.

Kara's legs spread to allow her baby cousin to drive his large cock into her tight body. She moaned and would have said something more, had it not been for Karen now sitting on her face. Her ass stuck out for Clark to grab and then her pussy was in perfect position for Kara to lick.

"Get it nice and wet for our man's cock," Karen breathed. "Oh, that's it! RIGHT THERE!"

She screamed out loud when Kara's eager tongue pushed its way inside and formed a nice pathway inside. The younger girl slurped up her pussy juices like it was her dying meal and Karen appreciated it one hundred percent. She ground her pussy down onto Kara's face.

"Eat it!" Karen yelled. "EAT IT!"

Kara slipped her tongue inside of Karen's pussy and obeyed the words of her mistress. She ate that pussy, ate it up really good. The hunger only burned through her eyes when munching down on this beautiful cunt underneath her. Karen took in a deep breath.

"Your turn."

Karen slid back down so she was on top of Kara and straddling her. This position allowed Clark to slip his cock from one woman to another. She leaned down to kiss Kara and tasted her own juices.

Clark edged his cock inside of Karen's perfectly snug pussy. He put his hands on her back and leaned into her. Their bodies became one with Clark grinding his crotch against her just a scant second prior to slipping inside. Clark's hard balls caught the side of Karen's body. He pulled almost all the way out and pushed inside of her.

Every so often, Clark's balls struck Kara's pussy. Karen's dominating frame made the younger girl whimper. She lifted her arms to run them over Clark's back and then over Karen's breasts when she rose up. The two lovers fucked on top of Kara and made her given driven nuts from the pleasure

The next several minutes had been spent with Clark driving himself balls deep into Karen. A second passed as when switched and then pushed into Kara. His huge balls slapped down onto Kara as well when he ran his hands all over Karen's ass and lower back. She moaned as well.

Clark alternated between fucking both women. He dragged them to the edge several times before driving himself back into the other girl and leaving them panted.

"You are such a tease," Karen said.

"Isn't that what makes it fun?" Clark asked.

A grimace came over Karen. Of course, he would use her own logic from a while back against her. That's what made it perfect. Clark pulled out of Karen and rubbed his thick cock against her moist thighs and drove himself into her as hard as possible. Karen continued to straddle Kara as it did so and pulled up Kara's head to push her between her breasts.

Clark sped up his alternating thrusts. He fucked one girl at super-sonic speed for about thirty seconds and then switched to another girl. All of them felt the friction burns and also Clark could feel his balls filling up.

Dream come true described what Kara was feeling. She channeled all of the energy to her core, wanting to be the one to make Clark pop inside of her perfect tight pussy.

Clark pushed himself inside and felt the immense pleasure which came from Kara working him over. Clark rose up and drove himself deep into her. His balls lurched the harder he pushed into her. He was getting very close to cumming even harder.

Karen closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of Clark's hands occasionally touching her ass and then penetrating it just as he fucked Kara hard. Smacking flesh only served to ramp up Karen's libido to an obscenely insane level. Clark pushed his hard cock inside of her tight pussy from behind and then pulled completely out of her before driving deep inside of her tight pussy.

"Oh, Kara!" Clark yelled.

Kara would have demanded Clark come for her, only her mouth had been full of Karen's heaving chest. Kara's eyes shifted over when she nibbled on those perfect nipples. She sucked them and enjoyed them in every way. Her body sized up and came all over Clark's cock.

The catalyst for Clark's orgasm came in Kara's. Clark shoved his cock into her tight body and injected his cum inside of her body. Kara clutched onto him and drained him of every single last bit of seed.

Karen's body rocked as Clark used her ass as support to drive himself into Kara's body. It caused Karen to orgasm all over her cousin's stomach. Juices splattered Kara's belly with Karen thrashing.

Clark grunted and groaned having seen the light. His massive balls tensed and released to spill more of their juices into Karen's tight body from behind. Clark rose up and drove himself into her to finish cumming inside of her and he had a lot of cum.

She had been soaked as well with the juices of both of her cousins. Karen just smiled and crawled over between Kara's legs. She smiled and touched Kara's cute little nipples as they stuck out. She shivered in pleasure.

"Let's clean you up."

One glimpse of Karen cleaning Kara up caused Clark's cock to grow. It did not help that Karen positioned herself perfectly for his cock to slide into her tight pussy.

Clark took her up on the invitation when his cock stiffened completely. The race was now completely on.

* * *

The aftermath left Clark with a beautiful blonde draped over either side of his waist. Clark's arms tightened around both women when pulling them in as he mentally did a checklist of what was happening.

Heroes rose, as did villains, but he would help stand tall in this brave new world. When they joined together, they were just stronger. They were stronger together.

The sun started to rise in Smallville with signified a brand new day of adventures for them all.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone for reading, commenting, favorite, following, and kudoing through this story. As I put the bow on another project, I will see you down the road somewhere.**

* * *

 **End.**


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